Expert
Posts: 3887
    
Location: Northen Virginia | This is why he was liquidating his collection, at $800 a single bare rear door for a sedan... But he told me it was related to his health...
...No jail time for man in long dispute with city's code officers
Scratch one inmate from Sheriff Joe's jail. Despite the city's best efforts, Johnny Rosen won't be going to the hoosegow after all. The scourge of city code enforcement has at long last cleaned up his yard. And still the city of Phoenix wanted to put him behind bars for 60 days.
Fortunately, sanity prevailed in the name of Judge Karyn Klausner, who pointed out that city prosecutors routinely have more tolerance for wife-beaters and drunken drivers than for Johnny Rosen.
Who, by the way, has decided to leave town.
In retrospect, Rosen probably isn't Phoenix material. The 60-year-old South African grew up in Israel and moved here 12 years ago after falling in love with this country and the idea that a man could live in freedom and peace.
He's a live-and-let-live sort, a guy who lives on an acre and a half in north Phoenix with a turkey, a pig and until six months ago, a collection of cars in his backyard that no one's been able to see for some time now. That is, not unless they hoist themselves onto their trucks or fly overhead in a helicopter, as the city's code enforcement cops are known to do.
Rosen's been fighting with them since 1997, when the city says it got a tip to check out his backyard. While most of it was screened, one side was chain-link fence and through it a neighbor could see roughly 50 Chrysler Imperials, cars that belong in a museum according to Rosen and in a junkyard according to the city. The fact that the neighbor had no complaint made no difference, city officials told me.
Over time, hostilities escalated. Rosen screened the fence so no one could see into his yard. City inspectors then began climbing onto their pickups to peek over the fence and taking to the sky to see if he was obeying their orders. They filed criminal charges against Rosen in 2002.
Meanwhile, his neighbor, who has visible piles of junk in his yard, managed to avoid so much as a single summons to court.
Last year, Klausner sentenced Rosen to 60 days, prompting him to move the cars. Then last week, as his date with jail drew near, he finished the job, clearing the patio that no one can see and cutting his grass.
"Everything is neat and clean," attorney Nick Hentoff told Klausner last week, in asking her to reconsider jail. "This is ready for Phoenix Home & Garden."
A point that impressed the city not at all. Prosecutor Kevin Solie said it would be a "travesty of justice" to let Rosen avoid jail given his longstanding defiance.
"Mr. Rosen crosses the line," he said.
Fortunately, the judge decided that an otherwise law-abiding citizen didn't need 60 days in jail. She noted that Solie's office routinely recommends probation for people who beat their wives or drive drunk, leaving me to wonder why the city was so zealous in its pursuit of Rosen.
Does he rate the same 60-day sentence as the one given years ago to the Valley's most notorious slumlord, a guy who left his tenants to live with raw sewage?
Apparently so, in the city's eyes. But not for much longer. Rosen says he can't stand living in a city that wields a citation book like a bludgeon. So, he's leaving. He's got his eye on an old plantation home in Louisiana. "It's in the middle of 1,000 acres of farmland," he told me, "and there isn't a zoning inspector in sight."
Can't say that I blame him. I wonder about the city's pursuit of Johnny Rosen. Certainly, we need rules and well-meaning code enforcers to make sure we aren't stuck living next to an eyesore.
But is it really an eyesore if the code cops need a helicopter to see it?
Edited by hemidenis 2016-09-25 12:12 AM
|
Expert
Posts: 3887
Location: Northen Virginia | Ok CNN Don how about this news haha
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (June 15, 2016) – No one can ever say Johnny Rosen lacks passion. The 70 year-old north Phoenix resident and former Israeli paratrooper has traveled the world, much like an adventurer, and has accumulated rare collectibles along the way.
Now Rosen’s 1961 pink Imperial Crown Coupe, a rare Tibetan Thangka that he bought in Kathmandu and other collectibles will hit the auction block during the first day of J. Levine Auction & Appraisal’s high-end, three-day auction of multiple fine estates, set for Thursday, Friday and Saturday, June 23, 24 & 25. Doors open at 9 a.m. each day with live bidding starting at 11 a.m. The auction house is located at 10345 N. Scottsdale Rd., in Scottsdale, on the southeast corner of Shea Boulevard and Scottsdale Road.
Born in Capetown, South Africa, Rosen became an Israeli citizen at age 14. He was a freelance reporter during the Vietnam War and volunteered to join the Israeli army one week before the Six-Day War began. In the 1980s, he owned a successful classic car shop in San Francisco before moving to Phoenix 22 years ago.
Often seeking adventure, he was one of two passengers aboard the ill-fated MSC Flaminia in July 2012. During the routine voyage from the U.S. to Europe, a massive explosion crippled the containership in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. Of the 22 crew members, three were killed and several others were wounded. Russian and Filipino crewmembers from a nearby oil tanker saved Rosen and the other survivors who were floating in a lifeboat.
“It’s a great honor to bring Johnny’s collectibles to auction,” said Josh Levine, J. Levine owner and auctioneer. “He embodies the spirit of a true collector…someone who appreciates rarity, marvels at fine craftsmanship and is so driven to discover new treasures, he’ll take the path less traveled to find them.”
The romance of the classic American cars from the 1950s and 1960s fueled Rosen’s passion for collecting.
“At one point, I had 50 or 60 classic cars, and I named them all after chicks,” Rosen said. “Each one is an extraordinary work of art. You can’t help but fall in love with them.”
Known affectionately as “Prudence,” the pink, or “Malibu tan”, Imperial has been one of Rosen’s prized possessions for nearly 40 years. With 123,080 original miles, the classic beauty has been pampered to keep its black interior and other features in mint condition. The ordinary deck trunk lid has been replaced with the optional, much more desirable “flight sweep”. The car also comes with the original deck lid as well. J. Levine estimates its value to be between $40,000 and $60,000.
Rosen is also selling a rare Tibetan Thangka painting that he bought in Kathmandu in 1970.
“I found it rolled up under a bed in an antique shop. The owner said he kept his best items under the bed, and I was astonished at the clarity of detail,” he said of the historic piece, which will be auctioned on Friday, June 24.
Thangkas tell the story of Buddha’s life and are often used as teaching tools. Rosen’s Thangka is one of 31 in a series and is believed to be more than 200 years old. J. Levine estimates it to be worth between $10,000 and $20,000.
Rosen is preparing to move across the country, and he admits that parting with “Prudence” is bittersweet.
“It’s been a labor of love caring for her, but it’s time for someone else to enjoy her flamboyant ways,” he said, adding that he still owns a dozen other classic cars, though his daily drive is a 1967 Chrysler Town & Country station wagon.
J. Levine’s June three-day auction features rare collectibles, furnishings and more on Thursday, June 23, fine and decorative art on Friday, June 24, and jewelry, silver and other collectibles on Saturday, June 25.
“Prudence” will go up for auction on Thursday, June 23 and Rosen’s Thangka will be auctioned on Friday, June 24.
Edited by hemidenis 2016-09-26 9:24 PM
 (Prudence_1961_Imperial-1200x524.jpg)
Attachments
----------------
 Prudence_1961_Imperial-1200x524.jpg (215KB - 100 downloads)
|
Johnny Rosen Imperial collection gone
