Homeless no more in Cedarhurst

Abused as a child, taken advantage of as a working adult and homeless when most people are thinking of retirement, Avi Mandel has had a rough life, but thanks to several people in Cedarhurst and a fortuitous meeting with a stranger, it has taken a turn for the better.

Mandel, 57, was left adrift in 2004, when, after 30 years of caring for a disabled member of a North Woodmere family, his services were no longer needed. Estranged from his family, Mandel took to living on the streets of Cedarhurst after staying for a brief time in a group home and moving in and out of hospital psychiatric wards.

He slept in the hallway of an office building at the intersection of Central and Cedarhurst avenues, in the vestibule of HSBC Bank on Cedarhurst Avenue, in the bathroom of the Cedarhurst train station and in a vacant Cedarhurst Avenue store.

“The worst thing about being homeless is that according to Jewish law, when a man is without a home, he is dead,” Mandel said. “That’s very bad. It was an awful experience.”

His luck changed slowly, as he found a number of store owners in Cedarhurst who helped him with money, food, discounted services and storage at a time when he had a hard time trusting anyone. “I felt bad for his situation,” said Cindy Merrill, owner of Dimples clothing store on Central Avenue, who, along with her husband, Jeremy, and an employee, gave Mandel space to store his belongings. “It was my way of helping.”

Mandel grew up in Flatbush, Brooklyn. After years of parental abuse — his father once tried to stab him while Avi was in a cast and on crutches, and his mother heaped criticism on him as a boy, making him believe that it was his fault when his father left home — Mandel was a mess, according to his older sister, Elaine Bergenholtz. “My parents were two crazy people, both nuts — it was bad there,” said Bergenholtz, who lives in Arizona and kept tabs on her brother as best she could when he became homeless. “They had four wonderful children. None of us were anything like them.”

Bergenholtz, who is 25 years older than Mandel, took care of him, she said, taking him to Radio City Music Hall and to Boy Scout meetings. Despite dropping out of school after the sixth grade, at one time he had dreams of being a

Talmudic scholar.

And the experience of being homeless, Mandel said, has brought him closer to God — thanks, in part, to all the people in Cedarhurst who have helped him. “I really give him credit for not stopping believing in God,” said Ruthy Amiram, owner of Ruthy’s Grocery Store on Cedarhurst Avenue, who allowed Mandel to use her store address to receive mail.

Several Central Avenue eateries — King David’s Deli, David’s Pizza and Wok Tov — gave Mandel free or discounted food. “I helped as much as I could, and people should help within their capability,” said David Gerassi, owner of David’s Pizza, who added that he has known Mandel for nearly 12 years.

“In such an affluent community, people should be happy to help a little if they can,” said Michael Finkelstein, owner of Carmichaels, by the Cedarhurst train station, who has also lent Mandel a helping hand.

Mandel recently received a $21,000 settlement from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority stemming from a 2005 accident in which he was one of several passengers injured on a bus that veered off the road into a gas station. He used some of the settlement money to pay Gerassi $1,600, returning the favor for all the free or discounted food.

In November, Mandel used more of the money to rent a room at the Five Towns Motor Lodge on Rockaway Turnpike in Lawrence, where he met an unlikely benefactor. A man named Yehoshua Allswang didn’t let his marital problems interfere with helping Mandel. After getting to know Mandel, Allswang helped him find a basement apartment in Far Rockaway — and paid the $1,700 security deposit that allowed Mandel to secure a year’s lease. Mandel is using the MTA settlement money to pay his rent.

Debra Pearlman, his younger sister, called Allswang a “godsend,” but for his part, Allswang said he was just practicing “basic Judaism.” “Someone gave him the time of day,” he said of Mandel. “That can change a person’s life.”

Indeed, the tide may be turning for Mandel. Ensconced in his studio apartment with a bed he obtained through the Jewish Community Center of Far Rockaway and a bathroom to call his own, he is getting around by bus, and looked dapper, in a maroon shirt and an overcoat, as he gave a reporter a tour of the places he slept when he was homeless and the businesses that helped him.

“Everybody knows it’s important to have a home,” he said. “I never realized it was important to have a bed. I didn’t have my own bed for six years.”

On March 13, Mandel is planning to host a welcome-home party at Wok Tov, where those who helped him, along with his sisters and Allswang, will celebrate.

“He would come in here and we would hear him out,” said Ezra Stern, a manager at Wok Tov. “To help this one person is kind of a cool thing.”