This week marked a turning point for a wealthy widow as she finally reclaimed her late spouse’s New York City townhouse. This concluded an extended legal battle with his housekeeper, who had been accused of unlawfully occupying the residence.
Sarah Shalev, at 45, was spotted inspecting the $13 million property located in Manhattan’s prestigious Upper East Side, coinciding with the court date of the alleged squatter.
Shalev, a neurologist, lost her estranged husband, businessman Craig Schmeizer, abruptly in November due to blunt force trauma.
Before his untimely death, Schmeizer resided in the five-bedroom townhouse at 111 East 81st Street alongside Hilarie Page, his housekeeper, who was subsequently taken to court by his family for allegedly denying them entry to the premises.
Hilarie Page, revealed by the Daily Mail to have a track record of legal issues and past evictions, was handed an eviction notice in mid-March and left the property shortly thereafter.
She was scheduled to appear in Housing Court on Tuesday but did not attend the session.
Peter Kolodony, the attorney representing the family trust, was present and told the Daily Mail outside the courthouse: ‘My client is back in and did what had to be done.’
When approached outside the Upper East Side home, Shalev declined to comment.
Sarah Shalev, 45, surveys her dead husband’s $13 million home in Manhattan after finally kicking out his old housekeeper
Neurologist Shalev’s estranged husband, businessman Craig Schmeizer, died suddenly in November from blunt force trauma
Page has allegedly been holed up inside this $13.2 million Upper East Side townhouse where she worked as a live-in housekeeper
The development follows five months of legal battling.
Shalev is trustee of the two trusts that control the LLC in charge of the home and is identified in court papers as the personal representative under Schmeizer’s will.
Page, who could not be reached for comment, moved into the townhouse at some point following the couple’s separation.
According to the original complaint: ‘Page was a licensee occupying space in the Building with the permission of Schmeizer.’
But the ‘said license of Page to occupy space in the Building was terminated by virtue of the death of Schmeizer.’
The estate alleges that since Schmeizer’s death, Page refused to allow Shalev or representatives access to the building.
In November, shortly after Schmeizer’s death, Shalev called Page and was met with hostility, according to the complaint.
‘She was extremely hostile, told me she was not going to leave the house because Craig was dead and it was clear that I would not be allowed into the Building,’ Shalev said in the filing.
In February, after Page ignored legal letters, Shalev and a legal representative attempted to enter, the document shows.
When no one responded, a locksmith was called.
Shalev (with her late husband) is trustee of the two trusts that control the LLC and is identified in court papers as the personal representative under Schmeizer’s will
Schmeizer and Shalev in 2014
According to the complaint, once the door was opened, Page ‘ran toward the door, screaming,’ and both sides contacted police, who ultimately instructed the estate’s representatives to leave.
The Daily Mail has reviewed dozens of court documents showing she has been legally evicted from at least three homes prior to the latest saga.
We also spoke to multiple people behind those evictions.
In one case, a former friend took legal action after she refused to leave his apartment, where she had been staying on his couch.
In 2017, photographer Terry Niefield, now 83, said he reluctantly allowed Page to stay at his one-bedroom loft in Chelsea after she was evicted from her home in Murray Hill.
The arrangement was meant to be temporary, he said, but court documents claim she refused to leave for more than two years.
Niefield said Page began inserting herself into his daily life, joining him and his girlfriend for meals – putting strain on the relationship. He later described her as ‘nasty’ and a ‘parasite.’ A court ordered eviction was later carried out.
Page, 66, was due in Housing Court this week but failed to show
Terry Niefield, 83, said he invited Page to crash on the couch of his one-bedroom Chelsea apartment and she refused to leave for two years
Another landlord, who asked not to be named, told the Mail Page stopped paying rent and verbally abused her when she tried to evict her, leaving her feeling trapped in her own home.
She was eventually served an eviction order and forced to leave.
Even Page’s friends have described her as ‘ice cold.’
Page was arrested in September 2025 on assault and harassment-related charges stemming from an incident at the townhouse that left her boss, Craig Schmeizer injured, according to the New York Post.
A photo obtained by the Post showed blood dripping from around his left ear onto his white shirt.
The charges were later dropped, and the NYPD told the Daily Mail: ‘The investigation regarding his death is closed. There was no criminality.’
