Tired New York artist accused of waging “war” on hipsters who own viral photo booth set up outside her home

The old-fashioned photo booth on New York’s Lower East Side has attracted crowds of serious Zoomers, enthralling locals and tourists alike and racking up millions of views on social media.

But the viral sensation prompted a slightly less enthusiastic reaction from the next-door neighbor.

Maggie Trakas — the daughter of famed contemporary artist Susan Rothenberg and noted sculptor George Trakas — is accused of waging war against the trendy young couple over Photobooth Old Friend, a must-see on TikTok and Instagram. The battle began in early December and pitted Trakas, 52, a native New Yorker, against Utah transplants Brandon Minton, 27, and Zoe Lazerson, 25, a social media influencer who now wants $2 million from Trakas for the trouble. which they caused.

“Trakas seemingly will stop at nothing, from spreading feces on fences and cages to pouring a bucket of urine on Minton and lining up customers, to taping the keyholes of plaintiffs’ maintenance van, to physically and verbally assaulting Minton in front of customers to disrupt the work of the Old Friend’s Photo Booth,” says the submitted application for a temporary restraining order. Friday and received The Independent.

Minton, a Salt Lake City native who moved to New York in 2023, and Lazerson, who is also from Salt Lake and runs the photo booth with him, “tried to communicate with Trakas in a friendly and diplomatic manner,” according to filed complaint. together with a statement of prohibition.

“Trakas is a photographer herself and a member of the artistic community,” the complaint states, citing her father and late mother as proof. “… Plaintiffs attempted to reach out to Trakas by sharing their appreciation for the art and photography.”

Instead, court documents say Trakas has declared “war” on the couple and “narcissistic retards” flocking to their “disgraceful” destination, and expressed concern that the 52-year-old’s “crazy” behavior not only poses an immediate health risk ‘I, but may soon “result in someone being physically injured”.

They contacted by phone, said Trakas The Independent that she received a copy of Minton and Lazerson’s complaint Thursday night and that it contained “a litany of lies by a young, wealthy couple from Utah that effectively destroyed the quality of peace at the corner of Allen and Rivington.”

“Certainly there are two sides to every story, and this is a complete fabrication,” Trakas said. “They are actually using my parents and my position in society to extort money from me. My lawyers are well aware of this and we will continue in the coming weeks to present … evidence of the harassment I have been subjected to for approximately one and a half months since it was discovered.”

Trakas, who was born and raised in midtown Manhattan, claimed Friday that Minton and, to a lesser extent, Lazerson, were the ones who harassed her.

She railed against the “busloads of 20-year-olds” who descend on the block, crowding the sidewalk outside and congregating outside her front door while they wait for their photos to unfold. When Trakas complained to Minton about his “incredibly disrespectful” customers, “he told me I was ‘Karen’ and said, ‘Welcome to New York,'” she recalled.

“I’ve been stalked, stalked, stalked, threatened, constantly told that I’m scum, that I’m miserable,” Trakas continued, describing herself as the aggrieved party in the controversy. “I resorted to some juvenile reactions because I was provoked. I live in a landmark building that my family and I renovated and which I am very protective of.”

This was reported by attorney Robert McFarlane, who represents Minton and Lazerson The Independent that he would appear in court Friday afternoon to argue for the restraining order on behalf of his clients, and declined to comment further until the proceedings were over.

The Old Friend Photobooth concept became a reality in May 2024 when Minton and Lazerson purchased a 1970s photobooth from a former photobooth technician in St. Louis, Missouri. The complaint and TRO filed in New York State Supreme Court say the couple took it back to Manhattan, repaired it and installed it outside a luggage store on Orchard Street. It was an instant hit, attracting crowds of people more than happy to pay $8 for a tape of four vintage black-and-white photos.

According to the complaint, the booth was so successful that Minton and Lazerson decided to give it a more permanent home, and in December 2024 moved Old Friend to a commercial space facing the street on Allen Street.

Within an hour of opening their doors at the new location, the Trakas confronted Minton and Lazerson during an “argument,” calling the photo booth a “disgrace” and demanding it be closed, the complaint states. It claims she repeated her speech the next morning, knocking over a bucket of water Minton was using to clean the photo booth, then vowing to ruin his and Lazerson’s lives by shouting, “This is war!” Minton called the police, according to the complaint, which says cops told Trakas that having a line of customers in front of the business was not a crime.

In mid-December, the complaint says, Trakas began locking several bikes outside her gate in a way that intentionally blocked customers from getting their photos. Minton also found his truck vandalized, with Trakas allegedly taping the door locks. The only time Minton, Laserson and their photo booth saw a moment of peace was the week between Christmas and New Year’s when Trakas went out of town, according to the complaint.

On Jan. 2, the complaint states, Minton “discovered what appeared to be frozen urine on a chair and sidewalk near the photo booth.” He reviewed security footage the night before and observed Trakas actually urinating on his property from her second-floor window, the complaint said.

A few days later, a drunken Trakas punched Minton while he was setting up a photo booth and said, “It’s Sunday, go home and fuck your bitch,” the complaint states. That day, as Minton was installing new planter boxes near the booth, the complaint says, Trakas reached out of the window and “poured a bucket of urine directly over Minton’s head, causing the urine to splash onto customers who were waiting in line.”

Things surprisingly took a turn for the worse last week, the complaint said. When Minton arrived at the photo booth that morning, he smelled a “strong, putrid odor,” according to the complaint. He followed the smoke to one of the newly installed planters, where he then “watched feces smeared and scattered all over the planter box,” along with additional feces that “clumped” on a board Trakas had placed between her building and the photo booth, it said .

“The smell was so terrible that Minton could not stand near the planters without moving,” the complaint states.

Minton scrolled through security footage last night, coming across “disturbing” footage showing Trakas, wearing a black mask and hoodie, “place(s) a paint can filled with brown, runny feces on a planter box and proceeded to ” to paint” a plywood fence with liquid feces,” the complaint states. “Trakas sprayed the yellow liquid onto the plywood wall using a restaurant ketchup bottle. She then finished the job by dumping the rest of the bucket of faecal paint into the planter.’

The Independent reviewed the video footage in question, along with photographs of the damage from each alleged incident.

According to the complaint, it took Minton and an assistant, who donned KN-95 masks to withstand the fecal stench, more than three hours to properly clean the cubicle again. He and Lazerson are asking a judge to order Trakas to pay just over $2 million plus legal costs, and want an injunction to formally prevent Trakas from continuing to interfere with their business.

The police were called to the scene several times, but while the police made reports, no one was arrested.

Trakas now has 20 days to respond to the charges.