The bizarre life and death of a hermit – who didn’t leave his East Side apartment once in 13 years and ordered the same meal from the same restaurant three times a day – has cops baffled.
Irwin Rose, who sources said was in his 50s, died sometime over the weekend after a neighbor called 911 and others complained of a stench coming from his apartment.
His body was discovered late Sunday night, naked in his tub, surrounded by a wide assortment of medication. Police believe he may have been self-medicating.
But puzzled cops couldn’t find any identification or banking records in Rose’s cluttered, one-bedroom apartment at 200 E. 58 St.
However, the 11th-floor apartment was littered with scraps of paper and receipts from the diner where he ordered the same meal three times every day for eight years.
Vinnie Sanchez, who works at JR Cafe a block away, often delivered food to Rose – and said the man never wavered in his order.
“Rice pudding, chicken soup, two eggs over easy, sausages, cheesecake and sometimes a milkshake,” Sanchez said.
Technically, police aren’t even sure whether the body in the morgue is the enigmatic Rose. So far, there is no next of kin.
Police don’t see any signs of foul play.
“He hasn’t been out in 13 years, and I’ve been here 14,” doorman Victor Lopez told The Post. “Everything was delivered to him. Food, clothes, money.”
Lopez last spoke to the slim, balding Rose Friday at about 1 p.m. and said he seemed fine. The doorman added that few people – except deliverymen – ever visited the reclusive tenant in his pricey digs.
“He just locked himself up and never came out,” Lopez said. “Something seemed to snap in him, and he must have become afraid of the world.”
Rose’s profession and means of support were also a puzzle. Lopez thought he was involved in stocks and banking, while others believed he was in the modeling business. Another neighbor said he was once a porn star.
Lopez said a steady stream of beautiful women once visited Rose’s apartment carrying modeling portfolios, but that ended about nine years ago.
The only other person who seemed to visit was a “good-looking” woman named Tara who shopped for the loner’s clothes.
“She disappeared about five years ago. I don’t know why he needed clothes – he never went anywhere,” Lopez said.
When Lopez began working at the 20-story building, his odd tenant wore a suit and tie and went to work.
“Tara always bugged him to come out, and he always said he would – but he never did,” the doorman said.
Neighbors said Rose was sick and had a lesion on his leg that once required him to have a nurse. It wasn’t known what caused the lesion.
Carol Fredette – who lived directly below Rose – said there was constant noise from his apartment.
“Water ran constantly, he took so many baths a day, all hours of the night,” Fredette said. “I was so sleep-deprived, we finally got an attorney and arranged a meeting with him.”
Under the deal, the pale-faced Rose agreed not to take a bath between midnight and 9 a.m.
“He was just weird, nuts,” Fredette said.
Police are still investigating his death.