'I'm going to have to live in my car.' Bridgeport senior facing eviction plans to move into his 1974 Chevy Nova

Peter Rusnak, of Bridgeport, says he's been going from agency to agency in recent weeks in a breathless effort to try and forestall the inevitable: eviction.

Frank Recchia

Sep 10, 2025, 1:48 AM

Updated 3 hr ago

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Peter Rusnak, of Bridgeport, says he's been going from agency to agency in recent weeks in a breathless effort to try and forestall the inevitable: eviction. "I've been told that the state marshal will be knocking on my door tomorrow -- and that I'd better be ready to go," the 73-year-old told News 12 Tuesday. Rusnak says he fell behind on his rent in recent months after suffering a serious health decline - just as he had received notice of a rental increase. "Everything happened at once - and it's been a complete nightmare," he said. In addition, Rusnak says Medicaid has stopped paying for his most expensive medical supplies. "That's why I'm going to have to move into my car - because I just can't keep up with all the skyrocketing expenses," he said. Rusnak's car is a 1974 Chevy Nova. "The air conditioning doesn't work, but I recently had some expensive repairs done and it should keep running," he said. Rusnak says every entity he's turned to for help - including the Connecticut Department of Social Services - has turned him away, saying "there are no options - sorry." The lifelong Bridgeport resident says he's called 211 and has been assigned a navigator, but so far has received "exactly zero help." "It's not like I'm not trying -- it just is what it is. What's probably going to happen is that my health is going to deteriorate further and it definitely won't be a good thing," he said. Bridgeport officials told News 12 Tuesday they are lookng into his case.