I rent an illegal apartment on Long Island on a month to month basis with no lease (and landlord only accepts cash for payment). I am currently 12 days late on my rent, and he is harassing me BEYOND belief. I am literally scared to go home. Obviously, I want to pay, but is it legal for him to be harassing me to the point of entering my apartment constantly? Please advise.

You do know you are going to have to leave if you complain, because you couldn't continue to live in an illegal apartment... so you are in a no-win situation.

It really is a deal with it or move situation.

If you are indeed literally scared, to the extent that you cannot bring yourself to go home, How do you know what he is doing?

If you are actually afraid for your personal safety, report the situation to the police. But of course, as Smoothy points out, if you do so the illegal apartment may very well be shut down.

Yes, repeated entry into the permission without your permission is probably illegal.

What exactly do you mean by an "illegal apartment"?

My assuption is its one that's subdivided and not one that's registered (meaning the city doesn't know about it and likely doesn't meet code).

They do have legal recourse against the landlord.. (hope I didn't come across as meaning they didn't).. but all of them will end up with them having to move in a hurry, likely to a far more expensive apartment someplace else.

Obviously this kind of harassment is illegal, but he knows that if you make a peep, you are out on the street. So what are you going to do? Go home with the rent in your hand, in full. That's all you can do.
Usually illegal apartments are cheap rent. If yours is, why would you abuse a good deal by not putting rent above ANY other expense?

Technically there is no such thing as a "legal" apartment on LI... and in this case, I am only renting a room in this person's house which has access to the bathroom in the hall. My rent is reasonable and yes, I am comfortable there - however, since I have fallen on hard times I am now 12 days late... but I can't stand being treated this way.

Technically there is no such thing as a "legal" apartment on LI...and in this case, I am only renting a room in this person's house which has access to the bathroom in the hall. My rent is reasonable and yes, I am comfortable there - however, since I have fallen on hard times I am now 12 days late...but I can't stand being treated this way.

Honestly you need to start or you will find yourself homeless in a hurry as well.

You literally ARE between a rock and a hard place.

Sorry to be so blunt... but that's the reality of it.

I've been both tenant and landlord, more tenant than landlord. But I would be just as upset as you are about 'being treated this way,' and he had that right before you did.

You are now freeloading for all intents and purposes. You give not one clue how you plan to pay.
I'll give you some clues: You sell stuff, you borrow from family, you take out a loan.

First, there certainly are legal apartments on LI. However, what you have is not an apartment but a room. And renting out a room may not even be illegal depending on what LI town you are in. In fact, it is unlikely that your landlord would be enjoined from renting the room. More likely he would just have his taxes increased.

However, even if you are just renting a room, you have some rights as to privacy. You have the right to be evicted legally and he cannot enter your space without proper notice and permission.

Pardon my jadedness, but I think we might have here a woman renting a room from a man in his home, and various unspoken assumptions were made.
When someone says 'I've fallen on hard times' with no further clarification about how they happened and what plans are underway to do something, and when the lease started, while asking specifically what her rights are, I am doubly concerned that there is a lot more to this story than a typical landlord and tenant agreement.

Lots of home owners on LI rent out rooms to get a little extra income. This is usually not a problem unless the renter has children since children require schooling and someone renting an undocumented space is not paying school taxes. Now, if the landlord included a kitchen and private bath in the space they were renting and it wasn't up to code, then it would be an illegal apartment.

So just renting a room might not get the landlord in trouble or force the tenant to move if reported.

First it was an illegal apartment. Now it's a room in the house - huge difference. With the statement that there is no such thing as a legal apartment on all of LI!
All in all, I think we are throwing darts here.