Housing Authorities have asked a 73-year-old doll collector to part from her passion or she will be evicted from her studio apartment. The officials say that the doll collection cluttered the public housing apartment and is a fire hazard.

Emily Gibbons has been collecting dolls for 15 years, amassing about 200 of them in her small apartment. The dolls are a medium of happiness for the woman who at times picks one up just to remember the way a baby feels in her arms.

"The dolls per se were not the issue _ it was that the apartment was not up to standard," said Terry Mardula, the housing authority's deputy director. "It was cluttered with too much stuff. She has stuff in the closets causing the doors to come out. They could come down on her. She has heaters blocked."

Housing Authority threatened to evict her if she didn't clear the clutter.

Gibbons has packed away all but about 20 and is temporarily storing the rest at her daughter's home.

Housing officials will inspect her apartment every two months.

Gibbons said she wants to find them new homes. "I can't keep them here and I can't stay here if I want to keep them," Gibbons said.

"I want them to go to someone who loves them," she said.