legal ramifications of breaking a roommate/share agreeme

[ben64st]

This is the scenario, and I'd really appreciate some sound advice:

I just moved to NY from Arizona. I've been living in my place for a month. It's a two family brownstone in Brooklyn, NY, and the LL lives downstairs. My roommate is the only name on the lease, though we moved in at the same time. I signed a share agreement with him stating:

a) the rent (me:$675, him:$725, he got the big room 12x11, mine's 7x10).
b)the term of the agreement (May 31, 2003)
c)that everything else is governed by the lease between my roommate and the landlady.

My roommate has just started demanding that I follow "house rules" for all the common spaces of the apartment, based on a section in his lease with the LL which states:

"HOUSE RULES - In the event that the premises is a portion of a building containing more than one unit, Tenant agrees to abide by all house rules, whether adopted before or after the date of this Agreement, including rules with respect to noise, odors, disposal of refuse, animals, parking, and use of common areas."

He's micromanaging the clause (which was written to deal with landings, foyers, and stairways) into meaning the entire apartment aside from my bedroom.

This all came about when he said I couldn't unpack a new TV that I bought and put it in any of the living rooms to replace his very old set (I didn't realize he was going to have a problem with a brand new TV and DVD player and I said he could put his TV in his bedroom, or on top of, or next to, my new one, if he didn't want to use mine since it is my entertainment center we're BOTH using). His position being I must put the TV my room (which hardly fits a bed), saying he has just cause to make such rules uni-laterally and non-negotiably via our written agreement. He also said if I don't like it, I can break the lease, provided *I* find a roommate he likes to replace me (which I doubt will happen, because no one will make the same mistake I did and rush in, out of necessity, and live with this joker).

There's about 24x11 of common livingroom space (not including kitchen/bath), meaning I'm paying 48% of the rent for a say in roughly 12% of the apartment. I say this ain't right. And I'm concerned we've begun down a slippery slope where he can enact any "house rule" on a whim.

At this point I just want out (he's pretty nuts, to boot), and I want to know what I have to do to leave without any liability. He can keep the security for all I care. The landlady like's me, and she's not going to come after me (I'm not on the lease with her anyway), so my questions are these:

Can I just up and leave now?
Can I up and leave with 28 day notice?
Is there anything I can to do minimize my risk before breaking my agreement with him such as going to a court, etc etc?
And if he comes after me, will I be able to make a case that I didn't feel safe, nor welcome in the apartment?

And as maybe a plan B: Can the landlady and I put me on the apartment's lease without my roommate's approval or consent, giving me equal rights (and thus superceding or nullifying my agreement with him?

This seems ridiculous to me. I just want to bail out on the lease, but I don't know if I have just cause for getting the hell out of dodge.

Thank you for reading all this, and thank you for your help.