Expert analysis puts squatting in New York City at as much as 20% higher over the past two years, and the bungled approach to COVID is clearly part of the problem.
The high-profile nightmares run the gamut, from the crew of illegal immigrant criminals who took up residence in a Bronx squat to the Queens scammer trying to steal a $2 million house out from under an elderly couple with a disabled son.
And the legal absurdities the actual owners face are ugly.
A different Queens homeowner, Adele Andaloro, got arrested for having the temerity to try to get a squatting thug out of her house — which the squatters were reportedly subletting.
Yet another duo sued the legal owners of the house they’d sought to steal and tried to use a Shake Shack receipt as proof of tenancy.
This is all thanks to New York City’s pro-disorder laws, which grant squatters possession after only 30 days, and currently leave no recourse for owners except a lengthy slog through the courts.
