{"id":8171,"date":"2026-09-05T17:35:38","date_gmt":"2026-09-05T17:35:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=8171"},"modified":"2026-09-05T17:35:38","modified_gmt":"2026-09-05T17:35:38","slug":"exclusive-nyc-tenants-beg-for-help-as-splashy-squatter-and-band-of-naked-vagrants-terrorize-housing-project","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=8171","title":{"rendered":"Exclusive | NYC tenants beg for help as splashy squatter and band of naked vagrants terrorize housing project"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

He might look like a clown, but he\u2019s no laughing matter to the beleaguered tenants of a NYCHA building in Chelsea.<\/p>\n

Read more Exclusive | Rob Lowe reveals A-lister \u2018nemesis\u2019 who beat him out for iconic movie roles in \u201980s, \u201990s<\/a><\/p>\n

A vagabond decked out in a kaleidoscopic wardrobe and head scarves has set up camp in a city apartment building where the unhinged squatter and his band of homeless friends have terrorized tenants for more than two years.<\/p>\n

Despite daily complaints about the dangerous situation, tenants said the city seems powerless to remove the man who has laid claim to an apartment to which he has no legal right.<\/p>\n

The squatter, named in court documents as Stuart Newman and described as an aggressive man in his 40s, moved in when the former occupant, 77-year-old Harvey Wasserman, died in June 2024, according to a lawsuit filed by the New York City Housing Authority that November.<\/p>\n

Since then, he\u2019s refused to leave the Robert Fulton Houses, despite being taken to court and repeated visits from the NYPD.<\/p>\n

He was photographed by tenants, emerging from the top of the staircase looking like a deranged parrot, wearing a pastel-colored tropical bird shirt and a makeshift towel turban with dangling multicolored strips of fabric.<\/p>\n

Tenants say he brings in a group of vagrants every night, who regularly attack each other and the residents, shoot drugs, strut around naked and set up furniture in the staircases, hallways and balconies.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe police have dragged them out of there, they come right back. It\u2019s beyond crazy,\u201d the head of the tenant association Miguel Acevedo told The Post. \u201cI think it\u2019s easier to evict a tenant who owes back rent than this squatter.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tenants say the squatter\u2019s homeless pals have tried to take over the top five floors of the 25-floor building, run by the New York City Housing Authority on West 17th Street.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey piss on my floor, they s\u2013t on my floor,\u201d said Gladys Gonzalez, who lives on the 21st floor, one floor above the squat.<\/p>\n

\u201cI get that they\u2019re homeless, but it\u2019s not just the squatting, it\u2019s the drugs, it\u2019s the pissing, it the s\u2013t,\u201d she added. \u201cI come out of my apartment with a hammer \u2014 it\u2019s me or them.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s one that\u2019s transgender, she used to sleep on my floor with her boyfriend. The last time I called the cops, her boyfriend was completely naked, only had a shirt on, no shoes, no underwear, and he was literally rubbing his penis and laughing at me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Police have made five arrests related to the squatter\u2019s unit since 2025, including charges for menacing a 58-year-old tenant with a frying pan, striking a 56-year-old with a vase in the head, and harassment, an NYPD spokesperson told The Post.<\/p>\n

Just this past Thursday, a 42-year-old was hit with a metal pipe, slashing his head, arm and leg. The investigation into that incident is still ongoing. <\/p>\n

Read more New timeline sheds light on final moments of NYC grandma Alisa Goods, found dead in near Vegas airport<\/a><\/p>\n

When The Post visited the building this week, remnants of the chaos from the night before were spotted in an interior staircase, including clothes, syringes and urine. The squatter\u2019s door was marked with a big \u201cA\u201d on it, as well as multiple marks and dents.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe door looks like that because the homeless they were throwing bricks at it one day because he wouldn\u2019t let them in to get high,\u201d said Gonzalez.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey clean it up every day \u2014 housing comes every day and brings down stuff from the 25th floor.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the monthly tenant meeting last week, representatives from the Manhattan District Attorney\u2019s office said they were working to identify the squatters, whose names are not all known, tenants said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll of a sudden they have squatter rights. They got a lawyer, so they can\u2019t be evicted,\u201d slammed Amelia Martinez, another tenant of 10 years. \u201cYou have to go through the court system. That\u2019s crazy. If I did that, they\u2019d arrest me, walker and all . . . it\u2019s disgusting.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNothing ever happens,\u201d lambasted Gonzalez. \u201cAnd what do they say? Oh, it\u2019s public housing \u2014 we just gotta deal with it. Nobody should be subject to this.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a constant battle with NYCHA, with the police, with the borough.\u201d<\/p>\n

One tenant, who didn\u2019t want to be identified because she feared for her safety, said she was scared to leave her apartment.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne day the squatter was dressed in black, he had a black hat and all of a sudden, he gets right there and he pulls out a knife, and he\u2019s just sizing it up and going, \u2018You\u2019re not going to kill me,’\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think it\u2019s fair for me to face them as a single female. I pay $1,000 a month and they\u2019re living here free and scaring the s\u2013t out of me.\u201d<\/p>\n

In March, a NYC Department of Investigation report found that squatters took over at least 548 vacant NYCHA units between 2022 and 2025.<\/p>\n

Since then, NYCHA told The Post it\u2019s found some 40 more, as it\u2019s launched a monthly inspection program into vacant units.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

\u201cNYCHA staff routinely work with the NYPD to address issues concerning unauthorized occupants and loitering on NYCHA property,\u201d Deputy Press Secretary Andrew Sklar told The Post.<\/p>\n

But this squatter has been refusing entry to NYCHA officials, Acevedo told The Post. <\/p>\n

Read more US forces strike 3 Iranian oil tankers near Kharg Island after \u2018unprovoked\u2019 attacks<\/a><\/p>\n

And with authorities seemingly unable to remove him, residents are losing hope.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An unhinged squatter and his gang of homeless friends are terrorizing tenants at the Robert Fulton Houses in Chelsea, with the city seemingly powerless to remove a man who’s camped out in an apartment for two years despite having no legal rights to it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8170,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8171","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-metro"],"yoast_head":"\nExclusive | NYC tenants beg for help as splashy squatter and band of naked vagrants terrorize housing project - Metro Transit Review<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=8171\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Exclusive | NYC tenants beg for help as splashy squatter and band of naked vagrants terrorize housing project - 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