Squadron of squatters ‘terrorized’ NYC neighborhood after taking control of $4M brownstone
Almost two dozen disheveled squatters tormented and terrorized the residents and businesses surrounding a vacant $4 million Brooklyn brownstone they commandeered.
The young miscreants stole packages off neighbor’s porches, threatened passersby, damaged private property, got high on the stoop, and set off fireworks in the early morning hours, neighbors told The Post.
The three-story building at 60 S. Fourth St. in South Williamsburg was finally emptied this week, after police forced the squatters back out onto the sidewalk. They also arrested one of them: Ryan Grewal, 26, who was charged with felony criminal mischief for damaging a motorcycle outside nearby JANE Motorcycles, an NYPD spokesperson said.
Grewal told police he lived at 60 S. Fourth Street.
Ximenez said the squatters first took over the entire second floor after breaking into the brownstone on Sept. 21. They installed a door barricade secured with a wooden plank, on which someone scribbled, “Home is where the blunt is.”
“When I first came in here, I found a bunch of needles and [heroin] spoons, and two used Narcans,” Ximenez said. “So, I guess two people must’ve OD’d in here.”
The squatters — including one who walks with a cane that Ximenez said the others call “Tripod” — also busted into an attached carriage house behind the building. They then used sheets of corrugated steel to barricade those doors. Computers stored inside were also stolen, Ximenez said.
Cops boarded up the 6,090-square-foot brownstone on Monday, and by Tuesday, owner Stella Tsang — who purchased the building in 2021 with an eye towards refurbishing and modernizing it — had a rotation of security guards perched on the porch.
The squatters tried convincing police they were there lawfully.
Ximenez, who has lived in the neighborhood for 58 years, said the squatters presented cops with a lease agreement they said was signed by the building’s previous owner, Francine Rosado. It was dated July 25.
“Problem is, Francine died in 2020,” said Ximenez, showing The Post her mass card. “I guess she rose from the dead to sign that lease.”
Ximenez said everything inside the brownstone was moved onto the sidewalk Tuesday, and the squatters later showed up in a van to collect their belongings.
“They’re professionals, they planned this,” Ximenez offered. “And I think they’ve taken over other spots, because when they were getting into that van, one of them had said they were going home, and another goes, ‘Which one?'”
This week, on a tour of the 114-year-old brownstone, The Post was shown the three stained king-sized mattresses the squatters had been sleeping on. Graffiti now marks most of the walls, and since the building has no running water, the squatters urinated into mason jars and defecated into buckets, Ximenez said.
“It was disgusting,” he added.
Between Sept. 21 and Oct. 2, the group generated 17 complaints to 311.
“They took two of my packages,” said one irate resident, who asked not to be named. “I gave cops the footage, so I don’t want them retaliating against my building.”
“These idiot kids were always blocking the sidewalk, and they’d get real nasty if you asked them to step aside,” said Cordelia Dalle, another neighbor who lives a few blocks from the brownstone. “They were loud and they smelled, and I’m really glad this didn’t drag on for months and months, which happens. I hope they don’t come back.”
Ximenez said the squatters should be behind bars, after breaking in, damaging the building, and committing identify theft with the forged lease.
“These are bad people doing drugs,” he said. “They’re not homeless, they’re drug addicts. They’re criminals. They’re domestic terrorists.”
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