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.“They terrorized this whole neighborhood,” said P.J.Ximenez, the building’s new manager.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...