A group of nearly two dozen squatters terrorized a Brooklyn neighborhood after taking control of a vacant $4 million brownstone, The New York Post reported. Police finally emptied the building in South Williamsburg on Monday, arresting one of the squatters who authorities say vandalized a motorcycle outside a nearby motorcycle shop.
The building’s new manager, P.J. Ximenez, said the squatters broke into the building on Sept. 21, taking over the second floor and installing a door barricade. He told the Post, “When I first came in here, I found a bunch of needles and [heroin] spoons, and two used Narcans. So, I guess two people must’ve OD’d in here.”
The squatters also broke into an attached carriage house behind the building, barricading the door with sheets of corrugated steel.
“They’re professionals; they planned this,” Ximenez said, “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?'”
Ximenez said the squatters showed police a lease purportedly signed by the building’s previous owner, but the woman had died in 2020. The building’s new owner, who purchased the building in 2021, has hired a cadre of security guards to patrol the property.
The group generated 17 complaints to the 311 line between Sept. 21 and Oct. 2, with one resident saying, “These idiot kids were always blocking the sidewalk, and they’d get real nasty if you asked them to step aside.” She added, “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.”
The 311 number in New York is used for nonemergencies.
Kate McManus ✉
Kate McManus is a New Jersey-based Newsmax writer who's spent more than two decades as a journalist.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.