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Q&A
Addressing squatting issues in NYCHA apartments
1:54:20
ยท
103 sec
Council Member Marmorato raises concerns about squatting in NYCHA apartments and questions the authority's approach to addressing this issue. NYCHA officials explain the complexities involved in identifying and removing squatters.
- Discussion of the 30-day period after which squatters may gain rights to stay
- NYCHA officials highlight different types of squatting situations
- Challenges in verifying legitimate occupancy vs. squatting
- Council member emphasizes the need for quicker action on known squatting cases
Kristy Marmorato
1:54:20
And I wanna just touch on squatting because my time is limited.
1:54:24
This is public housing.
1:54:26
Wouldn't you wanna address squatting, like, before the thirty days are up where they actually have rights to stay in the apartment?
1:54:33
I mean, don't you wanna find a pathway to success for these people to be in these apartments legally and the right way?
Lisa Bova-Hiatt
1:54:43
Absolutely.
1:54:44
But there are many different types of squatters.
1:54:46
There are people who go into vacant apartments.
1:54:48
There are people who find out that a tenant is deceased and get in, know the sheer volume is something that is very difficult to manage.
1:55:03
Additionally, so thirty days is not a tremendous amount of time but as Ms.
1:55:09
Trimble said earlier, we've been working very closely with the police department to get people out.
1:55:17
And one other thing that we should mention is sometimes we need to make sure that the person in therewe get calls all the time saying there's a squatter living next door to me, but we have to do the research to make sure that they're actually a squatter.
1:55:32
They could be somebody with rights because they're exactly a remaining family member.
Kristy Marmorato
1:55:38
Yeah.
1:55:39
I I mean, I have two specific incidents that I I could have given you the information and these people could have been thrown out almost immediately that they are squatting in these apartments.
1:55:47
And it doesn't take much to investigate, and I think you need to really put that on the forefront of what you guys are doing because that that will free up of a lot of apartments.
1:55:55
And I I think it really posts a big public safety issue for the other families that wanna live there peacefully and safely.
1:56:01
So alright.
1:56:02
Thank you, chair.
1:56:03
I'm done.
1:56:03
Thank you.