CITY SEIZES HOMESTEADS
Jane Churchman
Saturday, January 28, 2006
"You're bullies! Just like bullies in the school yard! Didn't your Momma teach you right!"
screamed a woman who works at the local school at New York police officers standing
behind barriers on Avenue B. "I'm just doing my job." "So were the Nazis," rebutted a
young man from Switzerland. It was Tuesday, May 30, the morning after Memorial Day,
when veterans of foreign wars had paraded down the streets of a free America.
screamed a woman who works at the local school at New York police officers standing
behind barriers on Avenue B. "I'm just doing my job." "So were the Nazis," rebutted a
young man from Switzerland. It was Tuesday, May 30, the morning after Memorial Day,
when veterans of foreign wars had paraded down the streets of a free America.
But at 4:30 A.M. on the Lower East Side in New York City, the NYPD deployed
250 officers from Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Bronx precincts, the Housing Police, and the
Emergency Service Unit to the Lower East Side. They came to evict about 100 unarmed
squatters who had been homesteading 539,541, and 545 East 13th Street for over ten
years, and whose claim of "adverse possession" to those buildings was being litigated in
State Supreme Court before Justice Elliott Wilko
250 officers from Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Bronx precincts, the Housing Police, and the
Emergency Service Unit to the Lower East Side. They came to evict about 100 unarmed
squatters who had been homesteading 539,541, and 545 East 13th Street for over ten
years, and whose claim of "adverse possession" to those buildings was being litigated in
State Supreme Court before Justice Elliott Wilko
City officials want those buildings for part of a $3.98 million "low-income"
housing project. And they wanted the homesteaders out. They issued vacate orders stating
the buildings were in imminent danger of collapse, a claim Justice Wilk characterized as a
"fraud", meant only to circumvent his stay on the eviction by going to the Appellate Court.
City officials did not wait for a determination by Justice Wilk in Supreme Court or for
rulings on the issue of safety to be argued in Appellate Court in September.
housing project. And they wanted the homesteaders out. They issued vacate orders stating
the buildings were in imminent danger of collapse, a claim Justice Wilk characterized as a
"fraud", meant only to circumvent his stay on the eviction by going to the Appellate Court.
City officials did not wait for a determination by Justice Wilk in Supreme Court or for
rulings on the issue of safety to be argued in Appellate Court in September.
The City ordered the police to implement their vacate order. By 6 A.M. a phalanx
had cordoned off a five-block area. They stood four-deep behind barriers. They were
armed. They carried .38-cal. revolvers, 9-mm. Glock 19 semiautomatics. They were
outfitted with tear gas, mace, and pepper gas. Special forces with machine guns slung over
their shoulders unloaded from vans. Sharpshooters brandished their weapons on rooftops.
The Fire Department stood ready.
had cordoned off a five-block area. They stood four-deep behind barriers. They were
armed. They carried .38-cal. revolvers, 9-mm. Glock 19 semiautomatics. They were
outfitted with tear gas, mace, and pepper gas. Special forces with machine guns slung over
their shoulders unloaded from vans. Sharpshooters brandished their weapons on rooftops.
The Fire Department stood ready.
The homesteaders had expected the attack. They vowed to resist peacefully, but not
to make it easy for the police to evict them. By 2 A.M. they had barricaded access to the
street with debris usually found in abandoned lots throughout the Lower East Sideheaps
of furniture, old joists, dumpsters, and the overturned hulk of an abandoned
automobile. They boarded up windows. They welded entrances and doors to apartments
shut. They were playing for time, hoping their lawyers, Stanley Cohen and Jackie
Bukowski, would be able to obtain a stay on the eviction when court opened at 9 A.M ..
to make it easy for the police to evict them. By 2 A.M. they had barricaded access to the
street with debris usually found in abandoned lots throughout the Lower East Sideheaps
of furniture, old joists, dumpsters, and the overturned hulk of an abandoned
automobile. They boarded up windows. They welded entrances and doors to apartments
shut. They were playing for time, hoping their lawyers, Stanley Cohen and Jackie
Bukowski, would be able to obtain a stay on the eviction when court opened at 9 A.M ..
At 9:30 A.M. Any Time Baby, the Emergency Service Unit's 50,000-pound
armored personnel carrier, rolled through a break in the barricades as two police helicopters
buzzed overhead. Officers streamed down the street, removed demonstrators blocking the
buildings, and began sawing through the welded doors. Five sharpshooters leveled
automatic weapons on one lone squatter, who goose-stepped and saluted them Nazi-style.
armored personnel carrier, rolled through a break in the barricades as two police helicopters
buzzed overhead. Officers streamed down the street, removed demonstrators blocking the
buildings, and began sawing through the welded doors. Five sharpshooters leveled
automatic weapons on one lone squatter, who goose-stepped and saluted them Nazi-style.
It took over two hours to drag the passive resisters from the buildings, hands
bound behind their backs. NYPD arrested 31 on charges of disorderly conduct, resisting
arrest, and obstructing government administration, and sent one in restraints to the hospital.
Department of Buildings personnel then sealed the buildings and installed motion detectors
to forestall squatters from reclaiming their homes.
bound behind their backs. NYPD arrested 31 on charges of disorderly conduct, resisting
arrest, and obstructing government administration, and sent one in restraints to the hospital.
Department of Buildings personnel then sealed the buildings and installed motion detectors
to forestall squatters from reclaiming their homes.
When hearings continued on June 1, Justice Wilk reminded City counselors that
they had no judicial sanction for the eviction: "Nobody said you could. Nobody said you
should. We haven't determined whether they [squatters] should be there or not. ... I have
to consider the effect of your actions .... What better evidence can there be for me of what
I am to consider." He left no room for misinterpretation: "The City fraudulently obtained
those two and a half buildings by creating a crisis that never existed."
they had no judicial sanction for the eviction: "Nobody said you could. Nobody said you
should. We haven't determined whether they [squatters] should be there or not. ... I have
to consider the effect of your actions .... What better evidence can there be for me of what
I am to consider." He left no room for misinterpretation: "The City fraudulently obtained
those two and a half buildings by creating a crisis that never existed."
Thursday, January 05, 2006
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