Aging Squatters Ready to "Buy In," But Can't Sell High

There's a sprawling but informative article in this week's Villager about the state of some former East Village squats that have been made into legal residences through an unprecedented deal with the city—a deal that some squatters are now calling raw. Long story short, the squatters were allowed to stay in the buildings after the city agreed to sell them for $1 each in 2002 to the nonprofit Urban Homesteading Assistance Board [UHAB], which promised to get them up to code within a year.

Six years later, some of the buildings are only now getting their formal conversion to co-op. Some squatters accuse UHAB of mismanaging the renovations by hiring incompetent, overpriced contractors, and one group is suing for outright ownership of their building. Worse, the city's deal prevents the squatters from selling their units for market value, leaving some, like 53-year-old Michael Shenker, squat-proud but cash-poor: "On the market, I think my place would bring $800,000. I’d be happy with half of that; that could relocate me adequately and safely in a place that is more affordable than New York — Florida or New Mexico or, God knows what, if I have to go to a retirement home." [Photo by "Fly," via Curbed. ]

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By John Del Signore in News on January 6, 2009 5:48 PM

Comments [rss]

KiljoyWasHere

Retiring at 53?

fugothamist

f*ck you Michael Shenker,

r1b2

Michael Shenker can kiss my butt. You get to live there for free all these years (albeit in terrible conditions), but then it's renovated and handed over AND THEN you expect a windfall? Piss off.

WorksInDUMBO

OK, wait, so this guy got his apartment for FREE, lives there RENT-FREE, and is bitching because he can't sell it for $800,000? Did I read that right?

west side Michael

My friends did buy there slum apartments on east 6th street from the city for one dollar when the LL was sent to jail for stealing up front money deposits and renting the same apts. many times over to unsuspecting youngish

tenants.

This was in the late 1980's they made a killing later

selling the apt's as condo's when the buying madness was

at it's peak.

The state of NY still has a lottery going for re-hab

buildings in Harlem whose renovation NYS pays for.

After winning the rights to buy the re hab fairly cheap you have to promise NYS that you will wait 7 years before you sell your building at market rates.Meantime you may get rent from your tenants in that usually brownstone type of building.

Now how the hell do you find this info out

from NYS???

In anyway my relative has just done that lucky lottery deal early last year and is living on 128th street in a great home with backyard with lot's of rent income to boot.