NYC man lives rent-free in iconic hotel for 20 years, faces charges for false ownership claim

For five years, a New York City man managed to live rent-free in a landmark Manhattan hotel by exploiting a little known local housing law. But his clever scheme took a bizarre turn when he filed paperwork claiming ownership of the entire New Yorker Hotel building, leading to his arrest this week on charges of filing false property records.

How did he manage to stay for free?

Mickey Barreto, 48, as per a CBC report, found a loophole that allowed occupants of single rooms in buildings constructed before 1969 to demand a six-month lease. He and his boyfriend paid about $200 for a room in the Art déco-style New Yorker Hotelbuilt in 1930, and when he asked for a lease, the hotel promptly kicked him out.

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Barreto then took the case to court and won on appeal, eventually obtaining possession of his room. He lived there without paying rent until July 2023 because the building's owners never negotiated a lease with him and couldn't kick him out.

However, as per Manhattan prosecutors, in 2019, Barreto uploaded a fake deed to a city website, claiming ownership of the entire building from the Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity, which purchased the property in 1976. The church was founded in South Korea by the late Rev. Sun Myung Moon, a self-proclaimed messiah.

He even tried to charge rent to a hotel tenant, "registering the hotel under his name with the New York City Department of Environmental Protection for water and sewage payments, and demanding the hotel's bank transfer its accounts to him".

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said, "As alleged, Mickey Barreto repeatedly and fraudulently claimed ownership of one of the City's most iconic landmarks, the New Yorker Hotel."

The New Yorker Hotel, situated a block from Madison Square Garden and Penn Station, has been an iconic landmark in the city. The hotel has a rich history, having hosted notable figures like inventor Nikola Tesla and boxer Muhammad Ali.

Barreto's legal saga is ongoing, with the Unification Church suing him over the deed claim in 2019. He argues that the judge who gave him possession of his room indirectly gave him the entire building because it had never been subdivided. However, a judge ruled that Barreto cannot portray himself as the owner of the building in the meantime.

Barreto claims his actions are aimed at denying profits to the Unification Church, known for conducting mass weddings and criticised for its recruiting methods and relationship with North Korea.

(With inputs from agencies)