Squatter Uprising: A Clarification
January 7th, 2009
After reading our article last week about the 11 former East Village squatter buildings and their rocky process toward converting to co-ops, attorney Adam Leitman Bailey wanted to clarify a few points. First, he said, just because his client, the Rainbow Co-op, at 274 E. Seventh St., is the first of the buildings to sue for outright ownership under adverse possession, it doesn’t mean the other 10 former squats don’t also have excellent cases. “All of the buildings have the requisite elements to meet the requirements for adverse possession,” Bailey explained in an e-mail. “We decided to pick one building as the test case to keep the judge and the facts focused. Once we have a victory in this case, then the other buildings will also be filing. The 274 E. Seventh St. building decided BY THEMSELVES to be the first to sue. The decision was made as a result of the character of the residents. They are real leaders and very courageous. Other buildings joke that they went first because they are German and the best organized.”