A New York City councilwoman is going viral for a toe-to-toe confrontation with a pot-smoking alleged squatter in her Queens district.
Vickie Paladino, a first-term Republican who won election to her seat in northeast Queens by almost 7 points in 2021, according to Ballotpedia, posted a video of the encounter on Monday.
“There’s a known squatter house in my district at 20th Ave and 146th street in College Point. This morning I viewed the house and confronted the squatters personally,” she said in the tweet.
“This will not stand on my watch,” Paladino said. “Homeowners have rights and our neighborhoods deserve better. More action coming.”
The clip begins with a man backing out of a driveway in a maroon car. It’s unclear what preceded it, but his window was already rolled down.
“Can I help you with something?” the man, identified as the squatter, said.
“Yeah, it’s a disgrace,” Paladino replied, pointing at the house.
He told the councilwoman, in slightly more vulgar language, to go have intimate relations with herself. She returned the favor. After a bit of inaudible exchange, she walked away from the car, letting the man know he has an eviction notice.
“Oh, I did?” he said.
“Oh yeah. And you’re going to make sure you get out,” Paladino shot back. “Because we won’t have this goings-on in this neighborhood. It won’t happen. It just won’t happen.”
“I’m sorry,” the man said sarcastically.
“You’re not sorry,” Paladino responded.
“No, I’m not,” he said.
Paladino then noted the “broken windows” at the property, some boarded up, and asked the man, “What are you dealing out of this house?”
At this point, he got out of the car and asked her what she said; she repeated the question.
Our gentleman squatter, clearly a man of sophistication, then got in Paladino’s face: “Why don’t you do f***in’ me a favor and get the f*** over there?” he said, pointing further down the sidewalk.
“You’re threatening an elected official,” she said.
“I don’t give a f*** who you are!” the man responded. “You’re still over here! Go the f*** over there!”
“I will step right over here,” she said, taking two steps back.
As the man moved away, Paladino asked what he had in his mouth, referring to the rolled smokable from which he had been taking puffs since the beginning of the clip.
“Weed!” he exclaimed. “It’s legal!”
Yeah, but not when you’re driving a car, as this individual was.
He then said “Go f*** yourself,” and walked away.
WARNING: The following video contains graphic language that some viewers will find offensive.
There’s a known squatter house in my district at 20th Ave and 146th street in College Point. This morning I viewed the house and confronted the squatters personally.
This will not stand on my watch. Homeowners have rights and our neighborhoods deserve better. More action coming. pic.twitter.com/8Qtr6y5cnr
— Councilwoman Vickie Paladino (@VickieforNYC) August 15, 2022
Conservatives on Twitter cheered the councilwoman for her confrontation with the alleged squatter:
Criminals operate with impunity in @ericadamsfornyc’s New York City. Thank you, @VickieforNYC, for standing up for your constituents’ rights.
It’s hard to imagine weak members of @NYCCouncil (e.g.,@OsseChi) acting so forthrightly against crime. (We still await his flag update!) https://t.co/R2kSjvTJvL
— New York Young Republican Club ??? (@NYYRC) August 15, 2022
It’s legal to operate a car while smoking weed? Good for you Vickie
— Ryan James Girdusky (@RyanGirdusky) August 15, 2022
Unbelievable! On a different note…if only more Republicans in NYC were like @VickieforNYC
— Nicholas Chamberas (@NICKBKNYUSA) August 15, 2022
You are doing the lords work. Thank you @VickieforNYC! I wish more electeds had the guts to stand up for their constituents like this. What an insufferable disgusting man-boy this clown he is.
— David ? (@NotNiceDavid) August 15, 2022
Stefano Forte, a GOP candidate for New York state Senate, said, “The fact that this squatter’s actions are so brazen just goes to show how severely the rule of law and respect for authority have been decimated in New York. Why would he care when there’s 0 accountability?”
The fact that this squatter’s actions are so brazen just goes to show how severely the rule of law and respect for authority have been decimated in New York. Why would he care when there’s 0 accountability?
Vickie Paladino has nerves of steel. Never mess with a Whitestone mom! https://t.co/QxNcBigrnt
— Stefano Forte for State Senate (@stef4senate) August 15, 2022
Sadly, Forte is probably correct in his assessment. Even with new Mayor Eric Adams, who promised a return to law-and-order policing in New York during his 2021 campaign, the likelihood this man will see any real consequences for squatting in a house are slim at best.
Should it be easier to evict squatters?
This is what happens when progressives view squatting as a symptom of an unjust society, not as a crime in which a person usurps someone else’s property without recompense — and usually without any eye toward taking care of it.
Leftist politicians have made it so difficult to evict squatters that in Portland, Oregon, one homeowner actually offered a discount to anyone who would buy her house and remove the squatters from it themselves.
New York isn’t quite as bad as Portland — yet. That said, unless politicians take a page from Vickie Paladino and start standing up to people like this, the problem will only get worse.
