# If only a squat/commune was still possible in nyc..



## dextol76

Disgruntled native new yorker over here completely fed up with this constant plague of gentrifying neighborhoods left and right.. to see a city change so much before your eyes in only the 24 years of life you've stayed in new york. Totally sick of all the disgusting greed that goes into real estate, land use and buy outs in our day and age. There are so many properties out there just sitting around. They wont be for very long because the wave of gentrification will eventually reach the far corners of the entire city. But for now, I want to experience this. And find like minded peeps/equally as frustrated and wanting to do something about it. 

I've been romanticizing this idea that a commune/squat could still be possible in this city. I have started to look around and take down addresses in bk and research the property taxes/owners. 

Anybody else out there feel the same? Lets get the ball rolling and bounce some ideas around, feel free to message me!


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## MJ12

I have a friend in NJ talkin about squatting in New York! I really wanna go check out the scene out there. I've only traveled west


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## Everymanalion

Gentrification will prevent this from being anything more than short-term although NYC is huge. They are buying up "cheap" land everywhere in NYC and turning it into high income housing.


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## dextol76

Everymanalion said:


> Gentrification will prevent this from being anything more than short-term although NYC is huge. They are buying up "cheap" land everywhere in NYC and turning it into high income housing.



You are absolutely correct. Gentrification is like a wild fire spreading throughout the city very quickly. So this idea of squatting would be indeed short term. I'd like to get my feet wet here and then perhaps venture out and leave eventually. 
They do however, like to promise "affordable housing" in these new plots of land being bought. However, theres only so many units that are considered affordable. And don't even get me started on the lottery system they have in place for these units. Its truly a disgrace. Or even eminent domain which happens all the time in this city and is another way of saying "yeah we will buy this land and make it affordable for residents because it will benefit the community!" You are just raising rent costs for everyone surrounded by these ED pieces of land. 
And then theres re-zoning an entire neighborhood from "industrial" to "residential"..

Clearly I have a lot of frustrations on these issues!


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## creature

The problem, of course, is the usual...
those whom simply want to live vs. people who want them to live in a way that simply allows *them* to live, the way they want to, at the expense of others who don't give a fuck about how *anybody* lives, so long as they can live, without being fucked with...

people look at crusties & say "man.. they are like fucking mold..", but the real problem is that the high end assholes are the most expensive ones of all...

the gentry cost this planet the very most of all..


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## Matt Derrick

i could be vastly incorrect here, but nyc in general doesn't really strike me as a place where squatting is possible anymore. sure, it had a great history, but for the most part that's dead, and there's a shit ton of other places in the usa you can go and have a better time of it.

also, i like to visit big cities but i'm not really a fan of living in them anymore.


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## wildboy860

squatting is still alive in well in nyc. they dont last too long for various reasons stated above. but go to the city and talk to the street kids and you'll find one or a few.


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## Thrasymachus

There is a long running intentional community called Ganas(founded in '79) located in the Saint George section of Staten Island called GANAS. It is very close to the ferry terminal(you can bicycle there in about 3-4 minutes) and riding the ferry is always free. The ferries usually run at least once every 30 minutes and it takes about 25 minutes to reach lower Manhattan.

You can visit there for $45 a day and stay for $710 a month and that includes food, toiletries, etc. Basically the only thing you would need after that is money for your own entertainment, maintaining some kind of vehicle like a bicycle, a Metrocard, etc. That includes dinner every night(and they serve vegan food as well), and usually there are leftovers after for the next morning, lunch. The other meals you would have to prepare yourself. If you want the grocery shopper to purchase something for you, every house has a list affixed to the refigerator and you just list the items you want and the shopper will purchase them for you. The community has 8 houses, and the key you get opens every house. Each house has several shared spaces anyone can access(even if they are from another house), and also private rooms. GANAS also has three businesses that revolve around recycling and selling stuff that would otherwise wind up in a dumpster, a coffee/book store, a clothing store and a furniture store. The stores are worker co-operatives if you work there, you can stay without rent and you also get paid a little, up to $300 per month. Which is actually very low pay, but a work week is only 35 hours.

I have actually been thinking of quitting my job in passenger rail and moving to GANAS. I am sick and tired of living surrounded by assholes who only care about making the most money they can between now and when they die, druggies, crazed consumers, etc. Staten Island is very suburb like, but in like 30 minutes you can go into Manhattan and be near an amazing amount of events, groups and activities and then get out of that chaos and back to Staten Island. Instead of doing all the work people do to meet others to socialize, at GANAS there are always plenty of people to socialize with, etc.


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## Thrasymachus

dextol76 said:


> Gentrification is like a wild fire spreading throughout the city very quickly.



I found this informative article on a train at work that perhaps explains why New York real-estate is expensive:
NY Mag: New York Real Estate is the New Swiss Bank Account

Basically ultra-rich foreigners are massively entering the New York real-estate market to diversify their asset base, evade taxes, have a guaranteed income from renting, stash bribes or other illicit transfers. About 30-35% of the high-end real-estate market is taken up by such foreigners. The article doesn't explain how this effects the rest of the market, but I suspect it the inflation in prices this induces in the high-end, forces rich native New Yorkers to "bump down" those an income bracket or two down from them by outbidding them and thus it trickles down to the whole market.


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## pigpen

It's all happening very fast in brooklyn but there is still plenty of abandos. I used to know some kids who paid the first month or so rent on a shitty 6 bedroom house in bed-stuy (the john bosch house it was called) and then due to the "unlivable" conditions of the place as defined by the housing court they went on rent strike, which basically means going to court and saying "were not paying rent until our landlord brings the house up to code". I think they stayed there rent free for two years, maybe more. I'd read into it more before trying it, but this is how i remember the situation being explained to me when i stayed there some years ago.


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## arianaholland1

dextol76 said:


> Disgruntled native new yorker over here completely fed up with this constant plague of gentrifying neighborhoods left and right.. to see a city change so much before your eyes in only the 24 years of life you've stayed in new york. Totally sick of all the disgusting greed that goes into real estate, land use and buy outs in our day and age. There are so many properties out there just sitting around. They wont be for very long because the wave of gentrification will eventually reach the far corners of the entire city. But for now, I want to experience this. And find like minded peeps/equally as frustrated and wanting to do something about it.
> 
> I've been romanticizing this idea that a commune/squat could still be possible in this city. I have started to look around and take down addresses in bk and research the property taxes/owners.
> 
> Anybody else out there feel the same? Lets get the ball rolling and bounce some ideas around, feel free to message me!


Gentrification sux! Its going here in SF too via the techies raising rent ):


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## wombatt

There's still plenty of squats in NYC. They aren't quite as organized or actively revolutionary as they used to be but they still exist. Best spots if you want to start your own are in the rockaways or Coney Island if you really want to escape gentrification (also the Bronx but there's no good abandoned buildings there). But if a big organized Christiania esque squat is what you have in mind maybe you should try NJ.


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## Mankini

dextol76 said:


> Disgruntled native new yorker over here completely fed up with this constant plague of gentrifying neighborhoods left and right.. to see a city change so much before your eyes in only the 24 years of life you've stayed in new york. Totally sick of all the disgusting greed that goes into real estate, land use and buy outs in our day and age. There are so many properties out there just sitting around. They wont be for very long because the wave of gentrification will eventually reach the far corners of the entire city. But for now, I want to experience this. And find like minded peeps/equally as frustrated and wanting to do something about it.
> 
> I've been romanticizing this idea that a commune/squat could still be possible in this city. I have started to look around and take down addresses in bk and research the property taxes/owners.
> 
> Anybody else out there feel the same? Lets get the ball rolling and bounce some ideas around, feel free to message me!




Check out the Gateway National Recreation Area!!!!! I'm looking at it right now on Google Maps......Apparently there are old abandoned military bases all over that area. (Staten Island; Floyd Bennett Field near Sheepshead Bay; Sandy Hook; and all over the area SW of JFK. I want to work/jobhunt in Manhattan and need a place to squat temporarily until I save enough $$ to get into a place. Woods suit me just fine: however I absolutely need to be safe from characters and cops.


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## Mankini

arianaholland1 said:


> Gentrification sux! Its going here in SF too via the techies raising rent ):




Damn the techies. I spent all last Spring in the Marin Headlands, Pt Reyes, and Tiburon. Techies, and the roughnecks in GG Park.


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## Mankini

dextol76 said:


> Disgruntled native new yorker over here completely fed up with this constant plague of gentrifying neighborhoods left and right.. to see a city change so much before your eyes in only the 24 years of life you've stayed in new york. Totally sick of all the disgusting greed that goes into real estate, land use and buy outs in our day and age. There are so many properties out there just sitting around. They wont be for very long because the wave of gentrification will eventually reach the far corners of the entire city. But for now, I want to experience this. And find like minded peeps/equally as frustrated and wanting to do something about it.
> 
> I've been romanticizing this idea that a commune/squat could still be possible in this city. I have started to look around and take down addresses in bk and research the property taxes/owners.
> 
> Anybody else out there feel the same? Lets get the ball rolling and bounce some ideas around, feel free to message me!



Oh and sweet pic BTW.


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## Mankini

http://www.nps.gov/gate/planyourvisit/fees.htm

I have camped at many a national park. Many times you can live near the campground while appearing to be in and of the campground, for a very long time. The sites in the link above are on Staten Island. Cant' beat it!!!! Never paying $50+ for a hostel bed in NYC ever again!!


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## Cabbage

dextol76 said:


> Disgruntled native new yorker over here completely fed up with this constant plague of gentrifying neighborhoods left and right.. to see a city change so much before your eyes in only the 24 years of life you've stayed in new york. Totally sick of all the disgusting greed that goes into real estate, land use and buy outs in our day and age. There are so many properties out there just sitting around. They wont be for very long because the wave of gentrification will eventually reach the far corners of the entire city. But for now, I want to experience this. And find like minded peeps/equally as frustrated and wanting to do something about it.
> 
> I've been romanticizing this idea that a commune/squat could still be possible in this city. I have started to look around and take down addresses in bk and research the property taxes/owners.
> 
> Anybody else out there feel the same? Lets get the ball rolling and bounce some ideas around, feel free to message me!



You want to start a commune or at least an alt living space? Just found a cheap as fuck place in bushwick its a 4 bedroom and I have some open rooms. My boyfriend and I used to hop trains but now we're settling down, he's a musician and I'm an artist. We're gonna be living with another one of my friends thats a nude model.


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## pynka

Cabbage said:


> You want to start a commune or at least an alt living space? Just found a cheap as fuck place in bushwick its a 4 bedroom and I have some open rooms. My boyfriend and I used to hop trains but now we're settling down, he's a musician and I'm an artist. We're gonna be living with another one of my friends thats a nude model.



hey cabbage, i am looking for free places to stay in nyc, particularly long term. im a 28 year old queer visual artist and writer who is trying to leave a very bad living situation with my parents asap and need longer term free housing. do you house ppl or would be willing?


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