Residents of the Robert Fulton Houses in Chelsea say they are trapped by an unauthorized occupant and a wave of chaos in their building, and claim city authorities have failed to restore order or protect them from escalating threats.
Tenants at the 25-story public housing tower on West 17th Street describe a living nightmare that began after the death of longtime resident Harvey Wasserman in June 2024. According to court documents cited by the New York Post, a man named Stuart Newman moved into Wasserman’s vacated apartment and has refused to leave for more than two years, despite repeated complaints and a lawsuit filed by the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA).
Tenants say the consequences have been severe. Reports of open drug use, public defecation, and brazen harassment have become routine, and a string of arrests connected to the disputed unit has done little to curb the disorder. The building’s own tenant association head, Miguel Acevedo, says police “have dragged them out of there, they come right back. It’s beyond crazy.”
Some residents now arm themselves for protection, fearing the unpredictable behavior of those occupying the apartment and congregating in common areas. Gladys Gonzalez, who lives on the 21st floor, told the Post she carries a hammer when leaving her home and described scenes of naked trespassers and drug use in the halls. “I get that they’re homeless, but it’s not just the squatting, it’s the drugs, it’s the pissing, it’s the s, t,” Gonzalez said. “I come out of my apartment with a hammer, it’s me or them.”
Even after five arrests related to the unit since 2025, residents say the situation keeps spiraling, and the city’s response remains slow and ineffective.
NYCHA filed a lawsuit against Newman in November, aiming to remove him from the apartment. But tenants say the legal process has dragged on while their safety erodes. Amelia Martinez, a tenant of 10 years, expressed her frustration: “All of a sudden they have squatter rights. They got a lawyer, so they can’t be evicted. You have to go through the court system. That’s crazy. If I did that, they’d arrest me, walker and all... it’s disgusting.”
According to an NYPD spokesperson cited by the Post, police have made five arrests connected to the unit since 2025. One involved menacing a 58-year-old with a frying pan; another, striking a 56-year-old with a vase. Just days before the Post’s visit, a 42-year-old was reportedly struck in the head, arm, and leg with a metal pipe. The investigation into that attack is ongoing.
Despite these interventions, residents say little has changed. As Acevedo put it, “The police have dragged them out of there, they come right back.” The revolving door of enforcement and return has left many feeling abandoned by both NYCHA and the NYPD.
The accounts from inside the building are harrowing. Gonzalez detailed the relentless mess and intimidation: “They piss on my floor, they s, t on my floor.... The door looks like that because the homeless they were throwing bricks at it one day because he wouldn’t let them in to get high.” She also described an incident involving a transgender person sleeping on her floor and a naked man exposing himself while laughing at her. “Nothing ever happens,” she said. “And what do they say? Oh, it’s public housing, we just gotta deal with it. Nobody should be subject to this.”
One female tenant, who declined to be named for fear of retaliation, said she’s afraid to leave her apartment: “One day the squatter was dressed in black, he had a black hat and all of a sudden, he gets right there and he pulls out a knife, and he’s just sizing it up and going, ‘You’re not going to kill me.’... I don’t think it’s fair for me to face them as a single female. I pay $1,000 a month and they’re living here free and scaring the s, t out of me.”
Other residents report seeing clothing, syringes, and urine in the stairwells. Gonzalez said, “They clean it up every day, housing comes every day and brings down stuff from the 25th floor.” But the cycle repeats, leaving tenants to fend for themselves.
NYCHA deputy press secretary Andrew Sklar insisted, “NYCHA staff routinely work with the NYPD to address issues concerning unauthorized occupants and loitering on NYCHA property.” The Housing Authority told the Post it has launched a monthly inspection program to check for vacant units being taken over, and has discovered about 40 more such cases since a Department of Investigation report in March found at least 548 unauthorized occupancies between 2022 and 2025.
Representatives from the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office said they are working to identify the people staying in the building. But for the people who actually live there, these actions feel like too little, too late.
As Gonzalez summed it up: “It’s a constant battle with NYCHA, with the police, with the borough.”
The complaints at Fulton Houses echo a deeper crisis in New York’s handling of public housing and vagrancy. Even after documented reports of hundreds of unlawful occupancies, city agencies struggle to enforce the most basic standards of law and order. Tenants who pay rent and follow the rules are left to deal with violence, filth, and intimidation while those who break the law exploit legal loopholes and slow-moving bureaucracy.
With public officials offering only slow-walked statements and procedural fixes, it’s the working-class New Yorkers, many elderly, disabled, or raising families, who shoulder the consequences of a system that looks the other way.
Broken promises and endless delays have become the status quo in New York public housing, and the people footing the bill are the ones left holding the hammer.
