City forces co-op to house looter who destroyed it

In a twist of fate, the city of New York has mandated that the 41-unit co-op at 789 MacDonough Street in Bedford-Stuyvesant, which was once a neglected building, must now house a squatter who looted and destroyed it. The building, built in 1930, was left to deteriorate in the 1970s as the landlord abandoned it, leaving residents to deal with the consequences.

The building's regulated rents, which were once around $200 a month, were not enough to keep it from falling apart. As the neighborhood of Bed-Stuy became increasingly dangerous, with residents calling it "Do-or-die Bed-Stuy," the building became a war zone. Lisa Lanier, a longtime resident, described it as a "beautiful, gorgeous building" that was now in ruins.

"It was like living at the OK Corral," Lanier said. "At any given moment, shots would ring out from the corners, and people would scream..."

Despite the neglect and turmoil, the tenants of 789 MacDonough Street were able to come together and purchase the building, becoming owners of their own homes. However, their efforts to revitalize the building were met with yet another challenge when a squatter, who had looted and destroyed the building, was mandated by the city to be housed there.

This absurd situation highlights the contradictions and soft corruption within the housing system, where residents are forced to deal with the consequences of neglect and are then further burdened by mandates from the city. The tenants of 789 MacDonough Street are now left to pick up the pieces once again, while the perpetrator of the destruction is given a place to call home.