Video: Bayside Council Member Exchanges Curses With Local 'Squatter'

QUEENS, NY — Bayside Councilwoman Vickie Paladino said she makes it a habit to converse with constituents, this week including an expletive-filled exchange with a so-called squatter.

Paladino and a man — who she said lives unlawfully in a College Point home near 146th Street — exchanged insults and threats Monday in the dilapidated home's driveway, according to a video posted on her official Twitter.

"This is a disgrace," Paladino says to the man behind the wheel of a red car. "You're going to make sure you get out."

"Go f--- yourself," he counters, to which Paladino responds: "Go f--- yourself, how's that?"

The conversation escalates from there, as Paladino tells the man he's been served eviction papers, demands to know what business he does in the house and asks what he's smoking.

"Weed," the man says, blowing smoke in Paladino's face.

The house appears to be a property at 146-26 20th Road (although Paladino said it was on 20th Avenue a block away) based on Google Maps images on Department of Building records.

The property was issued a partial vacate order by the buildings department in July, after the agency determined that the building's cracked roof and rear wall pose a safety hazard.

The home has been in foreclosure for several years, property records show, and neighbors have been issuing building department complaints for nearly a decade, saying the building is "falling apart" and looking "unstable" and "unsafe."

Reached for comment, Paladino told Patch the exchange is an example of her doing her job as an elected official.

"As I always say, I was elected to do my job and I am always going to directly address the issue at hand," she said in a written statement. "I do not hesitate to go out into my district and talk to my constituents when they have a problem."

The property where Paladino confronted the "squatter" presents an unspecified issue for homeowners and is part of a squatting problem afflicting her district and the city at large, the lawmaker contended.

"Squatters are a problem throughout our city, thanks to years of bad policy, and my district has not been immune," she said. "Homeowners have rights and our neighborhoods deserve better. More action coming," she added on Twitter.

Paladino didn't respond directly to Patch's question as to the specific actions she is planning to take to protect homeowners, short of saying she's working with local leaders and law enforcement officials.

"I have heard from my community and have been actively working with civic leaders and law enforcement to restore the integrity of our neighborhoods. This is a hands-on job and I will not be intimidated," she said in the statement.

The issue of squatting has come up in Bayside in the past.

In March, neighbors and politicians argued that people illegally renting a home in Bayside were to blame for a shooting that hurt one teenager.

Airbnb ultimately suspended the house's listing indefinitely under pressure, Patch reported.