New York City man exploits housing rule to live rent-free in iconic hotel for five years

A man from New York City took advantage of a little-known local housing rule to live rent-free in a famous Manhattan hotel for five years.

However, prosecutors said this week that Mickey Barreto exceeded himself when he attempted to charge a different tenant rent and submitted documentation claiming ownership of the entire New Yorker Hotel property.

On Wednesday (February 14), he was arrested and charged with filing false property records.

However, 48-year-old Barreto claims he was taken aback when cops with rifles and bulletproof shields came up to his boyfriend's flat. He believes that the case ought to be handled civilly rather than criminally.

“I said ’Oh, I thought you were doing something for Valentine’s Day to spice up the relationship until I saw the female officers,’” Barreto recalled telling his boyfriend.

Barreto’s indictment on fraud and criminal contempt charges is just the latest chapter in the years-long legal saga that began when he and his boyfriend paid about $200 to rent one of the more than 1,000 rooms in the towering Art Deco structure built in 1930.

Barreto claims that shortly after moving to New York from Los Angeles, his partner informed him about a legal loophole that permits tenants in single-room apartments in buildings built prior to 1969 to request a six-month lease. Barreto asserted that he qualified as a renter since he had paid for a night's stay at the motel.