A New Hyde Park house at 109 Evans St. has reportedly been occupied by squatters for months with no end in sight, according to neighbors and Islip-based Homeowners Resource Group.
The Evans Street property is less than a 10-minute drive from 39 Brussel Drive, where a pair of Porsche-driving squatters occupied a home for nearly a year before being evicted in early April.
A group of squatters allegedly moved into the Evans Street property last summer, according to a neighbor who wished to remain anonymous. Since then groups of people have rotated in and out of the property, throwing loud parties late at night with five or six cars parked outside of the house, which is now home to five pitbulls which bark in the early hours of the morning. The people occupying the house attract scores of rats by leaving their garbage in the driveway long before pickup, the neighbor said.
“We as neighbors feel very unsafe living near this property,” the neighbor said. “I know friends that won’t pass [that house] with their kids. They’re afraid to walk in front of that house. They never know what’s gonna happen. What if somebody approaches them?”
Homeowners Resource Group President Eva Biondolillo, who specializes in “short sales” for homeowners who need to get their houses off the market quickly, said there has been a noticeable spike in squatter incidents over the past few months.
“This has happened to me dozens of times,” Biondolillo said. “There are scouts out there looking for vacant houses.”
Homeowners Resource Group is a Long Island-company that helps heirs better understand their options when it comes to keeping or selling a property.
Biondolillo said she seeks out “zombie” houses, such as the property left empty on Evans Street after the owner died. Out of the 50 properties she is currently working on, seven of them are occupied by squatters, she said.
In 2023, the Evans Street house was in the midst of the foreclosure process, which she said takes several years in New York State.
The Evans Street property was set to go to auction thanks to the cooperation of the seller, who was the late homeowner’s son, when people broke into the home, she said.
It is unclear how many people are currently occupying the home, though neighbors reportedly witnessed additional people moving furniture and a large television into the property about two weeks ago.
“The unknown is the part that the neighborhood is afraid of, what’s inside that [house],” the neighbor said. “What are those people up to?”
The neighbor said Councilwoman Christine Liu has been very helpful and Town officials from the building department have visited the property multiple times.
“The Town’s code enforcement officers are taking the complaints regarding the garbage, rodents, and dogs very seriously and I continue to monitor the situation personally by speaking to neighbors and following up with our enforcement agents,” Liu said in a statement.
Liu said the current property titleholder has filed for the squatters’ eviction and the Town has issued several code violations on the property over the past few months, including possession of unlicensed and unvaccinated dogs and improper garbage disposal.
Biondolillo attributes the increase in New York State squatters – and the subsequent struggle to evict them – to “professional squatters,” or people who know how to manipulate state squatters’ rights to their advantage.
She referenced a viral TikToker with an online following of 500,000 who teaches social media users how to invoke squatter’s rights in empty homes.
The resulting eviction processes can be both drawn-out and costly, Biondolillo said.
If the bank does not work with her on evicting the alleged squatters at 109 Evans St., for example, Biondolillo said her company would have to spend $5,000 on an eviction proceeding – and, unfortunately, she said banks are being “less cooperative” lately.
“You would think that they would want these properties off their plate,” Biondolillo said.
And Animal Control employees, who allegedly visited the property, are also unable to speed along the eviction process.
“Everything has to go through the court system,” Biondolillo said, “and the court system is so slow.”