Security guard hired to keep squatters away from abandoned NYC mansion
Ma
nhattan NY Dec 13 2021 A homeless man busted squatting inside an empty multimillion-dollar Manhattan townhouse Friday returned to the luxury digs Saturday morning prompting property managers to hire a security guard to ward off future trespassers, The Post has learned.
Timoor Girodes, 44, was arrested and charged with criminal trespassing and trespassing, just a day after he was issued a summons when cops found him and two others allegedly squatting inside the sprawling Upper East Side home, police said.
He has some 35 prior arrests, according to police sources.
Security guard Civy “Kutty” Merritt, 42, arrived later Saturday to keep watch over the 5,000-square-foot home, owned by Richard Stark, co-founder of Chrome Hearts, a luxury retail brand celebrated by the likes of Jay-Z and Bella Hadid for its edgy silver jewelry and black clothes.
“One of the three people happened to be here this morning so they called in a company,” Merritt told The Post.
Security guard Civy “Kutty” Merritt was stunned how luxurious the abandoned townhouse is.
He was posted up on the second-floor balcony of 159 E. 64th St. in a plush chair as he worked a 17-hour shift to scare off vagrants from the long-vacant home, which was last on the market for $14 million in 2013.
The palatial spread had piles of leaves at the front door on Friday, and was devoid of furniture on the first floor.
Neighbors had described the abandoned four-bedroom, four-bathroom home — with its own private courtyard — as a blight on the ritzy street, but Merritt said it was still “really nice” inside.
The 5,000-square-foot townhouse was last up for sale for $14 million in 2013.
“I was in awe when I went in there,” the guard said. “They have an old baby tub in there, some type of old Victorian. It’s an old tub. For the most part, there is furniture upstairs. You have two chairs and a table and some older antique furniture.”
The guard said the squatters had caused damage in the home, which was taken off the market seven years ago. A fountain was knocked over and a cleaning crew filled 10 garbage bags with the vagrant’s debris Saturday, he said.
Security guard Civy “Kutty” Merritt plans on patrolling the townhouse in long shifts until a stronger surveillance system is installed“We are going to be doing 24-hours security until they get a new secure lock setting,” he explained. “I’m used to working in worse conditions than this. I do construction sites, bro.”
