The New York Post alleges that Occupy Wall Street shunned the homeowner of the foreclosed home in East New York that the movement reclaimed for a homeless family last month. "They’re trying to take a house and say the bank is robbing the people because the mortgage is too high—so contact the owner!" Wise Ahadzi told the paper. Ahadzi, a single father of a 3-year old and a 10-year-old, has been confirmed to be in foreclosure proceedings since 2009.
Ahadzi goes on to say that the police informed him of his home's occupation last month, and that OWS protesters urged him not to call the authorities. "Why can't you fight for me?" he says he asked them. His lawyer told him that the coordinators of the occupation said Ahadzi had "to be with an organization and they’ll deal with the bank and you have to be homeless."
Ahadzi currently lives in a rental home in Brownsville, and told the Post he was a former day trader who lost his job in 2009 and saw the value of the home drop from $424,500 in 2007 to $150,000. He says he left when foreclosure proceedings began in 2009.
Alfredo Carrasquillo, the homeless VOCAL-NY activist who was placed in the home with his two children and girlfriend Tasha Glasgow, wasn't present when the Post reporter visited last week. "They only stay here sometimes," one protester in the house said, explaining that the home—which lacked electricity and heating— is not yet ready to house children. Protesters interviewed in the home say they've spent $9,000 on renovations to the house, and that they're nearing completion of work done in the basement.
“I’m pissed off,” Ahadzi said. “I’m trying to get my house back, and they’re trying to take it from me.” We'll look further into this story as it develops in the coming week.
