For residents of 776 9th Avenue, the name Muhammed Barrow has become all too familiar. Since 2023, he has been arrested multiple times by police from the Midtown North Precinct, mostly for trespassing at the Hell’s Kitchen walk-up — yet neighbors say the problem persists.
According to NYPD arrest records, Barrow’s recent charges in the neighborhood include criminal trespass in the 2nd and 3rd degrees on July 10, 2025, followed the next day by menacing with a weapon, criminal mischief and weapons possession. He was picked up again for criminal trespassing on July 23 (when W42ST happened to be passing by and recorded the arrest) and was charged with robbery on August 4. And on checking his record before publication, we found he had been arrested again for criminal trespassing on Monday, August 18.
Resident Robin Reetz, who has lived in the building for more than five years, says Barrow first began appearing in 2023. At times, he slept in the hallway outside her apartment door for months, leaving belongings, talking on his phone and refusing to leave. She recalls him moving between the building’s roof and hallways, even after locks and “No Trespassing” signs were installed…