No one expects that someone can steal your house, but that’s what my family faced
NEED TO KNOW
- Squatters tried to take over my childhood home in Queens, N.Y., in early 2024
- My family’s fight to regain control of our house ended up going viral
- The battle is featured in episode 1 of the new Hulu docuseries Squatters: Get the F*** Out of My House
If you asked me about the house where I grew up in Queens, N.Y., I could give you endless answers.
As a kid, I’d tell people it was the pink house, second from the corner. When I was a teenager, I described it by its geographical location — on the border of Flushing, Whitestone and Bayside — and it was always swimming with some assortment of my friends. Whether we were studying for the SATs, having a sleepover or getting ready for prom, it started with a gathering there. I’d tell you it was always loud, but in a good way, with people laughing and discussing and living.
It also holds many bittersweet memories for me. I grew up there with my grandparents and my mom. We lost my grandfather suddenly in 2004, and my grandmother slowly declined due to dementia from then until she died in 2011. In some of the years that followed, having the house and the memories we made in it got us through hard times…