A man paid $200.57 for one night at a famous NYC hotel, then lived there rent-free for years. Now he could go to jail.

S E E D E D   C O N T E N T

Kenneth Niemeyer, Alcynna Lloyd - Updated April 12, 2024 at 4:43 AM

A man paid $200.57 for one night at a famous NYC hotel, then lived there rent-free for years. Now he could go to jail.

• Mickey Barreto booked a one-night stay at the New Yorker Hotel in 2018 for $200.57.

• He stayed and paid no rent for five years thanks to a local housing law.

• Police arrested him in February. He's now facing fraud charges and possible jail time.

A New Yorker successfully lived in the iconic New Yorker Hotel building for half a decade without paying a single cent in rent — but the jig is up.

Police arrested Mickey Barreto in February and charged him with filing fraudulent property records after he attempted to claim homeownership of the hotel, according to the Manhattan District Attorney's Office.

Prosecutors said Barreto skirted thousands of dollars worth of rent payments by exploiting a little-known local housing law and then attempted to charge another tenant in the building rent.

The latter was the last straw for the district attorney.

"As alleged, Mickey Barreto repeatedly and fraudulently claimed ownership of one of the City's most iconic landmarks, the New Yorker Hotel," Alvin Bragg, Manhattan's district attorney, said in a statement.

Barreto is facing 24 charges, including 14 felony fraud counts. If he's found guilty, he could be sentenced to several years in prison, The New York Times reported.

Barreto's residency at the renowned hotel — which in its heyday hosted many dignitaries and celebrities, including Muhammad Ali and John F. Kennedy — dates back to 2018 when he first learned about New York City's Rent Stabilization Code. This law grants tenants who live in individual rooms within buildings built prior to 1969 the right to request a six-month lease.

The entrance to the New Yorker Hotel.Kevin Webb/Business Insider

After staying in room 2565 for a single night for a total cost of $200.57, Barreto decided that he was, in fact, a tenant.

However, when Barreto requested a six-month lease from the hotel, he was promptly evicted.

Barretto — a California transplant with a penchant for conspiracy theories who also claims to be the leader of a tribal community he founded in Brazil, according to The New York Times — refused to take no for an answer.

Barreto was eventually caught in a web of lies

In 2018, Barreto sued the Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity, which bought the New Yorker Hotel in 1976. Despite the initial denial by a judge, the case escalated to the state Supreme Court. In the end, Barreto won his appeal by default because the building's owners didn't show up for the trial.

The hotel was ordered to give Barreto a key, but the two parties never agreed on lease terms. Because he couldn't be evicted, he lived at the hotel rent-free.

The lobby of the New Yorker Hotel.Shutterstock

In July, a judge ruled in favor of the hotel, citing Barreto's failure to sign a lease or pay rent, the Times reported.

The DA's office said that for years, Barreto falsely portrayed himself as the hotel's owner and attempted to profit from the building, including registering the hotel under his name with the city's Department of Environmental Protection as part of an effort to gain control of the hotel's bank accounts.

In 2019, the Unification Church sued Barreto for representing himself as the hotel's owner on LinkedIn and uploading a forged deed to a city website. The case is ongoing, and in the interim, Barreto has been ordered to stop asserting that he owns the building.

Business Insider reached out to Barreto through his company, Mickey Barreto Missions, but didn't receive a response before publication.

"I never intended to commit any fraud. I don't believe I ever committed any fraud," Barreto told The Associated Press. "And I never made a penny out of this."

The check-in desk at the New Yorker Hotel.Sharkshock

Barreto — who claims to be a direct descendant of Christopher Columbus, according to the Times — is now awaiting trial.

In another bizarre move, Barreto claimed he placed his one phone call to the White House prior to his release from police custody, leaving a message disclosing his location.

There's no evidence to suggest any connection between Barreto and the White House, the Times reported.

When reached for comment by BI, the NYPD directed questions to the district attorney's office.