Fans of famed Curbed-covered squats like the Cave Artists' at 120 St. Marks and the Batcave in Gowanus should head straight to their local orange box and pick up the Neighborhoods issue of L Magazine, which has a cover story on squatting in Brooklyn. The story touches on the history of squatting in New York, which makes for an interesting read, and it focuses on two young "Christian Anarchists" who are living in an abandoned three-story building in Bushwick:
The house they’re currently squatting, the place they call home, has no running water or electricity. Dan and Nate light the space with candles and flashlights, sleep in sleeping bags and have covered massive holes in the roof with plastic tarps. Many owners who abandon their buildings will take a circular saw to the roof to speed up the building’s deterioration and to discourage squatters. The building that Dan and Nate are squatting was slated to be part of a citywide “urban renewal” program that never came to fruition. For a bathroom, Dan and Nate have two buckets, emptied daily — one in the common area and a somewhat more offensive one on the roof, forcing them to make haste with their business on increasingly cold winter days. The “pee bucket” froze solid the other day. “It’s like camping,” says Dan.
Just like camping! Maybe squatting will become a trendy urban sport. Who's in?
· Somewhere in Bushwick: A Squat [L]