Man indicted for attempting deed theft at iconic New Yorker Hotel

The New Yorker Hotel.

Ermell via Wikimedia Commons

A Manhattan man has been indicted for allegedly attempting to steal the deed for the iconic New Yorker Hotel in Midtown.

Prosecutors with the Manhattan District Attorney’s office charged Mickey Barreto, 48, with a yearslong conspiracy to transfer ownership of the hotel, known for its prominent red rooftop sign and sometimes called the “Grand Old Lady,” to himself. He has been charged with 14 counts of offering a false instrument for filing in the first degree, a felony, and 10 counts of second-degree criminal contempt.

“As alleged, Mickey Barreto repeatedly and fraudulently claimed ownership of one of the City’s most iconic landmarks, the New Yorker Hotel,” said Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg. “We will not tolerate manipulation of our city’s property records by those who seek to scam the system for personal gain.”

Bragg says Barreto’s alleged scheme first started in 2018, when Barreto checked into a room at the hotel, located at 8th Avenue and 34th Street, for a single night. After his request the next day to sign a lease for the room was rebuffed by the hotel, which asked him to leave and chucked his belongings, Barreto filed a lawsuit in housing court alleging he was wrongfully evicted. A judge agreed with him and allowed him to stay in his room at the New Yorker.

By May of the following year, Bragg alleges Barreto first uploaded fake documents to the Department of Finance’s online property registration portal, ACRIS, including a fake deed purporting to transfer ownership of the New Yorker to himself from the real owner. The real owner is the Unification Church of the United States, which purchased the hotel and made it its headquarters in the 1970s. The church’s members follow the teachings of founder Sun Myung Moon, whom they believe is the second coming of Jesus Christ.

Barreto then began holding himself out as the real owner of the hotel, Bragg says. He allegedly demanded rent from…