Serial squatter Vernon Glass occupies $1.1 million Bayside home, neighbors protest

After the 2018 passing of longtime resident Richard Klibschon, his $1.1 million home in the tree-lined Bayside neighborhood sat empty until March 2024, when Vernon Glass entered the house and refused to leave. Residents reported feeling uneasy and have repeatedly sought police assistance, appealed to elected officials, and taken the matter to court without success. Representative Tom Suozzi called the episode an "awful situation" that harms the community’s quality of life.

Court documents label Glass as an "illegal occupant," and he has a prior record of squatting, including a 2018 incident in Nassau County where he changed locks and rented the property, resulting in a five-year probation sentence. He was also accused of forcefully taking a Flushing home, though that lawsuit was later dropped after the property entered foreclosure.