A New York City man and his girlfriend had the shock of their young lives when they discovered a stowaway living in their apartment and sneaking out at night to eat their food. The woman had been there several weeks.
The homeless culprit was discovered after the set-up of a hidden "nanny cam." She entered the apartment through a window and was living tucked away in a storage alcove. The video footage of privacy invasion makes your skin crawl. Watch it yourself:
Too bad the whole thing is the latest Blair-Witch-Paranormal-Activity-esque viral video.
Surprised? Hardly. But here's the thing that strikes a chord: it's remotely plausible.
With foreclosures and unemployment at high levels across the country, plus the added danger of being homeless in the coldest months, it is easy to imagine that a desperate individual might go to such an extreme.
Many people who lack a stable, permanent residence have few shelter options. A recent study conducted by the U.S. Conference of Mayors found that 12 of the 23 cities surveyed had to turn people in need of shelter away due to a lack of capacity. Sadly, even employed people are at risk of being homeless. A survey in 2008 by the U.S. Conference of Mayors found that 19 percent of homeless individuals had some form of employment.
We call bullsh## on the video. But thanks for the creepy-crawly scare. Hopefully, the purported circumstances in the video will help spotlight real housing issues.
