So he may go to prison and get to stay rent-free in a room that isn't his, because he tried to stay rent-free in a room that wasn't his?

@pixlent

Ай бұрын

That's one way to look at it...

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@picksey4736

Ай бұрын

depends on if it's a privately owned prison or not. the privately owned prisons charge you for being imprisoned there.

@RayyanAshraf

Ай бұрын

​@@picksey4736 What do they do if you don't pay? Kick you out? Lol

@mr.sidious9163

Ай бұрын

​@@picksey4736Wait a second there are private-owned prisons?!? I cannot even begin to imagine how many ethical, moral and practical problems that poses... Then again, it is the US.

"Before they were regulated like this, regulators can convert an affordable apartment to an unfordable hotel room. It doesnt matter what you call it, the law has it covered" Hmm, sounds like AirBNB's situation today

@xhivo97

Ай бұрын

Wow you're exactly right! And most people just want the discoverability and completely ignored what Airbnb was and what it wasn't.

@knotcoppercurls

Ай бұрын

NYC actually made airbnbs for less than 30 days illegal in late 2023.

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@XIIchiron78

Ай бұрын

The more general solution to this is just to tax the land itself based on the value people would pay to use it (without improvements). That way the property developers have to pay _their_ rent back to the community in exchange for depriving everyone else of the space, which means they have to actually put it to an efficient use, instead of just collecting checks while providing nothing in return. It also replaces all other taxes, which means people keep what they earn, as rent cannot rise to pass on the tax, unlike other things. Because it changes the incentives directly, it works _with_ the market instead of against it, and doesn't create so many loopholes and unintended consequences like top down attempts do. Eventually this leads to vastly improved urban structure and economic participation by the local community, and an abundance of affordable housing as properties compete with each other. Obviously there are a lot of complexities and specifics to this - it's called land value taxation, and is often part of a larger economic philosophy called georgism, if you are interested in reading more.

@Doug_Hannon

Ай бұрын

@@XIIchiron78 Has this actually been implemented anywhere in the world?

Not just stealing a hotel, but stealing a hotel from the Moonies. Awesome.

@SystemBD

Ай бұрын

Indeed. And making a cult pay taxes is just the cherry on top.

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@ZantharEos

Ай бұрын

@@SystemBD Except he didn't and they didn't. All that really happened is the dude lived in a hotel for a few years and is pending jail time.

@36sportsawall

Ай бұрын

Jong unies?

@XIIchiron78

Ай бұрын

Yeah wait hold on suddenly I'm completely on his side, give him the hotel

As soon as you said “Unification Church” I knew he’d stepped on a landmine😅 you don’t mess with cults and their cash flow

Guy could have probably remained in his room with a super cheap lease forever but he had to go full conquistador and the natives are definitely going to serve him on the weekend buffet 😅

@toolbaggers

Ай бұрын

But in reality the conquistadors won.

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@Djuntas

Ай бұрын

Who would want to stay in a hotel room anyway. Aint they super sparse. Or did you get more than an average apartment for 200 dollars 5 years ago. Id hate to live in such a place anyway.

@CraigChrist8239

Ай бұрын

@@Djuntas With a rent around $3.34/month, I think I could make it work

@Djuntas

Ай бұрын

@@CraigChrist8239 Each their own, but having no sofa or proper TV...Well fuck no kitchen. I cba. Im the weakest link for sure, but I need my shit. Id love to know how he lived through, or if he upgraded the place. When I picture new york hotel room I just imagine a small box, bed, 1 stool and toilet thats prolly OK .

Wait--you mean Amy didn't just come back with a New Yorker *magazine?* That's what I would have done!

@smithwillnot

Ай бұрын

He asked her to steal it

I feel like saying the Moonies are _connected_ to North Korea mischaracterizes their relationship. The Unification Church is "connected" to North Korea in the same way that Shen Yun is "connected" to China.

@EebstertheGreat

Ай бұрын

Yeah, that one seemed weird to me. They support Korean unification and oppose Communism, that's like the two things I know about them. (Well, that and the mass marriages.)

@user-mw8to4ng9i

Ай бұрын

Yeah, the only connection is Sun Myung Moon was born in what is now NK.

@mamotalemankoe3775

Ай бұрын

Aren't they South Korean? That's where they are suuuuuuuuper big.

@Drmonstereater1

Ай бұрын

This is true. I grew up in the moonies (no longer one, at all) and thought that was a bit of a stretch. IIRC, when moonman was born there was no distinction yet between North and South Korea.

@joshuaevans6295

Ай бұрын

This is almost the exact metaphor I was looking for

Well that's what you get for being greedy. He already won big by that little slip of "posession" and could have had free rent in perpetuity... with hotel services. If anything, hire a lawyer to figure out who to sue in what way to get a deed of some sort based on your court order, but don't go trying to steal the whole building. That's just asking for trouble.

Cult like? They're a straight up cult. Suddenly I'm on this guy's side.

@KingdaToro

Ай бұрын

The only difference between a cult and a religion is whether or not the founder has died yet.

"The actual owner is the Unification Church." As someone whose been learning about Abe recently, that made me go oh no.

@stylesrj

Ай бұрын

Why is there an identical comment two posts above by a different person in the same time period?

@NYKevin100

Ай бұрын

@@stylesrj Bots steal comments and repost them to make their accounts seem more legit.

@stylesrj

Ай бұрын

@@NYKevin100 I know, but then how does that one two posts above get hundreds of likes? Also bots?

Dude probably could have gotten away with a free room for years but got greedy

@mfaizsyahmi

Ай бұрын

being griddy is a new yorker's pastime

I hope Amy is Sam's next partner in the next season of Jet Lag. Can't wait to see what she does to him hahaha.

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@100beep5

Ай бұрын

It's Toby in season 10, but she might show up in The Getaway

Barretto is a nutcase. He also claims being direct descendant of Colombus

@chrisli7358

Ай бұрын

omg astrum español, i love Astrum

@gimmethegepgun

Ай бұрын

I mean, Colombus was alive over 500 years ago, and his first son had 5 children, so it seems fairly likely that it's true. But you could also likely say that of most of South America.

@ManiacX1999

Ай бұрын

Less nuts than the Moonies? Nah

@The328th

Ай бұрын

I mean, that's totally plausible. There are quite a few descendants of Columbus out there

@survivedandthriving

Ай бұрын

I think that cinches it. If I were a descendant of Columbus I would never admit it to anyone. That this guy is bragging about it shows he is not thinking well at all.

stealing a hotel named newyorker:🗿 Stealing a newyorker:☠

@groundedgaming

Ай бұрын

Stealing New York: 🇺🇸

@bruhz_089

Ай бұрын

I did the second before

@Redwan777

Ай бұрын

​@@bruhz_089Did you survive tho? I can't stand them for 5 minutes

@LMixir

Ай бұрын

@@Redwan777Blindfold and Earplugs (for you, not them).

@TonyP9279

26 күн бұрын

That's "business as usual" in New York, assuming the magazine is under $1000.

First i felt bad for the hotel as baretto was hoarding of their services and staying in their rooms without paying but when I heard hotel was owned unity church then I was like screw them

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@MrGksarathy

Ай бұрын

I still wouldn't have really felt bad for the large hotel. Barretto just went a bit too far and didn't go hard enough against the Moonies.

@COPKALA

Ай бұрын

In fact no church should own an hotel and get such a tax cut!. They might get tax cut for 'the rest'. Again USA where justice is able to create N-tier treatment.

@J-wm4ss

Ай бұрын

​@@MrGksarathyyeah he went one step worse than cult, he became a landlord 🤮🤮🤮

@TheElusiveReality

Ай бұрын

why did you feel bad for a corporation in the first place lmfao this one hotel room isnt hurting their bottom line significantly, this isn't a mom and pop bed and breakfast its a 94 yr old corporation

Government: pay your taxes! Idiot: im in a cult Government: ok nvm lol

I'm assuming New York prisons charged less than $88/week in 1981. I'm not sure about NY, but many states do charge inmates for room and board.

@yitzakIr

Ай бұрын

Isn't there some song referring to it as the "Hoosegow Hotel" or something?

I'm glad I finished my coffee before the "Schrodinger's Tesla" bit, that's so stupid why is it funny

So the entire reason this saga was allowed to happen is because the hotel didn't bother responding to the court case and defaultly lost what would normally be a trivial win.

@MrDragonorp

27 күн бұрын

they would still lose cause the law is pretty clear about it, he could get a 6 month lease. the judge just messed up the ruling by saying he had a possion of the room which is not what the law said, but a judge rule is still enforcable until revoked. the department in charge of this had to break the hotel proprety instead of giving him the entire hotel. until of course the hotel went back to court and got it back to only a 6 month lease

@CouchPotator

27 күн бұрын

@@MrDragonorp He doesn't just get a 6 month lease because he wants one, he still needs to pay for stuff, which he didn't from the very start. That alone should have been a win for the hotel. Unless I'm misunderstanding what the video meant by "the hotel didn't send anyone to court the first time", they royally screwed up.

What I think is the worst part of this story is that the church gets away with paying a lot of taxes because they are classed as a church, yet they own a hotel

@jurgenpeters1373

Ай бұрын

gets away with NOT paying a lot of taxes

0:54 $257.00 or $200.57 😂😂😂😅

I passed on staying at this hotel during my last trip to NYC because the reviews said the rooms are old and the elevators take forever to get to you. If only I knew I could’ve gotten my very own place there…

In the matchup of Mickey vs the Moonies, I pick Mickey any day. Heck, I hope someone tries this again with the intent of screwing them over.

You got me hyped for the Tacobell Cantina. I’m going to Vegas next week and it’s right across the street from my hotel

That old stock footage of New York looks lovely.

I was hoping you’d cover this!

As someone named Mickey i can confirm this is true

@stormbob

Ай бұрын

Hey Mickey, you're so fine...

@Pommy_Pomm

Ай бұрын

@@stormbobew

Tbh Amy has been putting in the work for the vids

My goal in life: do something really interesting and outrageous that my story ends up in a Half as Interesting video 🙌🙌

At the end of the day if the guy goes to prison he'd still get a free room and daily food servings. Bro just keeps winning.

Deserved L for the group indirectly responsible for Shinzo Abe's assassination.

@yitzakIr

Ай бұрын

Say more right now

@_jpg

Ай бұрын

He's kinda responsible himself for associating with the cult and appointing at least 12 other cult associates for government position-

@daeseongkim93

Ай бұрын

ehh abe wasa huge L of a leader tbh

Fun fact: the D’Angelico New Yorker jazz guitar was inspired by the art deco style of this hotel. The truss rod cover is in the shape of the crown of the hotel.

this is so random i love it 😭 this is half as interesting as a video on north korea tho

0:37 A&O Hostel's Do Not Disturb tag 😅

Ths channel is gold

Santa Claus is the most notorious break and enter specialist. Just imagine how many crimes he commits per year.

@The360MlgNoscoper

Ай бұрын

The wish list you send him each year legally works as a warrant.

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@rayden54

Ай бұрын

Not breaking and entering if you're invited.

@Mis7erSeven

Ай бұрын

Child: "Why does Santa only come once a year?" Parent: "Because the rest of the year he is in prison for breaking and entering."

I live very near to this hotel, but never knew it's story. Very interesting.

Why do we allow religious institution the ability to run for profit enterprises tax free like this? That is insanity.

@JustinOkamoto

Ай бұрын

It’s not tax free in the way a church property is tax free. Not sure the specifics

@paulelderson934

Ай бұрын

Yeah I don't get it either. I can understand that having property tax on a church essentially limits your ability to go to church if you're broke. But this is for profit, like you said. Actually insane. I also feel like any church that overcharges and makes a profit should be treated as a business, not as a religious institute. That means capping the salary and bonuses that employees at a religious institute can receive. But that will all never happen, probably.

@deannacooper2582

Ай бұрын

@@JustinOkamoto Ya - the comments on this issue show me that people know nothing about the UC. Such ignorant superficial comments

Kudos for making a church/ cia front pay taxes

excited to see this on the next season of Leverage

I cannot possibly comprehend how the New York government is this incompetent 💀

@katanah3195

Ай бұрын

Governments everywhere are this incompetent. Only thing any of 'em are good for is adding bureaucratic hurdles to anything important you want to do, collecting taxes, and spending those taxes from ordinary people on tax cuts and refunds for the rich and paying for their private security in the form of police forces.

I'm just back from New York on my first trip to the States. Like literally just back. I saw this hotel from mines. Very (half as) interesting timing for the video.

Damn, just read the NYT article too ?

When I saw the article about this I just knew it would end up on this channel lol

This is absolutely the kind of heist Taika Waititi movie needs to make

@IliadDreyfus-js9oe

Ай бұрын

Yeah, pointless garbage sounds like his style. Maybe they could put a gay black chick as the main character in the theatrical release

The Moonies (Unification Church) are tied to South Korea, not North Korea. They also had ties to Japan, but the ruling party in Japan has been severing those ties recently, for … some … reason.

Good choice on taking the TB Cantina food to go, that location doesn't have the best reputation.

I read it in the news and was really fascinated by it

I was staying there just last week. Would've been nice to know this trick then :P

Bro should've stopped at free rent for life 😂😂😂

Future HAI error: 200 dollars and 57 cents. You said 257 dollars.

Got major Habbo Hotel nostalgia from the channel logo and this video’s thumbnail

3:00 i've done that twice too

0:45 Schrodinger's Tesla 😂😂😂😂

Mr.Krabs at it again

Great video, as usual. I am, however, now curious to know how an organization can run a for-profit hotel tax-free just because that organization happens to be 'religious'. Where I live (not in the US) the places of worship themselves are, unfortunately, not taxed. However, other properties and projects are even if owned/operated by a religious organization...

This felt like a taco bell add for a second

btw this Barreto guy was all over Brazilian news last week I don't think HAI mentioned he's Brazilian). He gave an interview saying he's the successor of Columbus, friends with Biden, an indigenous leader, and also owns all of America (except Canada and the USA, which are owned by his partner). You know, the usual stuff.

Stole a hotel? Basically me in Sims 2 on the DS

Did you declare ads on the Taco Bell Cantina? I feel like this is mostly an ad for there with how many times it's referenced.

Fun fact about the Unification Church, son of the founder, Justin Moon, is the CEO of Khar Arms, a successful gun company.

People making use of flawed legislation shouldn't be punished with jailtime, but celebrated for pointing out the flaws indeed.

Of all the groups he could've picked a fight with, he chose the Moonies.

New Yorker hotel is so original for a name

@squishy-tomato

Ай бұрын

only beaten by The Hotel hotel

@joseville

Ай бұрын

When does the New Yorker become the New Yorkest?

@LazyPupper7

Ай бұрын

@@squishy-tomato lol

I stayed at the hotel about 15yrs ago, it is a FADED remnant of a bygone time.

I think I heared of that story, what a legend^^

BRB, gonna go steal a hotel

2:36 Zach and Cody mode SuperVinlin

Love your videos

The schrodingers tesla situation would have been solved quite quickly by the smell

I thought the New Yorker Hotel was owned by Wyndham?

At least Amy got something to eat this time. 🤣

Amy should have nabbed a copy of the New Yorker magazine and brought that back

That’s a good . Good job, appreciated.

The video's sponsor is Ground News!? I was sure it was the Taco Bell Cantina across the street from the New Yorker hotel!

I ate breakfast at that diner a couple times on my NY trip, went by the Taco Bell Cantina but went to McDonald’s

honestly it shouldnt be that hard to find some hotels that this applies to if you look up old newspaper ads with their rates

Why would you hope someone who made a concerted long term effort to steel property does not go to jail? That is messed up.

1:38 don't you mean more than $350 per night or $88 per week?

So if he would have just left it alone and kept his mouth shut he might’ve been still staying there for free?

0:34 kid on the tag looks like young sam

HAI MISTAKES: 0:55 should say "two hundred dollars and fifty seven cents", you said $257 😅

Honestly more surprised by the fact that the hotel is owned by the moonies

The New Prisoner - Mickey Baretto

Is the audio overblown for anyone else? (I compared this video to other ones from this channel and others just to make sure). It's not egregious, but definitely has some distortion.

I’m sorry, but this is at least 3/4 as interesting. Like the man went against a cult.

I guess he really wanted to make a reservation... for himself!

I have a rule to just not ever buy anything from ads/sponsors, because 99% of them end up on a debunk playlist and get shamed. But if I were to ever go for a service from a sponsor, it would be Ground News probably.

The Hotel New Yorker, he's dead on the floor, the body of Nikolai lies...

This story was twice as interesting

I believe he claims to be the owner of the entire American continent too, wild dude

i did not realize i watchedf this video early and i watched all of it lol

Yooo I remember reading this story a month or two ago lol

First time watching content from this channel, does it normally force-feed Taco Bell Cantina down the viewers throat as much in other videos as it does in this one?

one of the more than half as interesting!

According to the Wikipedia page of the Unification Church, it's a South Korean church -- not North Korean.

6:32 Amy got a hairy arm

What is the discounted rate to which he would have been entitled for his six month lease?

Bro seriously fumbled

well, that's fairly interesting. Maybe, half.