Greenpoint Neighbors Spent Years Sounding the Alarm About House of Horrors on McGuinness Boulevard

Content warning: This story contains details about animal abuse and alleged sexual abuse and harassment against women, including minors.

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On January 17, police arrested 33-year-old Mohamed Charrad on multiple counts of animal abuse. The ASPCA removed 23 Pomeranians, 17 puppies, and six dogs from squalid conditions at Charrad’s house at 151 McGuinness Boulevard.

But perhaps it is more accurate to refer to 151 McGuinness as the place where Charrad resides; the building’s owner claims in a lawsuit that Charrad has been illegally squatting there since 2020.

And he’s referred to as ‘Mohamed Charrad’ in that lawsuit. In others, he goes by ‘Achref Charrad.’

The arrest and subsequent ASPCA rescue this January were a long time coming for Charrad’s neighbors, many of whom have spent the past six years sounding the alarm about the situation at 151 McGuinness, with little recourse—until now.

Christopher, a member of a neighborhood group working to bring attention to the situation, told Greenpointers that 151 McGuinness Boulevard had been a party spot since he and his roommate, Rebecca, moved to the block nine years ago [Editor’s note: due to the volatility of the situation and neighbors’ safety concerns, we have granted pseudonyms to everyone involved].

But the parties (and subsequent noise complaints) started escalating around 2018, reaching a fever pitch during the height of COVID in 2020, as social distancing requirements made large gatherings more than just a nuisance—they became a matter of public health.

“It became more of a space where basically a lot of people were coming in and out of, and it was attracting a certain crowd of people that was definitely more edgy and scary and disturbing,” Christopher told Greenpointers.

It was at this point that the tenancy at 151 McGuinness took a turn. What started as a group of twenty- and thirty-something-year-old men eventually dwindled to one occupant, Mohamed Achref Charrad, by early 2020. Neighbors describe Charrad as an erratic figure with an ostentatious sense of style. Over the past few years, he has been involved in several lawsuits. He has sued multiple businesses for personal liability damages (the lawsuits have dragged on for years without closure). Last December, a woman filed a civil lawsuit alleging that Charrad raped and assaulted her in Williamsburg in 2022 (that case remains ongoing as well). Greenpointers reached out to Charrad and his attorneys for comment, but did not receive a response.

In 2024, 151 McGuinness’s owner filed a lawsuit alleging that Charrad illegally subleased the second-floor unit from the previous tenant and has no legal claim to 151 McGuinness. The case has hit multiple snafus as it makes its way through the court—trouble serving Charrad papers, eviction courts backlogged from COVID, scheduling conflicts—and most recently, the winter storm thwarted Charrad’s scheduled court date yet again.

Charrad’s parties (or, as neighbors referred to them, raves) racked up countless complaints throughout the pandemic, keeping neighbors up through the early hours of the morning. It wasn’t uncommon to see partygoers sprawled out on the stoop the next day. They called the NYPD to the scene multiple times, but were rarely successful in shutting things down.

“You could tell that the building was just starting to completely disintegrate. It wasn’t being taken care of, just really, really weird conditions, dirty trash, piss, vomit, alcohol bottles, cigarettes, and these raves were really, really, really intense,” said Christopher.

“He would have bouncers, and there would be a line to get inside. And this is a brownstone…it’s not meant to host parties of that nature,” said his roommate, Rebecca.

Around this time, Charrad started frequenting a busy local restaurant, where his presence unnerved the female employees (he once reportedly followed one home through McCarren Park; she was a minor).

“He would always invite all the girls that work there to his parties. He would be boasting his phone around, showing people pictures of naked girls,” said one employee, Bridget. In her estimation, the girls appeared to be “heavily under the influence.”

She said Charrad once tried to comp the meal of a detective who had just arrested him, telling Bridget that he wanted to stay on the detective’s good side. When Bridget objected, Charrad told her, “Next time I tell you to do something, you fucking do it.”

“He’s just very, very, very misogynistic…a full-blown narcissist,” Bridget said. Eventually, the restaurant banned Charrad from returning.

The block began to worry yet again after witnessing a body bag removed from 151 McGuinness on July 23, 2023. The NYPD found the body of 65-year-old Jose Del Olmo Reig inside the property and pronounced him deceased at the scene. The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner has not yet determined the cause of death.

It took about three years, but the NYPD began taking the issue more seriously. Since 2023, the outrageous parties seem to have subsided. However, neighbors’ issues with Charrad were far from over.

Neighbors began noticing loud, frequent dog barking from the backyard around 2024. In a dog-loving neighborhood like Greenpoint, animal annoyances aren’t uncommon. But the nature of the barking—pained, yelping—made them suspect that something was seriously wrong. That’s when Christopher decided to take matters into his own hands.

“I canvassed around the neighborhood, and really tried to talk to the neighbors and say, hey, I think there’s a dog breeding situation here, and I think that there’s dogs that are getting violently hurt,” he said. “Everyone was texting one another and being like, what the fuck is going on? Because it was just this total chaos, and so loud.” (No higher authority shared any details confirming a dog breeding situation, but the situation is still unfolding).

Neighbors filed multiple reports with 311, the NYPD, the Department of Buildings, and the ASPCA. Christopher says that for months, the ASPCA failed to take their reports seriously, even though he witnessed “dogs eating their own shit,” (in one video shared with Greenpointers, the backyard is visibly covered with fecal matter). The city’s Department of Environmental Protection sent Charrad a warning letter about the dogs’ barking in February 2025.

One neighbor, Grace, says she discovered one of Charrad’s dogs on the street, malnourished and suffering from a severe ear infection. She spent March 2025 caring for the dog, including trips to the vet. It took a month for Charrad to reach out and demand the dog back. Grace says her father told Charrad he needed to contact the police to claim ownership, which Charrad did after another week. He also walked around the neighborhood carrying a photo of Grace, “which felt intimidating and concerning,” she said.

Things took a turn at the 94th Precinct building. “During this process, I was detained while attempting to explain the situation,” Grace recalled. “The individual provided minimal documentation, including an unregistered microchip number on a handwritten slip of paper, and no vaccination or ownership records.”

Despite Grace’s best efforts, she was forced to return the dog.

“Afterward, the individual continued to contact me via text message, including sending antagonizing messages and photos of the dog,” she said.

The block’s efforts escalated in October 2025 after local Reddit users began noticing the barking as well.

“I am fine with dogs being let out and being excited etc but this is constant all day and poor dogs barking their heads off all day sounds bad for them,” wrote one user, who made a post asking whether others had noticed the situation.

“I see these poor dogs everyday being mistreated and begging to get let in. Its so frustrating to hear them bark ALL DAY, especially the last few days. Looks like they have no food and covered in fleas,” another wrote in response.

Bridget found the Reddit post and immediately deduced who they were talking about, since Charrad used to come in toting a Pomeranian as an accessory. She and others on the Greenpoint subreddit connected with Christopher, and McGuinness Dogs was formed.

Aside from contacting authorities and canvassing the area, some members also coordinated backyard food drop-offs for the dogs. They saw a handful of dogs frequently going in and out of the house, but it wasn’t until Charrad’s arrest that they realized just how many Charrad kept.

“It was hard to count them because we’re trying to be discreet, looking out of our windows. Like everyone who was in the WhatsApp chat was trying to get an eye on how many dogs there were,” said Rebecca.

Around this time, locals noted Charrad’s alleged harassment of women (and specifically minors) yet again.

On November 1, local parent Richard received a panicked call from his 10-year-old daughter about a man harassing her and a friend outside the KFC on McGuinness Boulevard. Charrad had apparently been making untoward comments and trying to flirt with the girls. Richard instructed the girls to head to a nearby gas station, where he would meet them and escort them home.

He later returned and approached an inebriated Charrad, who tried to brush the situation off as a misunderstanding. Richard says he called the police, but they never showed up. Because Charrad had shared his contact info, Richard was able to search him online, find the Reddit thread, and connect with McGuinness Dogs.

Police finally arrested Charrad for animal abuse on January 17, following a 311 report filed at 1:49 pm. Why that complaint was the final straw remains a source of frustration for those who had spent years asking authorities to take action.

According to NYC Open Data, from 2023 to 2026, neighbors made at least 46 complaints about animal abuse on 311. In most of those instances, police visited the property, but either found no evidence of a violation, determined that police action was not necessary, or could not gain access.

“I’m very disappointed with the NYPD and housing court and all of that, just because they’ve allowed him a space to wreak havoc on so many people,” said Rebecca.

Of course, the NYPD must act within certain legal constraints. According to the Mayor’s Office of Animal Welfare, “NYPD cannot remove animals from their owners without due process, regardless of how the situation may appear.”

“In New York State, animals are legally considered property and are protected under the Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution.”

The NYPD often works directly with the ASPCA to build a case. However, the NYPD also has a dedicated Animal Cruelty Investigation Squad (ACIS), to which precincts can forward cases. We reached out to the NYPD to ask whether the 94th Precinct ever escalated the case, but we did not receive a response.

Speculation abounds that Charrad’s arrest actually stemmed from an unrelated incident. Several neighbors have heard that Charrad was apparently in recovery for hand surgery. A medical professional is rumored to have visited 151 McGuinness to check on him on January 17 and called 911. (Richard told Greenpointers that he “saw his hand and some of his fingers were sort of misshapen or kind of frozen in place” when he confronted Charrad last fall).

While the NYPD cannot confirm the specifics of the situation, they confirmed to Greenpointers that officers received a call about a robbery at 151 McGuinness on January 17, which ultimately led them to arrest Charrad.

The Brooklyn District Attorney’s office did not comment on the situation but provided Greenpointers with the criminal complaint. The complaint redacts the informant’s identity, but sheds more light on the circumstances that led to the arrest.

On the morning of January 15, Charrad told the informant not to care for the dogs. The informant told the NYPD that the dogs were not given any food or water on January 16, either.

At some point, Officer Evgeny Kramar of the 94th Precinct arrived at the scene and “observed that there was no food or water for the animals, and that there was a strong odor of urine and feces along with urine and feces being present throughout the apartment.”

Members of McGuinness Dogs also wondered if the informant could be Charrad’s acquaintance.

Over the past year, the group began noticing a woman frequently visiting 151 McGuinness and suspected she might be the one coming to Charrad’s defense in the Reddit thread (the user had been claiming they had been living at 151 McGuinness and helping to take care of the dogs).

Though the informant’s identity remains unconfirmed, the group members felt unnerved that it took a third party gaining access to the property before authorities could act. However, they also expressed immense gratitude that the dogs were finally free.

“Even though sometimes people get brought together for not-so-great things, some good things come out of it,” said Bridget of the bond the group has formed. “And I’m glad that we were able to come together and finally see some results.”

The dogs are currently being treated at an ASPCA facility in Dutchess County. The Brooklyn District Attorney’s office says an investigation is ongoing.

The ASPCA provided Greenpointers with the following response:

“Through a robust partnership in New York City, the NYPD is the primary agency responsible for enforcing animal cruelty laws, while the ASPCA directly cares for animal cruelty victims by providing critical support, including forensic evaluations, medical care, behavior treatment, placement, as well as legal and investigative support in criminal cases. Additionally, the ASPCA conducts welfare improvement visits upon referrals from the public, social service and community agencies, veterinarians, and law enforcement when concerns for an animal’s welfare are reported.

For cases that do not involve criminal charges, the ASPCA Community Engagement team assists at-risk animals and their owners through access to safety net services that can help pets and their people stay together. The ASPCA Community Engagement team works with pet owners and local agencies to identify solutions to keep animals in their homes whenever possible. We do this by providing access to low-cost veterinary care, spay/neuter services and additional resources such as pet food and supplies and proper pet housing. We also work closely with the NYPD and human service providers, including domestic violence and elderly care programs, to refer pet owners to additional services and support for the entire family.  

The use of the ASPCA’s Community Engagement services is entirely voluntary and at the discretion of the pet owner.”

Charrad pleaded not guilty at his arraignment on January 18. He was released on recognizance and is due back in court on February 10 (as well as March 3, for the eviction case).

His return to McGuinness Boulevard leaves neighbors feeling on edge.

“To provide this criminal and the squatter that space, it’s just going to end not well for this community. It’s causing terror, and it’s causing a lot of panic and harm to this community,” said Christopher.

“We’re just really fucking scared.”