A young man is facing charges after breaking into Gracie Mansion in the early hours of New Year’s Day. 20-year-old Michael Aromando scaled the fence of the mayor’s residence in Yorkville overlooking the East River a few hours after the ball dropped in Times Square, going unnoticed by the police officers assigned to guard the mansion. Once on the grounds, he broke into the mansion, taking several items, including a Christmas ornament found in a drawer, before being arrested by officers in a bedroom after a brief chase. Aromando was unarmed when he was arrested.
The young man’s climb over the fence at 4:23 a.m. was caught on CCTV, discovered after the fact by police. He shared a video with an officer showing himself taking an ornament from a drawer in the mansion during an interview after his arrest.
Aromando was arraigned and released on Thursday, facing second- and third-degree burglary charges. His bail was set at $5,000, with the judge also imposing an 11 p.m. curfew and an order that he stay away from Gracie Mansion. According to the NYPD, he has no prior arrests.
Aromando lives about 7 blocks away from the mayor’s residence. Speaking to the New York Post, a building worker where he lives said he was “shocked” to find out what the young man had done, and called him a “nice guy.” A relative who spoke to the Daily News said Aromando is “not that kind of kid.” When asked if he held any strong political views, she said he had “none at all.” The Post reveals that Aromando was a student at La Salle Academy, an all-boys Catholic school, and was enrolled at Marymount Manhattan College as recently as 2023.
Eric Adams rang in the new year in Times Square, but was not in the mayor’s residence on East End Avenue during the break-in. Adams has been known to participate in the city’s nightlife, and also has other residences in Brooklyn and New Jersey where he could have conceivably been when Aromando hopped over Gracie Mansion’s fence. City Hall has so far remained tight-lipped on the mayor’s whereabouts.
