LOS ANGELES \u2014 He just wanted to live in the trees, but Los Angeles brought him down to earth.<\/p>\n
Officials have dismantled a homeless man\u2019s three-story treehouse after the lux hobo hideaway went viral on TikTok last month,<\/a> garnering tens of thousands of likes. <\/p>\n About a week ago, the city finally gave the makeshift penthouse the ax and tore it down.<\/p>\n Erick sits in his original treehouse before officials demolished it in July. Barbara Davidson<\/p>\n But the homeless man \u2013 who built the house from scavenged materials near an encampment in South Central LA \u2013 has already started building Tree Mansion 2.0. <\/p>\n \u201cIt was gonna happen eventually. I knew they were gonna take it,\u201d the man, who goes by Erick, told The Post on Monday.<\/p>\n Erick in the top floor of his original house. Barbara Davidson<\/p>\n Erick, 34, spoke from a roofless canvas hut at ground level \u2014 all that remains of the original house, which had a mezzanine, an enclosed bedroom, and even a zipline for quick exits.<\/p>\n He said tourists who had seen the videos on social media would come by to gawk at his Swiss Hobo Robinson dwelling.<\/p>\n He was undeterred when the city showed up roughly to remove it along with the trailers and tents of the surrounding homeless encampment.<\/p>\n Erick\u2019s original treehouse seen in July. Barbara Davidson<\/p>\n LA has been waging an ongoing war against homeless camps across the city, which escalated in May after Gov. Gavin Newsom told cities<\/a> across the state to make them illegal.<\/p>\n But the tale of Erick\u2019s treehouse shows that these colonies can often crop back up after they\u2019re cleared out \u2014 especially if the residents aren\u2019t interested in going into housing.<\/p>\n Erick has already tied the support beams and floorboards for his new second house, which he says will feature a trampoline net, a fire pole, and camouflaged walls to help it blend in.<\/p>\n The state of the house as of Monday, Aug. 5. Erick has already laid the supports for a new abode.<\/p>\n \u201cI want to make an eject-o seat, you know a chair that goes backward through the wall like this,\u201d Erick said, miming how the secret escape hatch would function.<\/p>\n This will be the fourth treehouse he\u2019s built since he started living on the streets around ten years ago.<\/p>\n The lofts protect him from the nighttime thefts, muggings and random violence that threaten the people living in sprawling shantytowns and streetside encampments throughout the LA area, he said.<\/p>\n But mostly, he just likes treehouses.<\/p>\n Erick swings down from the zipline exit of his original house. Barbara Davidson<\/p>\n \u201cI built this because I was bored. \u2026 I just like building them,\u201d Erick said.<\/p>\n Maria Alvarado, who lives in a nearby townhouse, doesn\u2019t mind Erick living in the tree.<\/p>\n The mother of two said the tents and rusted trailers that make up the encampment can be a problem; they leave trash and drug needles on the street. The city occasionally clears them out, but they always come back.<\/p>\n Erick in the mezzanine of his original treehouse. Barbara Davidson<\/p>\n Alvarado gives Erick a pass: \u201cHe isn\u2019t bothering anybody. He\u2019s just there in his tree. You pass and he\u2019s never been disrespectful. He\u2019s always in his own little world.\u201d<\/p>\n Others aren\u2019t so sympathetic.<\/p>\n One local business owner said the throngs of vagrants harass his clients and steal from his property, and Erick is no exception.<\/p>\n Erick and a friend sit in the ruins of his ground-floor hut on Monday, August 5.<\/p>\n \u201cThey stole two of my gate openers worth $8,000 each. I looked at the camera footage, and that\u2019s the guy who did it,\u201d said the man, gesturing towards Erick\u2019s tree.<\/p>\n Erick claimed he doesn\u2019t steal things; he said he gets his money from collecting and selling recyclables.\u00a0<\/p>\n But he also has no interest in trying to get off the streets, preferring the treetops to city shelters \u2014 which he said are squalid and unsafe.<\/p>\n Erick gathers water from a hydrant near his tree. Barbara Davidson<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not doing this to make it hard for [the city.] I\u2019m going to be a burden no matter what. This just works for me. You gotta do whatever you do because it works for you,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n