GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STARBULLETIN.COM
King Street tree-dweller Tony Friday relaxed last Tuesday in his bedroom on the second level of his makeshift home. The tree in which he resides has been deemed unsafe by the Outdoor Circle. Friday said that state officials and police have been trying to evict him.
Tony Friday climbs an old wooden ladder to the second floor and up makeshift steps nailed into a tree trunk to what he calls his penthouse. He relaxes on a futon beneath the stars, forgetting dope deals and fights in the downtown area. State wants Chinatown
treehouse dweller out
By Genevieve A. Suzuki
gsuzuki@starbulletin.comBut the state wants Friday, 30, to come down from his treehouse in back of the Tong Fat Building at the edge of Chinatown to chop down the old banyan tree to make room for low-income elderly housing.
"We're trying to offer him relocation in a homeless shelter, but so far he has resisted," said Darryl Young, spokesman for the Housing and Community Development Corporation of Hawaii.
The state's plans for a 15-story comprehensive senior day-care and residence have been stalled until it receives a city permit to build, said Young. Still, Young said that Friday has to vacate the tree house he has lived in for six months.
Young said he has asked for help from the Honolulu Police Department, which has sent officers to check on Friday's status.
The state is waiting for a company to submit a third bid for the job of cutting the tree down; once a bid has been chosen, the tree will come down by mid-December, according to Young.
Tony Liang, the Tong Fat building manager, said the state should have taken care of Friday and his treehouse months ago.
"The state owns the land, but they don't take care of the land," Liang said. "Money is one thing, but the point is the job is there and it needs to be done. They keep putting it off, putting it off. Why?"
Liang said he can't relate to Friday's lifestyle.
"He's lazy and he doesn't want to work," Liang said. "I'm an immigrant and I came here with nothing. I'm still better off than him."
DEAN SENSUI / DSENSUI@STARBULLETIN.COM
This treehouse, behind the Tong Fat building on King Street near Aala Park, is occupied by a man named Tony Friday.
Friday used to live in the Tong Fat building in a former girlfriend's apartment, said Liang, who estimates Friday owes at least $3,000 in back rent.
"We kicked him out," said Liang, 36.
Friday admitted selling "bunk," or fake drugs, on the street to pay for the nails he used to build his house.
"I do what I've got to do to get my nails," said Friday, who said he's finished with dealing and taking real drugs.
Friday said he spent one year in prison for drug dealing and possession.
"I don't want to go to jail no more," Friday said. "(The treehouse) keeps me from going into town and getting myself into trouble."
Friday has a tattoo on his right hand taken from the comic book "Grendel," a story of a tormented hero who must constantly face obstacles. It is a familiar story to Friday.
"Grendel, he's been beat up, bust up, everything. But he still lives," Friday said.
Unlike Grendel, however, Friday has several people reaching out to help him.
"We're trying to encourage him to get a more feasible place to stay," said Laura E. Thielen, project coordinator for the Kalihi-Palama Health Center's Health Care for the Homeless program.
Thielen said the Housing and Community Development Corporation of Hawaii and the police department have been cooperating with her to offer assistance to Friday.
Thielen said it can sometimes take years for a homeless person to accept help. "We go as slow as they need us to go," she said. Only recently has Friday begun to open up to an outreach worker with Thielen's program.
"Going from homelessness to having housing can be very traumatic," Thielen said.
A former homeless person can have anxiety dealing with landlords and neighbors, paying rent and utility bills, and buying furniture. "There's a whole bunch of things all of a sudden you're responsible for," Thielen said.
"He's got to want to do it and we've got to respect what his needs are. It's a two-way street," Thielen said.
Friday said that until the state shows up to chop the tree down he'll continue to live there. "I sleep good here," Friday said. "I don't bother nobody and nobody bothers me."
Friday stared out at the rush-hour traffic on North King Street. "I don't want to live out there," he said. "I'm kinda thinking about finding me another tree."
