If a person is disseized, ejected, or put out of real property in a forcible or unlawful manner, or, after he has been put out, is held and kept out by force or by putting him in fear of personal violence or by unlawful means, he is entitled to recover treble damages in an action therefor against the wrongdoer (emphasis supplied). This statute is directed at unlawful evictions of tenants or other lawful occupants of property who have been in "actual physical possession" (ZCWK Assocs. v. Spadaro, 233 A.D.2d 126, 127; compare,Lyke v. Anderson, 147 A.D.2d 18; see also, Gold v. Schuster, 264 A.D.2d 547, 550, 694 N.Y.S.2d 646, 649; O'Hara v. Bishop, 256 A.D.2d 983; Rocke v. 1041 Bushwick Ave. Assocs., 169 A.D.2d 525; Bianchi v. Hood, 128 A.D.2d 1007; Sam Mary Housing Corp. v. Jo/Sal Market Corp., 100 A.D.2d 901, affd 64 N.Y.2d 1107). Here, it is undisputed that plaintiff never actually possessed or occupied the property — nor was there any attempt on her part to occupy this property — at the time Plaza's encroachment commenced or at any time throughout the encroachment.
At bar, the deliberate resort to self-help, unlawful eviction, removal, damage and destruction of plaintiff's property from the side niches in the common vestibule, and the installation of cages to prevent reentry was not unintentional (see Moran at 773), and, as per the verdict, was the cause of the delayed reopening and some ensuing loss of profits. A showing of physical force or violence is not necessary to sustain an award of treble damages (O'Hara v. Bishop, 256 AD2d 983, 984 [3d Dept 1998]). Further, treble damages are subject to pre-judgment interest (Mohassel v. Fenwick, 5 NY3d 44 [2005]); Altman v. 285 West Fourth LLC, 143 AD3d 415 [1st Dept 2016]).
Prior to the amendment, the law provided for recovery only in instances where possession was obtained by the use of illegal force. However, today, considering the legislature's amendment of the statute to include evictions undertaken in an “unlawful manner” in addition to those executed by force, treble damages can be imposed without a showing of physical force or violence in evicting a tenant (see O'Hara v. Bishop, 256 A.D.2d 983, 984, 682 N.Y.S.2d 291 [1998] ; Lyke v. Anderson, 147 A.D.2d 18, 27, 541 N.Y.S.2d 817 [1989] ).