Edition: U.S. / Global  Appeals Court Gives City Clearance to
Evict Squatters in East Village  Published: August 9, 1996  A
state appeals court gave New York City the right yesterday to
evict defiant squatters from four city-owned buildings on East
13th Street in Manhattan, setting the stage for a resolution of
a long-simmering housing battle in the East Village.  City
officials said last night that the ruling, by the Appellate
Division of State Supreme Court, meant they could immediately
proceed with the eviction, although they refused to say when, or
even if, they would act.  Shortly after midnight today, several
police vehicles parked in front of the buildings, between Avenue
A and Avenue B. Numerous police officers milled about in riot
gear.  ''They really have no legal right to be there,'' an
assistant corporation counsel, Lorna B. Goodman, said of the
squatters. ''We want to rehab the properties and turn them into
low-income housing.''  Squatters and local residents seemed more
baffled than anything by