‘Street God has forgotten’

To the editor of the Queens Courier:

Where I live in Whitestone, the Department of Finance appraises my home at one million two hundred thousand dollars. For the past two years, I have lived next to a home with boarded up windows and doors.

Constant complaints to the Department of Buildings, Department of Environmental Protection Agency and the Sanitation Department have done little to ameliorate the situation.

The tall grass and weeds create hazards to neighborhood residents that walk by and harbor trash. A highly overgrown lot can also become dry in the heat of summer and be a potential for a fire.

Rundown and abandoned buildings have a tendency to attract crime and transients too. I am constantly running out during the year to chase schoolchildren from the property.

I implore our city officials to strengthen the ordinances in terms of property maintenance.

Neighborhood charm dies here on Clintonville Street where I reside in Whitestone, one sad home at a time! There are so many vacant houses, overgrown yards, and unkempt properties on this street. The problem is exacerbated as elderly neighbors pass away and their properties are purchased by prospective builders and left to sit year after year awaiting future development.

To quote a former priest of St. Luke’s Church here on Clintonville Street who once told me that he “had thought to himself that this is the street that God has forgotten.”

Untidy properties with overgrown foliage, boarded up windows and broken down fences destroy the image of a neighborhood. Responsible property owners do not want to invest in areas that look this way. The results include decreased property values and this cycle continues without proper code enforcement.

I urge all residents of Whitestone who are tired of putting up with this to please contact our city officials and demand a change. Remember, the squeaking wheel always gets the grease. Do not remain silent!

Rose Marie Puleo Milcetic
Whitestone