From DNA Info:
The city is suing the owner of one of Staten Island's oldest houses for letting the property fall into disrepair and then blaming the damage on Hurricane Sandy.
The historic Manee-Seguine Homestead at 509 Seguine Ave., which was built in the 1670s, has a large hole in its roof and a crumbling chimney that the owner has failed to repair, the Landmarks Preservation Commission said in papers filed April 22 in Staten Island Supreme Court.
Leonard Tallo, who owns Intrepid Construction, bought the building in 2009 and told the LPC that he would get the building into shape. But the court papers claim he's failed to do so.
“Defendants have failed to maintain this building in a condition of good repair, despite repeated requests to do so over the past three years by Landmarks,” the suit said.
“Because of the neglect... the structural integrity of this landmark building has been compromised and there is an on-going significant deterioration of its important character-defining architectural features.”
Andrew Lenza, Tallo's lawyer, told the city that the homestead was severely damaged by Sandy, that it was “red-tagged” by the Department of Buildings and that it was slated for demolition, the court papers said.
But when workers from Landmarks went to see the destruction, they found no evidence that the storm surge even reached the historic home, the suit said.
Nick Matranga, 43, who started the Friends of Abraham Manee-Seguine Homestead, said his group has tried since 2010 to coordinate with Tallo to help restore the dilapidated home, free of charge, but Tallo was unresponsive.
4 comments:
Thought it was Bowne House...
"large hole in its roof"
Likely placed there by the owner who will then cry "rotten timbers" "hardship"
That's been how owners get landmarks condemned and out of the way.
The Gatsby house in Sands Point met the same death. They busted up the roof, downspouts, busted the windows removed parquet flooring and all valuable fixtures. You then let leave it open to the elements (mostly weather and animals) to finish the job.
The house was bulldozed, property cut up, every tree cut down. 5 euro-fab ugly shitboxes are going up.
At this late date in time, the LPC has suddenly found the conscience to go after the owner? Puhleeze!
At least when I decide to jerk off, my results are forthcoming immediately.
LPC= lazy partners in crime!
Yes, I thought it was the Bowne House too, at first.
SHAMEFUL about that!
It was John liu who pushed to have Bowne House taken over by NYC.
It was John Liu's contributer, Sam Suzuki, that built the adjacent residential units to the south of it.
They still stand there (without a certificate of occupancy) unoccupied...for what...about 10 years?
They still stand there (without a certificate of occupancy) unoccupied...for what...about 10 years?
12 years and counting.
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