Friday, July 8, 2016

Ghost home haunts neighbors


From the Times Ledger:

Two abandoned vehicles full of newspapers left behind by hoarders at a house in Flushing have drawn the attention of residents and state Sen. Tony Avella (D-Bayside), who held a news conference to call upon the city to remove the fire hazard posed by the contents of the cars.

Avella said Stella Beckman, the deceased owner of the brick bungalow at 50-19 175th Place, is still receiving violation notices in the mail at the abandoned property a decade after her death. Beckman’s son, a hoarder, according to one neighbor, filled not only the house but both vehicles in the driveway with stacks of New York Times issues dating back to 1992. The newspapers are packed so tightly into the back of one of the vehicles, a Hyundai Excel, that moisture has caused them to expand and shatter the back windshield.

The house has been sealed up with concrete by authorities following a small fire in 2014, according to neighbor who has lived in the area since 1990.

“This is probably one of the best examples I’ve come across while I’ve been in government of how stupidly the city operates,” Avella said. “Here you have a situation where there were numerous violations. The owner, unfortunately, passed away, I guess it’s 11 years now. And yet, every time there’s a violation the city keeps sending the dead person notices... Anybody who walks through this block sees what a nice neighborhood this is. The homeowners pay attention to their property, they keep it nice, and yet they live next to this eyesore. The city has to step up, demolish the building, level the ground, fence it off and sell it.”

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Who's paying the taxes-- the idiot son? Until he stops and the place is sold at auction, the Koreans and Pakis will just have to wait.

Anonymous said...

Does this community have a councilman? Why is Tony Avella doing all the work? Pay attention people. Council elections are coming up in 2017.

Anonymous said...

Why hasn't the Queens Public Administrator stepped in?

Anonymous said...

The Council Member for this district is Peter Koo.

Anonymous said...

What a shame!! It's a nice area.

Anonymous said...

Why are pols so quick at holding news conferences for every little thing? Couldn't he just call the appropriate agency for action?

Queens Crapper said...

I would assume after 2 years calling the agency one more time would be considered a wasted effort.

Anonymous said...

Does Koo have anything to say about this? I doubt it, just sitting back and waiting for one of his countless fellow countrymen to sweep in and build another overcrowded apartment building that doesn't fit into the area...

What point is having Avella speak about this? This isn't his district. I mean, thank you for bringing up the issue, but he should crack down into Koo to step up and do something in his own district.

Anonymous said...

Who should pay for this?

At what point should a house qualify as such an eyesore that the city should step in?

Anonymous said...

What point is having Avella speak about this? This isn't his district.

In that area, 50th Avenue is the dividing line between Avella's senate district and Toby Ann Stavisky's district. Have no idea if the neighbors reached out to Moby, but I can't imagine Tony refusing to (try to) help just because the house is half a block out of his district.

Anonymous said...

The city issues violations to a property based on the latest recorded deed of ownership. Maybe the very cerebral avella has some suggestions to whom the city should issue violations to, oh wait he says the city should take responsibility. In other words taxpayers. Why should my tax dollars go to improve the property values of the surrounding neighbors of that house. Here's a suggestion why not set up a go fund me campaign and all the affected neighborhood can contribute to remove or demolish private property.

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