Developers target Elmhurst's 56th Avenue

Remember the QUEENS CRAP story on the suspicious fire at the Elmhurst historic house at 90-11 56th Ave back in October, 2015? It was only purchased recently. A few months later, there was a suspicious fire. The Elmhurst community is currently trying to landmark it and is petitioning Queens Borough President Melinda Katz to assist.

This property as well as the 2 adjacent houses were purchased by LLC developers. It’s funny that one of these other houses also caught on fire too. Now the 3 properties have been filed with the NYC Department of Buildings to split them into 5 lots!

Here’s what the original 3 homes looked like:

Here’s what they look like today after the fires and the start of demolition of one of the house.

Holy cow, what a coincidence! And after Melinda Katz put in all that preservation work! (end sarcasm)

Expanding the farmhouse

I don't know anything about the history of this house other than it has that "classic farmhouse" look to it, albeit one that could use a facelift. It is located at 69-33 66th Road in Middle Village. I became concerned this past weekend when I saw that the windows had been removed and there was a construction fence around it, especially considering that another house could probably fit into that side yard.

But it turns out that the house is being horizontally enlarged, not demolished.

I'll follow up when the final product is unveiled.

Bye, bye, Dutch Kills farmhouse

From the Daily News:

This is no joke. What's it take to get a Buddhist monk, Catholic nun, three real estate moguls, a home-schooled pre-teen, two infants, a corporate lawyer and a drenched Pomeranian on a farmhouse porch on a rainy day in a neighborhood half of New York City has never heard of?

A house. A house built in the 1860s that some say was the original farm in one of New York's oldest neighborhood.s More specifically, a house that could be torn down to make way for a multi-family apartment building or a small hotel.

Purchased in an estate sale for just over $1 million two years ago, 38-20 28th St. in the Long Island City neighborhood of Dutch Kills is slated for demolition sometime in the next 45 days. The plumber was there last week to turn off the water and gas. Owned by a family or entity in Brooklyn who just want to make a slight profit, the Dutch Kills farmhouse can be saved by someone who will pay a price.

"They will sell the house to anyone who can offer $1.5 to $1.7 million," says the owners' representative who wished not to be identified. "They paid over $1 million, put about $200,000 in the house, and would like to walk away with a little money."

According to the rep, they have a deal on the table for an alleged partnership that plans to share profits in a new 33-feet high structure containing several apartments or a 30-plus room hotel. The building plans are in accordance with the current zoning.

They are not in accordance with the desire of the current neighborhood residents. They point to the double-size lot, five-car garage that could be converted into an artist studio, large lawn that could become an urban garden or orchard, swimming pool or tennis court. They hope a buyer sees the value of owning a historic home just seven minutes to the 59th St. Bridge and Midtown Manhattan.

Upzoning. UPzoning! UPZONING!