City orders South Jamaica hoarder to remove mountains of trash in front of her house after over ten years of neighbors complaints went ignored

PIX News

 The house on 118th Avenue in Jamaica, Queens is well known in the surrounding area.

The front and back yards are filled with trash bags, household items and old stuff.
Neighbors say they have been complaining about it and reporting conditions to the city for more than a decade and a half.

This week, after a recent inspection the Department of Buildings issued a vacate order.

“The home at 154-22 118th Avenue has been a long standing problem,” said NYC Council Member Adrienne Adams. “My team has appealed to various city agencies and have made a recent push to attack this problem collectively. By law we must respect the rights of the homeowner but we are looking into all options to remediate this problem. This home is not just a blight to the community but serves as a potential danger to the residents nearby and must be addressed immediately.”
 
Councilmember Adams office says the resident and the city will clean up the property on Friday.
Records with the Department of Buildings Show violations going back to 2001 and fines of more than $300,000.

Glendale landlord hoards tenants' trash

From CBS 2:

For tenants in one Queens building, it’s a living nightmare.

They claim their landlord hoards their trash and that the smell has caused a cascade of problems, CBS2’s Hazel Sanchez reported Sunday night.

Kathleen Midlaw is literally bugging out inside her Glendale apartment. It’s infested with gnats.

When she invited CBS2 to the building, Sanchez sensed the root of the problem — a horrible stench coming from the basement

Garbage, huge bags of it, were stacked up, wall to wall in the basement of the building on 65th Place. Midlaw and her neighbors blame their landlord, Maria Hlawaty. Tenants say she has been hoarding their garbage for years.

How do you help a hoarder?

From CBS:

Residents in Brooklyn are desperate to get their neighbor’s home cleaned up.

They say the historic landmark is now an eyesore with trash and junk piled high in the front yard.

It’s a beautiful tree lined block with million-dollar brownstones, but all kinds of things are piled up and pouring out of the front lawn of 253 Sterling Street.

People on Sterling Street said the woman who lives there hoards in her front yard, her backyard, and even in and on top of her car.

Neighbors say the homeowner has lived here for several decades, but the problem has gotten worse in the last few weeks.

Neighbors said they’ve called 311 and nothing has happened.

Developer leaves cats to die in gutted Ridgewood building

I'm posting this so you can understand the level of depravity of the developers that have infiltrated our communities. The background is dark, so please click on the Facebook post to read it.

In an era where a worker death is simply written off as the cost of doing business, it's no surprise that animals are being subjected to this.



Although the above post claims a stop work order is in effect, there is none as evidenced by DOB's own website:

Ain't gentrification at any cost just grand?

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.”

Fire at Elmhurst hoarder house

"Hey Crappie, I haven't seen any mention in the local papers about the fire at the Elmhurst hoarder house on 84th street and 57th Ave a couple weeks ago. Fire Dept. had to cut a hole in the neighbors attached roof to put out the fire. As far as I know there was no injuries.

For years neighbors have been complaining about the unsightly mess of piles of trash in the front and back yard and also of the threat of fire to the other attached homes. Multiple visits by the DOB, Sanitation, Fire Dept., mental health workers and even Councilman Dromm couldn't convince the woman to clean up her act even when faced with fines.

I've watched the TV show Hoarders many times and in some of the cases the municipality will evict the homeowner if they don't clean up the house. It seems NYC doesn't have the same regulations.Anyway now all the yard trash is gone but I heard it's a real mess inside." - anonymous

This house was previously featured here in January of last year.

Nasty hoarding situation in Brooklyn

From CBS 2:

A house in Brooklyn is surrounded with piles of trash, and neighbors say the city is not doing enough about it.

Neighbors called CBS2 looking for help in getting the mess cleaned up.

As CBS2’s Ilana Gold reported, you can’t miss the eyesore on 57th Street in Borough Park by New Utrecht Avenue. The entire length of the driveway is covered in trash — luggage, furniture and debris stacked 5 feet high.

Hoarding can be deadly

From the Queens Courier:

Firefighters found a 58-year-old man dead in the basement of a Glen Oaks home following a two-alarm fire Thursday morning, according to police.

More than 100 firefighters and the 105th Precinct responded to the blaze that broke out at 6:29 a.m. at the home on 265th Street near 79th Avenue.

According to the FDNY, efforts to extinguish the flames were complicated after firefighters encountered “Collyers’ mansion” conditions — piles of debris throughout the home.

Hoarding horror in Elmhurst

The front of this house at 57-03 84th Street in Elmhurst looks pretty normal. But it's what's in the yards around it that is kind of a shocker.

The driveway.


The side yard.

Hoarding helped Middle Village fire spread

From the Queens Chronicle:

The FDNY has determined the fire started in the wiring of the cellar ceiling of 78-13 68 Ave.

Neighbors complained that the tenants of the home have a habit of collecting items, leaving the house and the front yard cluttered and overgrown with shrubbery.

“They are like hoarders,” Cheryl said. “They keep all of this stuff all over their house.”

Some residents said firefighters were struggling to walk through the cellar when they surveyed the home.

Nightmare neighbors still hoarding

From the Queens Chronicle:

The property at 243-14 132 Road is littered with seemingly worthless items including broken furniture, buckets, pieces of wood, old cosmetics, tools and more.

“They use a U-Haul all the time, and they dump the stuff right on the lawn, and in the middle of the street, and then, I guess, they return the truck,” said neighbor H. Gardner, who asked that her first name not be published because she is embarrassed by the conditions next door. “With the U-Haul and all this garbage, that means they have to drag it up, past my driveway, so I had to get a rake and clean the debris because I need to pull my car out and I’m not sure if there’s nails and stuff.”

The property is an eyesore that neighbors say they are tired of looking at, especially when all the other homes on the street are rubbish-free with finely manicured lawns. They claim the property has always looked that way, ever since homeowner Elaine Ranger moved in about 10 years ago.

When the Chronicle first reported on the house back in April, Ranger and her daughter, who would not give her name, said they were in the process of spring cleaning and maintained that most of the items on the property were useful and the rest was just awaiting pickup by the Department of Sanitation.

Last Thursday, another woman who also claimed to be Ranger’s daughter but would not give her name, said the clutter was scattered about because she had recently emptied a storage unit and needed time to photograph the items as evidence in a pending lawsuit.

“I am not saying it’s excusable, but that’s the reason why it’s here,” she said. But she later noted, “I collect stuff. Things come in and out.”

Ranger faces eight alleged Environmental Control Board violations for construction work without a permit and quality-of-life infractions with fines totaling $6,900, and two Department of Buildings construction violations, just as she had in April, when the Chronicle first reported the story.

The city Department of Health issued a violation to Ranger in 2011 for improper storage of items and harborage conditions conducive to rats, a spokesman for the agency said back in April. The DOH and the Department of Sanitation did not respond to emails requesting information about any new violations.

Click on the DOB link provided. This one is a real doozy...

Taxi fleet owner's a gas hoarder

From DNA Info:

A Queens gas station owned by a taxi tycoon is refusing to sell gas to anyone but yellow cabs — with preferential treatment for his own drivers — even as desperate motorists line up for blocks to get fuel amid a massive shortage caused by Hurricane Sandy.

On the eve of Mayor Michael Bloomberg's mandatory gas-rationing plan, a Shell station on Northern Boulevard and 71st Street was giving away a seemingly endless supply of gas — mainly to members of taxi mogul Evgeny Freidman's taxi fleet.

Freidman's gas station had three working pumps on Thursday and has been flush with gas in the wake of the hurricane, even as dozens of others around the five boroughs ran dry and closed, sparking massive lines.

The station waved away at least five pleading motorists trying to fill up at the pump within an hour that evening while yellow cabs flew through the line and filled up, as officials from the city's Taxi and Limousine Commission stood by and watched.

"We're just here to provide security," said a TLC official, who turned up at the station at 5 p.m. Thursday, along with several NYPD officers, after getting "hundreds" of 911 calls about fights at that station.

Two pumps were reserved for Taxi Club Management, Freidman's massive fleet of cabs. All other cab drivers, who had been turned away from the station until the TLC intervened Wednesday, had to wait in two-block-long lines to use the third pump, even when the Taxi Club lines were empty.

Cats saved from Kew Gardens hoarder

Empty Cages Collective recently learned of a hoarding situation that was about to turn tragic. After years of complaints from neighbors and concerned citizens to the ASPCA and numerous evictions due to non-payment of rent and keeping animals in squalid conditions, a homeless woman in Kew Gardens, Queens began keeping 23 cats illegally in a storage locker until the storage company found out and kicked her out. The woman, with no where to go, found a kind man to let her keep the cats in his car. The woman said she would just need 24 hours to figure somewhere for the cats to go. After nearly a week, the condition of the car and the cats deteriorated. The cats were living smashed several a head into carriers. They only had access to water sparingly. When the woman would let them out of the carrier, they would defecate in the corners of the vehicle, under seats, on blankets making a huge mess. Something had to be done.

The cats were infested with fleas and earmites, and some with wounds from scratching so intensely were stressed by the conditions beyond measure. They needed help yesterday! They had already waited too long.

The man, who had finally had enough, threatened to kick the woman out of his vehicle. The woman planned to keep the cats locked in carriers hidden behind bushes in a park if this happened. She had no concern for the upcoming storm. She would not accept any help from anyone who stepped in offering to care for the cats.



Finally, a friend of the woman and the owner of the car intervened due to the declining health and conditions of the cats. On Saturday, October 27, Empty Cages Collective stepped up! The 19 cats we were told about ended up being 23 cats in need of veterinary care and rescue!

Admitting 23 cats at one time into our rescue program is a very big project. Please help us ensure that it goes as smoothly as possible for both us and the cats!

DONATE! We need donations to cover veterinary care, food, litter, boarding, transport and other expenses. Without you, we will not be able to do this: www.emptycagescollective.org/donate


Donations can also be sent by mail to
Empty Cages Collective
302 Bedford Avenue, PMB#301
Brooklyn, NY 11211

FOSTER! We desperately need foster homes (at least 1.5 month commitment: although they maybe placed sooner) for these unfortunate cats. Please contact us at 1.800.880.2684 or adopt@emptycagescollective.org

RESCUE! Are you another legitimate no kill animal rescue organization willing to take even 1 of these poor victims to place under the auspices of your organization? Please do! We need your help. Contact 1.800.880.2684 or emptycagescollective@gmail.com to discuss it.

TRANSPORT! Volunteer to help transport rescues to veterinarians, foster and adoptive homes. This is a big help and helps us get animals to where they need to be quickly! 1.800.880.2684 or emptycagescollective@gmail.com

ADOPT! Have you been thinking about adding a new cat family member to your family? This is a great time to save a life and provide a wonderful home for an animal who has been through an immense amount of crisis! Get in touch at 1.800.880.2684 or adopt@emptycagescollective.org to become a friend to one of these wonderful felines.

VOLUNTEER! Help us with adoption events and tabling to find cats and kittens (and other animals) wonderful homes. We require a full day (mostly weekends: 8 hour) commitment. Get in touch 1.800.880.2684 or volunteer@emptycagescollective.org.

On behalf of all of our new rescues, thank you for your support.

Hoarding garbage in his house

From WPIX:

The house at 196 13th street in posh Park Slope is so disgusting, so smelly, and so unsanitary that neighbors want to move. The brownstone, between 3rd and 4th avenue, is covered in trash, buckets of refuse, and cats.

Neighbors say the owner is a hoarder and has received several summonses from the City but continues to collect garbage anyway.


After PIX11 News sent the Department of Sanitation pictures of the home, they issued him a "Dirty Area Summons" for a hundred dollars. Sanitation also promised to continue to monitor the situation.

Shouldn't the Dept of Health be involved at this point?