Neighbors toast to demolition of blighted house

Property values will go up. It’s finally the government working for the people.”

Michael Jerchower, resident on Anthony St.

Process to get rid of abandoned homes

Pursuant to Chapter 90 of the Town Code structures that are considered a danger or nuisance can be removed after a few steps.

First, an inspection needs to conducted of the premises, if found to be a danger or nuisance a determination can be made for further investigation and a notice is given to the property owner.

Next, the owner can comply with the order to make the house safe or demolish and or remove the building. They can also request additional time to complete renovations.

Lastly, if the building is deemed to require demolition, a resolution is approved by the Town Board to remove the building.

After decades of complaints about mold, a raccoon family and being an overall blight of the neighborhood bringing property values down, an abandoned house in Oceanside was demolished on April 4. A week prior a Porsche was towed out of the garage. Neighbors started lining up around 8 a.m. to see the destruction by the Town of Hempstead Building Department, which took about an hour.

At the start of the demolition, neighbors dusted off their champagne and popped it open for an early morning celebratory sip, something they’ve been saying for four decades they would do if it was ever torn down.

“This is great,” said Anthony St. resident Janice Giannotti, who can see the unkempt yard from her home she’s lived in for over 40 years, “it’s been a horror to live behind.”

Giannotti said residents were scared to go out after dark for fear of raccoon attacks and no potted plants were safe from them either. She also noticed that after Hurricane Sandy things only got worse inside the abandoned house when it filled with water and grew mold.

Giannotti’s neighbor, Michael Jerchower was the one who reignited the Town of Hempstead’s eye towards the property. He said before he started messaging them and posting on Facebook about the situation that neighbors “weren’t getting anywhere for 30 years.”

So, he said, “back in October I really started pressuring the town and the building department really picked up. I just wanted to do something to help them because no one wants to look at this every day. I’m just glad I was able to help.”

Now there is a new “sense of satisfaction and peace of mind that hopefully now that it’s level they’ll sell the property and build a new home, property values will go up. It’s finally the government working for the people”

The Building Department started their investigation of a complaint on July 21, 2011, records show, and violations were issued to the owner.

A year later, the Building Department went back to find the house vacant, in structural disrepair and the electricity on but the meter barely moving.

A Chapter 90 Notice of Violation case was opened on Feb. 11, 2013, and months later after Hurricane Sandy damaged the property was deemed unfit for human occupancy.

A decade later on Jan. 13, 2023, the Town Board adopted a resolution dated Dec. 6, 2022 for Cipco Boarding Company for $1347.47 for demolition, which is included on the tax bill to be paid, so taxpayers didn’t pay a cent except for the champagne. 

— Karina Kovac