Sunday, February 16, 2025
Residents of 1888 Foster Meadow Lane, a senior cooperative building in Elmont, are mourning the loss of their homes after the Town of Hempstead began demolishing the building on Jan. 7 without their knowledge.
Residents have been displaced since September 2023, when the 30-unit building flooded amid heavy rain. Then, last month, a fire left the structure, and all of the residents’ belongings that were inside, unsalvageable.
Brian Devine, the town’s director of communications, confirmed that town building inspectors, accompanied by outside engineering consultants, had examined the building after the fire and determined that it was a public health and safety risk. The Town Board, Devine said, voted unanimously to demolish it.
But residents were left out of the loop, and were not notified when the town began knocking the structure down. “I feel awful — it’s a slap in the face,” resident Janester Thompson said. “I wanted the courtesy of communication.”
Watching the building crumble was an emotional experience, Thompson added. As she was passing it on the way to a doctor’s appointment, she recalled, she saw the crew at work. The side of the building where she lived was still standing, she said, and she briefly considered running inside to retrieve some of her belongings.
“I really was furious,” she said. “All of my memories were in there that I will never see again. It was very hurtful and depressing.”
Thompson said she found out from a newspaper reporter that there had been a meeting about the building’s fate before demolition began last week. She said she understood that the building was too dangerous to remain standing, and that the decision was in the public’s best interest. But, she added, it made no sense that the residents, some of whom had their life savings invested in the building, were not notified about the demolition.
The Town of Hempstead did not respond to questions about why residents were not told about the demolition before it was authorized.
Thompson said she did not know whom to blame for the lack of communication and accountability the town, Nassau County or the building’s management company, which is listed as Woods and Ruff on mail and email sent to residents. “You have to let people know — we’re investors,” she said.
According to Carlos Marin, whose parents have owned an apartment in the building since 2016, it has always had a flooding problem. But, Marin said, neither its previous management, nor Woods and Ruff management, which took over in 2020, fixed the flooding problem.
The management company, Marin said, had repeatedly raised utility and maintenance fees since his parents moved in, but he never saw any work done to address the flooding problem. Whenever flooding occurred, he said, the management told residents that they had to raise their monthly bills due to lack of funds to fix it, and Marin said he eventually became suspicious about where the money was going. When the building burst into flames on Dec. 14, he said, many residents were suspicious of the fire’s cause, and some speculated that the management company was committing insurance fraud.
Nassau County Fire Marshal Michael Uttaro said that his office was still conducting an investigation, in coordination with the Nassau County Police Department Arson and Bomb Squad, to determine the cause of the fire. But Uttaro acknowledged that the investigation has been difficult because damage to the building is extensive.
Marin said that residents, including Thompson and his parents, have been unable to get in touch with anyone at Woods and Ruff, which lists a Manhattan address, either in person or on the phone, since the 2023 flood. The company did not respond to the Herald’s questions about the Foster Meadow property.
Woods and Ruff’s most recent letter to residents, dated Dec. 30, stated that its plan was to obtain resources to rebuild the apartment building, and that its attorney was negotiating with a private property management company, Georgica Green Ventures, to manage construction. If it is successful, Woods and Ruff wrote that Georgica Green Ventures would apply for a grant from the New York State Division of Housing and Community Renewal to fund construction.
But residents said they are wary of management’s statements. Thompson said she doesn’t trust the company to act in her best interest, and reiterated that it has been unresponsive. Marin shared her concerns, and added that he believes the management company has been taking advantage of the seniors because they are less able to advocate for their rights.
Devine confirmed that any future development at Foster Meadow would be private, and that questions about it should be addressed to the property owner, Woods and Ruff. But Thompson said she worried that a private company might not agree to rebuild until the flooding problem is resolved, which she believes should be handled by the county.
As of now, some of the displaced residents have been living in the A. Holly Patterson Extended Care Facility in Uniondale. On Jan. 3, Assemblywoman Michaelle Solages collaborated with Elizabeth Forbes, founder of the Gift of Giving Foundation, to distribute $200 gift cards to all 30 residents in an effort to alleviate some of their financial hardship.
While Thompson said she appreciated Solages’s efforts and believes she was genuinely trying to help, “How is $200 going to fix me losing my home?” Thompson asked.
She added that she was searching for an affordable apartment, but it’s difficult to find anything comparable to the low cost of living at Foster Meadow. She said she was concerned because she is too old for a mortgage, but she cannot afford the area’s high rents.
Thompson said she was concerned about the other Foster Meadow residents, too, because of their age. “We’re using up our lifetime,” she said.
