So, send us your messy, trashy, dirty, broken-down, annoying eye-sores and we'll run them here on Wednesdays. Often the attention leads to swift action by city agencies or landlords. Just send us a digital image of your mess with the location, what you find repulsive about and what, if anything, you or others have tried to do about it.
Send submissions to bronxnewsnetwork@gmail.com. If you don't have time or can't take a photo of it, just send us the location and a description and we'll try to document it's messiness ourselves. You can also suggest messes in the comments section below.
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The Department of Buildings (DOB) is responsible for overseeing properties under construction (like this one) throughout NYC. DOB will be sending a representative to CB 7's Housing Committee meeting on Tuesday, May 25 at the CB 7 office (located at 229-A E 204th Street). The meeting will begin at 6:30pm. Neighborhood residents are encouraged to attend, bringing questions or concerns about DOB service delivery.
ReplyDeleteThis house is a good example of what can go wrong when homeowners sell out to the highest bidder, usually a developer -- or in this case a property flipper who has yet to flip it to someone who will build on it. In the meantime, this has been the mess of the last 18 months!
ReplyDeleteGreg, are you blaming the homeowners for accepting a good offer on their house?
ReplyDeleteNot really, but maybe just a tiny bit.
ReplyDeleteObviously it's their right to sell for top dollar -- this is the American way! But from a neighborhood perspective, it's a bonus if the seller has an interest in keeping the neighborhood up even after they leave.
Can we expect this behavior from sellers? Of course not. Like I said, there's something to be said for the American capitalism. But for those of us left in the neighborhood, we can all agree that a situation like this sucks.
To be fair, I went to see this house when it was for sale and it was in really poor condition on the inside -- much worse than many other homes that were knocked down. The fact that this home is zoned R-8 ensured it would be a knock down. Though, the owners may have added incentive to build quickly if their parcel will be down-zoned in the near future. Here's hoping something happens there soon.
As for blame, it can probably go to the overall phenomena of property flipping and the bubble mentality. This house was owned by one family for a long time before it was sold in January 2007 for $370,000. That flipper sold the home 18 months later for $450,000, to Lynwood Acquisitions who is still sitting on it. I've seen it listed on craigslist periodically -- asking price around $650,000. the least they could do is knock it down before something bad happens in there.
Did that original homeowner family have any idea this would happen. I doubt it. But still, we're stuck with this.