A vacant home in Marine Park is a “blight on the neighborhood.”
So said Josephine Longo, who lives next door to the abandoned home located at 3614 Avenue P.
The two-story home has been vacant for several years and its windows are boarded up. As a result, it has attracted vandals.
“It’s been a horror,” Longo explained. “It’s infested. We had termites, there’s raccoons. There’s graffiti all over it. People throw their garbage all over it.”
Marine Park Civic Association President Greg Borruso believes it’s unusual to see an abandoned home in the neighborhood.
“It’s odd that a big house like that would be left vacant for so long,” he said.
According to city Buildings Department records, the home is owned by the estate of James Gardiner. There’s several complaints on record from 2003 to January 2010. Inspectors issued violations for holes in the home’s exterior and a rotting and sagging roof.
“If vandals get in there and they torch the place, a lot of homes are going to go up,” Longo warned.
The city is now moving to foreclose the home, as property taxes have not been paid for several years, said City Councilmember Lew Fidler.
After many failed attempts, Fidler’s office finally found the lawyer representing the estate. Upon informing him of the foreclosure possibility, the lawyer, who could not be reached for comment for this story, agreed to put the house up for sale, Fidler explained.
“I believe that the estate is selling the property to somebody. If it’s not someone who intends to move in, they can let the house sit vacant for all we care, but they have to fix it,” Fidler said. “Hopefully, we’re coming to a relatively happy conclusion.”
“I don’t think anyone was doing anything intentionally here,” Fidler continued. “It’s just one of those things that sometimes happens when someone gets elderly and has a long-term illness and doesn’t have family close by.”
