bidge closing, The Leader, Locust Valley, Bayville, Glen cove, centre island, brooay

Town Condemns
Ten-Family Building in LV

 

The windows at 398 Forest Avenue in Locust Valley were boarded up and the doors padlocked shut last week, when Oyster Bay officials condemned the 10 family building and its neighbor, 7 13th Street, for a host of code violations, including structural deficiencies, open electrical boxes and dripping fecal matter, a spokeswoman for the Town of Oyster Bay said.
The move was the culmination of long struggle by community leaders and the local Neighborhood Watch to close down the ramshackle houses, which, according to Locust Valley Neighborhood Watch President Leslie Schramm Hughes, were badly maintained and over-crowded. "It's just a positive step to help recreate the neighborhood," Hughes said, adding that the group had repeatedly petitioned the Town over the years to look into the poor living conditions. "No one, no one should live like that," she said.
The buildings housed dozens of people, Hughes said, all of which have no permanent residence as of the condemnation. According to Town spokeswoman Phyllis Barry, the Town has helped provide temporary housing for those who needed it - with many residents finding shelter with family, friends and groups such as United Way of Long Island and the Island's chapter of Catholic Charities.
According to notices posted at the houses, about six charities and government offices have pitched in to make sure that no one remains homeless.
While not all agreed to the help, Barry said everyone had a place to sleep in the area.
"This could have been a nightmare," Hughes said, "[but] they…really went above and beyond" to provide for the buildings' inhabitants and to make sure that residents could remain in the neighborhood at least until they could find a new place to live.
About ten families live in the larger of the two buildings, on the corner of Forest and 13th Street, though residents and officials suspected more, Hughes said.
In addition to a crumbling foundation, the buildings boasted broken smoke and fire detectors, window-less bathrooms and clogged bathroom vents. The conditions, she said, were highly unhygienic and dangerous.
"And that's just the tip of the iceberg," Barry said. "We were concerned that there were more things going on in the building than we were aware of."
Earlier this month, when the Town finally received a warrant to search the buildings, conditions were far worse than they had expected, she said, and they moved quickly to shut them down.
According to notices posted at the site, the buildings were condemned in accordance with Town code, which dictates that any building that poses an "immediate danger" to its inhabitants be sealed off, boarded up, repaired, vacated or demolished.
Both buildings are owned by the Locust Valley-based Ramirez Realty, Barry said, though Town and law enforcement officials did not have the owner's name.
Barry would not comment on the possibility of further legal action, but said it was now the owners' responsibility to get the building up to code. For now, the property, which takes up a large chunk of property right off a main road, will remain boarded up.
The buildings, Hughes said, had long been a thorn in the side of an area that has been inching towards revitalization. The condemnation, she said, "will help bring back the neighborhood" that's long been plagued with a hardscrabble reputation.
"I feel this is a long time coming," she said.

• Laura Albanese