City Boards Up Long-Abandoned House With Cement, But Brooklyn Neighbors Cry It's Not Enough
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) - A vacant home with more than 200 violations is still upsetting neighbors after years of complaints in the East Flatbush section of Brooklyn.
Mayor de Blasio promised to get the buildings commissioner involved, reports CBS2's Alice Gainer.
CBS2 first showed you this vacant home at 4401 Clarendon Road in East Flatbush last week.
It's racked up 232 violations between the Department of Buildings and the Department of Sanitation.
The homeowner owes $310,795.05 in unpaid fines and penalties, but that person is nowhere to be found.
Neighbors in the adjacent home have been complaining for years and say they've dealt with squatters, rodents and other issues but nothing has been done.
After contacting numerous city agencies, CBS2 took the issue to Mayor Bill de Blasio.
"I'll have the buildings commissioner follow up on it immediately," he said.
Friday morning the Department of Buildings said the commissioner along with department engineers inspected the home in person.
Neighbors say a vacate order was posted indicating the building is significantly leaning and structural crack lines were observed from the cellar to the second floor.
On Saturday, workers worked on re-boarding up the home using cement.
"It's been done before and it's been proven that it doesn't work," said neighbor Mack Washington. "You have to do more than that."
The Washingtons, who live next door, are also concerned about the roof.
"All you're doing is covering up wood that was already there, for what? Come on now we can do better," said Cecilia Holt-Washington. "Our home is being damaged every time it rains. This doesn't help us."
They showed CBS2 the damage to their home from leaks despite having replaced their own roof.
"They never did anything with this roof except put some tarp up on there," said Mack Washington. "On a day like today it's windy - it blows the tarp off. Water seeps down through the shingles and it comes down into the valley the common wall."
The Washingtons continue to worry for their safety as they await a more permanent solution.
CBS2 reached out to the Department of Buildings for an update but have not heard back today. Its offices are closed for the MLK Jr. holiday.
