Ozone Park residents said individuals dump trash into the yard of an abandoned house on Rockaway Boulevard between 105th and 107th streets. Anna Gustafson/The Forum Newsgroup
Residents on 107th Street near Rockaway Boulevard in Ozone Park have had enough.
For close to two years, neighbors said an abandoned house at 106-10 Rockaway Blvd. has been a sore spot where trash is routinely dumped in the backyard and which has been broken into by squatters who would allegedly deal drugs and intimidate area residents.
Rowdy individuals will nightly congregate in this alleyway off of 107th Street near Rockaway Boulevard – and will often engage in such behavior as urinating on walls and allegedly dealing drugs, according to area residents.
Neighbors said after frequent police action, the squatters left, but now residents say drug dealers and generally rowdy – and often drunk – individuals will congregate in an alleyway off of 107th Street that goes past the problem home’s backyard.
“It’s disgusting,” said Joann Miller, who has lived on 107th Street for 29 years. “There’s so much trash all the time, and now there are rats. At night they’ll come out with their cars and do drug deals. When there was a bar across the street – which closed about eight months ago – they used to come from there, but there are still a lot of people coming every night.
“They go into the alleyway for two minutes and then come out – you don’t have to be a scientist to know what they’re doing,” Miller continued.
The building once house the Better Homes Depot – a real estate company that was been sued by the city for allegedly misleading many first-time homebuyers and engaging in deceptive trade practices. In 2003, Better Homes Depot had to pay a $600,000 settlement with the city, which included funds for consumer restitution.
According to city Department of Buildings documents, the home is owned by Eric Fessler – the president of Better Homes Depot who has a long history of legal troubles. According to court documents, Fessler served nine months in prison for paying kickbacks to attorneys in an effort to illegally grow his mortgage banking business.
Residents are afraid that another bar could pop up in the area, which they said has for far too long been plagued by drunken individuals who frighten neighbors.
Fessler could not be reached for comment.
There have been four complaints filed with the city Department of Buildings about the house in over the past two years, and the structure has one open violation from the Environmental Control Board for what the city documented as a failure to maintain building walls. Additionally, city officials wrote that windows at the site had been broken.
Miller, who has been in contact with various city agencies about the problems, said she would ideally like to see the alleyway entirely closed off in order to deter illegal activity.
“It’s scary,” Miller said. “And I have a 4-year-old granddaughter and a seven-year-old teacup Yorkie that’s probably smaller than the rats. This is our community – we want it back.”
By Anna Gustafson
