Neighbors on this seemingly picturesque street say their quality of life is severely diminished by the presence of a boarded up residence they say is housing unsavory characters engaging in illegal and illicit activity. Patricia Adams/The Forum Newsgroup
Ozone Park homeowners caught in a dangerous Catch-22 say they have been asking for help over the last five years and have now come to the end of their ropes with a boarded-up property they say is housing squatters who engage in drug deals and acts of prostitution.
According to as many as six neighbors, all of whom refused to have their names published for fear of retribution, say they observe the residents of the house coming in and out and getting into cars in front of the house for a few minutes and then going back inside. There are also people who come in and out of the house after short periods of time.
Frustrated residents say that state Sen. Joe Addabbo’s (D-Howard Beach) office had been working on the problem, but they had not gotten results so they got together and called Assemblyman Philip Goldfeder (D-Rockaway Park) in the hopes that he could provide a more rapid solution.
Goldfeder visited with the residents last week and observed some of their concerns while he was at the site.
“I can’t believe what I saw unfold right before me,” the assemblyman said. “These people do not have to live like this.”
Goldfeder is now calling for action from the city Department of Buildings and the police department to condemn the residence and remove any unlawful squatters. Residents swarmed the assemblyman on his recent visit to the property to relay tales of alleged drug deals, suspected prostitution and stealing buckets of water from neighbors’ yards because the house apparently has no running water. It was discovered years ago, when problems first began that the owners of the house were tapping into neighbors’ electricity and water mains to avoid their own bills.
But, authorities say, unfortunately the solution that the residents and the assemblyman seek are not so easy and clear-cut as would seem.
The problems, they say, began nearly five years ago after the property was purchased for $412,000 by a man by the name of John Fitzgerald, who is currently incarcerated, and a woman by the name of Eileen Stutzbach. Property records show she is associated with another home not more than two blocks away, but attempts to find here there were not successful.
The owners are not living on the premises, and according to the neighbors, the house is now occupied by at least three transients whom authorities have had a hard time moving out because they don’t seem to be in violation of anything.
Police sources say that it is not against the law to board up windows and that they have identified a person in the house who has established the address as his legal residence. And authorities say at least one person is in the house with the permission of the owner, and he has shown a valid non-driver ID issued by the Department of Motor Vehicles, bearing the address of 134-17 96th Street. In support of that theory is also the fact that the property taxes on the house are roughly $2,500 per year and there is only a balance of less than $110.00 outstanding for this year.
But neighbors say the site has been turned into a single-room occupancy house, with the basement and other floors having been converted into units.
“They’ve set up a boarding house for crack heads and hookers,” said one woman who lives very close to the house. “I’m afraid for my kids and my neighbors. Why do we have to live like this? It’s disgusting and worse than that,” she screamed, “it’s deadly.”
Other neighbors reiterated the sentiment and expressed concern over the unsavory nature of some of the people stopping by through the night to “visit”.
“What exactly do you think someone is doing at 3:30 in the morning when they run down the front steps of the house carrying something in their hand, stick their hand in a car window and then come out with something they stick in their pocket? Then the car pulls away. Is that a late Chinese food delivery? I don’t think so,” said another neighbor.
Residents also turned to the NYPD for help in the situation, and when The Forum caught up with Deputy Inspector Thomas Pascale of the 106th Precinct he detailed the police action that was taken at the house thus far.
“The Organized Crime Bureau (narcotics) Division conducted an investigation at the location and has made arrests,” Pascale said.
He also confirmed that following contact with the neighbors he supplied them with his direct number. But according to Pascale, the police have pretty much done all they can and it is now up to city agencies to take this case the rest of the way.
“The location needs first to be condemned by the buildings Department,” said the inspector, and then it could be sealed by the Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD).
“I advised the neighbors to contact the community board,” he said, “in an attempt to facilitate that process.”
And on Wednesday when The Forum contacted CB 10 Chairperson Betty Braton, she said that her board would do everything in their power in response to a current violation issued at the house for being open and unguarded. Braton said her board will do complete follow-up with HPD and if the violations are not rectified by the owner Braton said, CB 10 would “pursue the city to get the house sealed.”
By Patricia Adams
