Quantcast

The DNAinfo archives brought to you by WNYC.
Read the press release here.

Demolish Decaying Condo That's Stood Empty for 10 Years, Neighbors Say

By Nicholas Rizzi | March 31, 2016 6:17pm
 The building at 203 Main St. has been empty since it was built in 2006.
203 Main St.
View Full Caption

TOTTENVILLE — A three-story condo building that's sat empty and decaying in Tottenville for a decade should be pulled down by the city, neighbors and local politicians said.

Councilman Joe Borelli, Assembly candidate Ron Castorina Jr. and local civic leaders called on the city to tear down the building at 203 Main St., near Craig Avenue, that was built in 2006.

"This is fundamentally a blight on this neighborhood and something needs to happen to correct it," Borelli said. 

"This is something that has been a stain on this community for too long and it really needs to be completely demolished or improved upon so we can potentially put something better here."

The inside of the building is filled with broken glass, empty beer bottles, graffiti and ripped up walls. The damage worsened after a fence was removed and the doors were pried open in the winter, said Jim Pistilli, president of the Tottenville Civic Association.

"This has just continuously gotten worse," Pistilli said. "It's a haven for youth hanging out, drinking."

Throughout the years, Pistilli said the FDNY had to put out fires in the building, residents have caught homeless people sleeping inside and all the windows were recently broken.

Borelli and Community Board 3 members said the building was built higher than the zoning allowed for, but a spokesman for the Department of Building said there was no record that it didn't follow the code.

DOB inspectors visited the property on March 17 and issued an unsafe building violation because it's open and unguarded, the spokesman said.

In these cases, the agency gives a summons to the owner to fix the unsafe conditions then takes them to court if they don't, the DOB said.

If a judge rules the owners haven't taken the steps to fix the conditions, the city could be authorized to do an emergency demolition.

The spot used to be an empty lot until it was bought by Irwin Sindeband, under the name Main Street Partners LLC, who built a development with eight condos and four commercial spaces in 2006.

But developers never got their certificate of occupancy from the city and the spot slowly fell into disarray.

Sindeband did not respond to a request for comment.

In 2010, the bank started foreclosure proceedings and the building has racked up complaints and violations, Borelli said.

The building currently has 27 complaints, two violations from the DOB and two from the Environmental Control Board, including one in February for a loose 10-inch aluminum capping that an inspector wrote was in danger of falling onto a neighbor's home, according to city records.

Borelli said that, while the best-case scenario is the building's demolition, he's also open to selling it to a new person or a nonprofit organization fixing it up.

"I'm happy to work with the new developer to put some type of positive community use to the project," said Borelli, adding that two nonprofits have already reached out to say they're interested in taking over the space.

"Anything would be better than this."