By David Greene

 

Homeowners and residents across the borough have been learning to live with the abandoned properties that have become the image of the foreclosure crisis across the state, but maybe new legislation will prevent squatters, drug dealers and users from taking over a property; it may possibly prevent another tragedy, besides the loss of a family's home.

 

Someone attending Governor David Paterson's signing of the new foreclosure legislation would only have to go to the end of the block to find a foreclosed home. A friendly neighbor wanted to tell Paterson, "We've got a nice foreclosed house across the street, if he's interested."

 

You would never know 1861 Bronxdale Avenue was abandoned, until you see the pile of bricks and debris that litters the driveway. A notice from the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and a summons from the Department of Sanitation for $100 for the debris, was tacked to the front door.

 

In neighborhoods like Morris Park and Bedford Park, the barricades around a home often seem secured, but the graffiti left behind tells a different story. On Fairmount Place near Southern Boulevard and Ellis Avenue in Parkchester, those inside do not even bother shutting the front door, giving off an eerie look, and not just on Halloween.

 

After receiving some complaints about one such property at 3565 Ropes Avenue in Woodlawn, Senator Jeff Klein's office discovered that the city had owned the property for the last 10 years. An inspection of the home deemed it unsafe and bulldozers leveled the structure this past October. The home had been left to rot since the 1970's.

 

In November Klein rolled up his sleeves in an effort to clean another property at 3032 Waterbury Avenue, which the senator found out was abandoned in 2005. That home may soon be back on the market.

 

At 10 a.m. on October 7, firefighters were called to 861 Fairmount Place for a report of a fire on the home's porch. A source at the scene reported a witness telling firefighters that the person who set the fire had set several fires in the neighborhood.

 

Firefighters would soon request the NYPD's help after finding some type of "stolen property," but no details were available.

 

A seven-year resident of the block said at the time, "Drug addicts go in there and live in there and nobody knows who the owner is... now they had a fire and there's two day care centers on the block."

 

The owner of one of the day cares explained, "We have complained at various times but no one has done anything about it." All the residents stated they have contacted 3-1-1 repeatedly.

 

A staffer at Councilman Joel Rivera's office, a half block from the eyesore, stated, "The house has been a problem. I don't know who owns this house but it's been a problem with squatters."

 

The elderly woman reported living in a home on Ellis Avenue in Parkchester, had to be thanking her lucky stars as she most likely slept with her front door open, without heat, electric or hot water, when an arsonist set fire to the Glory of Christ Church, across the street.

 

The assailant who set the December 9 blaze left a message for members of the church and the soup kitchen they run, "Get off our Block." The poor old woman squatting in the home across the street, must be wondering how the firebug feels about the homeless.