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A Few Clouds A house of neglect
Town promises cleanup of rodent-infested, abandoned house at 1956 Front St.
A dilapidated, rodent-infested and seemingly abandoned home on a major East Meadow thoroughfare has recently attracted the attention of local residents — as well as the Town of Hempstead — thanks largely to videos that circulated on social media in recent weeks.
It’s easy not to notice the run-down condition of 1956 Front St., at the intersection with Kodma Place. It’s on a main road, directly across from a busy shopping center, anad cars typically zoom by at high speed. Low-hanging trees and overgrown weeds obstruct the view of the property — its boarded-up front door and windows, mossy siding, and the garbage and empty shopping carts in its side and backyard.
But there is a traffic light at the intersection, and it was there that Linda Giblin, an East Meadow resident for 15 years, said she heard a loud squeaking noise coming from the property on March 26, and got out of her car to investigate. “I thought it was a squirrel at first,” said Giblin, the president of the Woodland Middle School PTA. “And I saw it was a rat. And I saw another one, and another one. They were going in and out. It’s disgusting.”
Giblin posted two 30-second videos she filmed on her Facebook page later that day, as well as a community-based page that has more than 1,000 members. In one video, which has been viewed more than 2,500 times, a rat scurries across the house’s front stoop.
The images evoked a strong negative reaction from residents, who expressed surprise that a house like this exists in East Meadow — a suburban, middle-class community where high property taxes come with an expectation of clean neighborhoods — let alone at a highly visible location just a block from the East Meadow Public Library and a quarter-mile from McVey Elementary School.
Residents are asking who the owner is, how the property fell into such a deteriorated state and why neighbors hadn’t complained about it earlier. Their biggest fear, some say, is that the home is unlawfully inhabited by otherwise homeless squatters.
Giblin’s video was also viewed by Town Councilman Gary Hudes, who told the Herald on April 2 that town inspectors and an exterminator had already been to the property, and that a cleanup had begun — with the cooperation of the property owner.
