Town announces 23 house board-ups

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During its Dec. 8 town board meeting, the Town of Hempstead released a list of 23 open, abandoned one family houses it had boarded, costing the town $11,232.12. The work was contracted to MGP Landscape Construction LLC of Smithtown. Hempstead town communications executives did not respond to requests as to the dates of the board-ups in time for the close of the newspaper.

The town also announced it had authorized special assessments for professional services — such as surveys, reports and verbal testimonies — needed for an additional seven homes in Baldwin, Bellmore, Lakeview, Oceanside and Uniondale. The cost of those assessments was $2,657, and the contract was given to H2M Architects and Engineering of Melville.

In Baldwin, five houses, two with garages, were boarded 761 Glover Place, 829 Linden Ave., 1897 Shoen Street and 3177 Eastern Parkway. Special assessments for verbal testimonies, surveys and reports were also approved for two additional houses on 3505 Bay Front Drive and 15 Grand Ave.

In East Meadow, four houses, three with garages, were boarded on 42 Bailey Ave., 1791 Grant Ave., 2557 Tonquin St., and 596 Midvale St.

In Levittown, four houses, one with a garage, were boarded at 188 Orchid Rd., 105 Wadsworth Ave., 476 Whittier Ave. and 43 Twig Lane.

In Elmont, three houses were boarded at 164 Biltmore Ave., 204 King St., and 52 Miriam Pkwy.

In Bellmore, one house was boarded at 2500 Columbus Ave. Another house at 2662 Alder Rd. got a verbal testimony.

In Merrick, one house was boarded at 251 Meadowbrook Rd.

In Oceanside, one house at 280 Montgomery Ave. was boarded. Additionally, a survey and report was requested by the town for the house at 193 Amos Ave.

In Roosevelt, two houses were boarded at 61 Linden Place and 45 Elizabeth St.

In Lakeview, a survey and report was requested by the town for a home at 1268 Langdon Blvd.

In Uniondale, a survey and report were also requested by the town for a home at 1352 Commodore Rd.

The town also reported that it had boarded a house at 27 Garden City Blvd in West Hempstead, but did not include that it had razed the house, or detailed the cost of demolition and debris removal. West Hempstead resident and military veteran Philip Williams, who had owned the house, said he came back after several months of recovering from a surgery in Florida to find his house and everything else on his property gone without his consent. “They took the foundation, the driveway, the garage, the trees,” said Williams. “Why would they do all that?” The town said it had followed all procedures in having his home demolished.

When asked what constitutes an emergency in regard to abandoned, open buildings, town communications executive Michael Caputo said, ”Any premises found in open and abandoned condition could have actions taken, including board-ups, fencing an unsafe work site, or shoring up an excavation or structure,” he said. “These structures present a potentially dangerous situation to the public, and require remediation,” Caputo said in a written statement.