What to Know
-
A law in New Yorks biggest town allows the town to demolish homes deemed “dangerous” or “abandoned”[hhmc]
-
One resident whose house was torn down after he went to Florida for knee surgery in December 2014 is taking the town to court[hhmc]
-
The town's building commissioner told the I-Team that the department's sole responsibility is to make sure the dwelling is "secure and safe"[hhmc]
A law in New Yorks biggest town allows the town to demolish homes deemed “dangerous” or “abandoned” — and it is affecting hundreds of people.
“This was the lot,” Phil Williams said as he stood in an empty yard in the West Hempstead neighborhood he once called home. “And as you can see, there is nothing left.”
Williams went to Florida in December 2014 for knee surgery. When he returned months later in August, his house was gone.
“I bought the house from my dad in 1974,” Williams recalled. “My wife and I lived there. We had six children that lived in the house.”
The Town of Hempstead tore down Williams house according to Chapter 90 of town law.
Its a law that allows building inspectors to identify and demolish structures that they deem are dangerous or abandoned. Currently, the town is dealing with 850 open Chapter 90 cases.
The towns definition of dangerous is defined, in part, as something that is "…unsafe structurally, or a fire hazard or a nuisance to the general public."
"The house was not a danger. Its just a ridiculous statement," Williams said.
It wasnt just the house that was a loss for Williams, though. Decades worth of personal belongings and memories — all of them, gone.
Now, he is taking the town to court.
“This is really a case about due process of law and everybodys right to have their day in court,” Williams attorney Brad Siegel said. “Mr. Williams property was compromised. The laws werent followed.”
In court papers, Siegel says notice was sent to Williams home via certified mail, which doesnt require a signature. According to the Chapter 90 law, only “registered mail” is “sufficient evidence” of notice of service.
That was in 2015. Fast forward to 2019, and the Hempstead Building Department is still using Chapter 90 to take down homes marked as dangerous.
Nancy Bernius told the I-Team her cousin, Robert Tynan, was found dead after being evicted from his Garden City home.
“It seemed to me that they just took him out of the house and put him on the street," she said.
She says her cousin had a “diminished mental capacity,” and probably felt lost when he was evicted from the house where he lived his whole life.
Bernius says her cousins body was found 30 miles away from his home, in a Suffolk County park.
“He lived in Garden City,” Bernius said. “Not sure how he was able to get out there since he did not drive.”
According to records obtained by the I-Team, townRead More – Source
[contf] [contfnew] 
USA Today
[contfnewc] [contfnewc]
