Residents Rail Against Factory’s Demolition
Left dormant for many years, a former knitting mill on a residential street in Glendale is slowly being demolished, but neighbors claim that the process has been hazardous to their health.
Gary Jannazzo and Nick Desocio came to Community Board 5’s Jan. 11 meeting at Christ the King Regional High School in Middle Village to call for an investigation into the dismantling of the former factory located 70-20 67th Pl. The site was previously occupied by the Lord Jeff Knitting Company, but according to Jannazzo, it has been abandoned for nearly two decades.
He and Desocio told board members that crews working on behalf of the building’s owners-identified in city records as Block Five LLC of Jamaica- began taking down parts of the factory piece by piece late last year. However, they claimed that no demolition or work permits from the Department of Buildings were publicized or placed at the site, as required by law.
“They just showed up one day and started ripping off stuff from the roof,” Jannazzo told the board. Most of the work has been taking place during weekend hours, he claimed, disturbing his sleep and the rest of others living next to the building.
But Jannazzo and Desocio were more concerned with what was being removed from the factory during the demolition process. Considering the building has been a part of the neighborhood for over 80 years, they feared that much of the debris was contaminated with asbestos.
In observing the demolition taking place, Jannazzo claimed that he did not see any of the workers wearing safety gear or any decontamination equipment which are required by those licensed to conduct asbestos abatement.
“For weeks, I can’t open my windows,” Jannazzo told the board. “My children can’t play in the yard” for fear that they would be exposed to contaminated dust from the factory.
Board 5 Chairperson Vincent Arcuri noted that the advisory body contacted the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and the Department of Buildings (DOB) about the suspect demolition. A stopwork order was previously issued on the site, but Jannazzo noted that the order was ignored as crews were ob- served continuing demolition on the site the following day.
A permit was reportedly obtained and the stop-work order was eventually lifted.
Arcuri noted that, in his own observation of the factory’s dismantling, workers were observed “chipping out caulking from the windows.” He suspected that the caulking was several decades old and may also contain asbestos.
The chairperson wrote a letter on Dec. 28, 2011 to DOB Commissioner Robert LiMandri seeking a review of the status of the project. In an interview with the Times Newsweekly, Arcuri indicated that neither he nor the board had received a response.
Inspectors visited the site six separate times last fall, Arcuri noted, with the most recent visit taking place on Dec. 24, 2011.
“[The] DEP found the building unoccupied and boarded up with no activity taking place,” a DEP spokesperson told this paper in an email. “A follow-up inspection produced the same result.”
Despite the negative findings, the DEP is reportedly looking into other environmental concerns related to the site, according to Eric Yun, press representative for City Council Member Elizabeth Crowley. He noted that the Buildings Department also sent an inspector to check the factory, but was unable to gain access.
“We’re trying to make sure that they (the DOB inspectors) get over there and that the factory complies with the law,” Yun told the Times Newsweekly.
Beyond the demolition activities, no one is sure of what would replace the factory. Arcuri stated that plans were submitted to the board nearly 10 years ago for the creation of an apartment building containing between 22 and 28 units. The project also included a number of parking spaces located in the basement.
“We objected to [the project] to the fact that even [by converting it] from manufacturing to residential use, the existing building already exceeded the maximum floor area ratio” for the site under the zoning law in place at that time, the board chairperson explained.
But as of its immediate future, Arcuri noted that “all we know is that they’re doing abatement which appears to be in anticipation of demolition.”
