By Steve Mosco
Residents tired of an abandoned house in Woodhaven and the negative element it attracts to their neighborhood are calling on city officials to close it up for good.
The house, off Jamaica Avenue, at 87-19 90th St., was the sight of a 2011 hate crime that left a Long Island teen dead after a group of thugs pummeled him because they thought he was gay. Since that incident, residents say shady characters are now constantly going in and out of the house, playing loud music and tossing trash out of the windows.
One neighbor, who chose not to give his name because he believes the squatters are dangerous, said he has even seen young teenage girls go into the house at night and then leave the next morning.
“Who knows what is going on in that place,” said the neighbor, who has lived on the same street for more than 30 years. “Drugs and sex, I’m guessing.”
According to the city Department of Buildings’ web site, there is currently one open violation at the address for being a vacant/open/unguarded structure. Additionally, there are more than $100,000 worth of penalties due to pending violations.
On Friday morning, a man who said he was with the city Department of Housing Preservation and Development was inspecting the house to determine whether or not it should be sealed.
He said before he can give the order to seal it up with plywood, he has to be sure that no one is in the house.
“We received complaints from neighbors about this house,” said Rodney Simon, a Queens Code Enforcement Officer with HPD, adding the house will have to be inspected by police before it is boarded up. “The problem with a house like this is that you just don’t know what you are going to find.”
What he found in the backyard was a pile of garbage sending a foul stench throughout the neighborhood, which neighbors said has sat cooking in the sun for the entire summer. Almost all of the windows are smashed and graffiti covers some of the siding.
“It really makes the block look terrible — in fact, the whole neighborhood looks terrible,” said the neighbor. “I want to move out of here, but how am I going to sell my house? Who would want to move here?”
The neighbor pointed to three houses on the block with “for sale” signs in the front and said he believes the real estate companies are going to have a hard time finding buyers.
“No one wants to take responsibility for what is going on in this neighborhood,” he said. “There is a woman that lives across the street from this house with two young daughters and she will not let them outside. It’s terrible.”
Fear still lingers in the neighborhood where Anthony Collao, 18, was brutally stomped to death in March of last year at a Facebook-advertised birthday party at the abandoned house. The five teens chased Collao down the block and beat him with a lead pipe and a cane. Collao died two days after the attack at Jamaica Hospital.
Ed Wendell, president of the Woodhaven Block Association, said he worries if the house is not dealt with the neighborhood could see a repeat performance of the senseless murder that took place there more than a year ago.
“All of the ingredients for a repeat tragedy are in place,” he said.
Reach reporter Steve Mosco by e-mail at smosco@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4546.
