By Mark Hallum
State Sen. Tony Avella (D-Bayside) announced progress had been made at an abandoned house in Flushing where he had previously held a July news conference to call attention to the dangerous and unhealthy condition of the long-neglected property. The land has been cleaned up, thanks to help from the Queens County Public Administrator’s office, and the house is going to auction in December.
The house at 50-19 175th Place had been abandoned for close to a decade with no trace of where the deceased owner’s son might be today or whether he is still alive. Trees and weeds had grown into a full-fledged forest and two cars in the driveway were left so packed with newspapers, some dating back to 1992, that the windows were broken out by moisture as The New York Times copies expanded in the humid weather. The windows and doors have been cemented up since a fire nearly took the building down. Residents have complained about raccoons and mosquitoes.
“This eyesore that has gone on for about a decade is finally going to be addressed,” Avella said. “As you can see, this is a well-maintained, middle-class neighborhood. Homeowners here pay some of the highest property taxes in the country. They want to live in a quiet, safe environment, and they have to live next to this eyesore. It’s unfortunate that it lasted for so long, but I’m happy that I’m working with the homeowners and the Public Administrator’s office.”
The owner, Stella Beckman, died about a decade ago, according to Avella. Her son, Franklin only returned to the house occasionally after her death and could be seen by neighbors sleeping on the porch, but he eventually stopped coming around. His whereabouts today are not known, Gerard Sweeney, counsel to the Queens County Public Administrator, said at the Friday news conference.
If the Beckman is still alive, the home could be a place to house a potentially homeless man, Sweeney said, adding that he fears the man may be buried on Hart Island in a paupers grave.
Sweeney said the estate was never resolved after the owner died and the younger Beckman did not assume the task of taking over ownership.
“The inside of this house is as bad as the outside,” Sweeney said, explaining the details of how to move the property to a new owner. “It’s a project for whoever would want to acquire it, but we feel confident we’ll be able to sell it on Dec. 7.”
According to Sweeney, any information leading to the whereabouts of Beckman would greatly benefit the man suspected of being homeless. An insurance recovery done by an appointed guardian after the fire would go toward renovating the house for Beckman to live in. Sweeney has been in contact with the medical examiner’s office to determine the fate of Beckman.
Sweeney had been told by the guardian they had hired a private investigator to locate Beckman, but found no trace of him. Nobody has seen him since April.
Elaine Marmiroli, who has lived in the neighborhood since 1952, said she knew Beckman since he was a child.
“Very sweet person, but very withdrawn and introverted,” she said. “If you reach out to him, he might not answer immediately, but he always talked to us.”
The auction is set to take place at the Queens County Public Administrator’s office at 88-11 Sutphin Blvd., in Jamaica.
Reach reporter Mark Hallum by e-mail at mhall
