STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- In the middle of a quiet block on Grymes Hill, with manicured lawns and pristine houses, are three eyesores.
Instead of finished homes, neighbors have been staring for five years at three stalled construction sites that are brick and plywood behind a large green fence.
Permits for construction of three three-story single family dwellings at 131, 135, and 139 Highland Ave. were issued in December 2013, said Andrew Rudansky, spokesman for the city Department of Buildings (DOB).
Similar to other “zombie” homes across the borough, there is overgrown grass inside and outside of the fence, windows are boarded up, lower openings invite vermin and neighbors say the lot is constantly littered with debris.
Millie B., who lives on the opposite end of Highland Avenue and regularly walks her dog near the homes, said it would be nice for the whole block to be beautiful again.
“People here take pride in their homes. This is just such a shame that we have to look at this forever,” Millie said.
“It’s very rare when someone works there,” one neighbor said.
STOP WORK ORDER; LACK OF MONEY
Rudansky said the most recent permit was issued in September.
He said a Full Stop Work Order was also issued on Sept. 25 for failing to safeguard the public “after it was determined that the construction was ongoing without a code-compliant construction fence, proper netting and overhead protection for neighboring property.”
The Full Stop Work Order is still in effect, BOB record show.
Rudansky said several violations have been issued to the property’s owner.
DOB records show six complaints were made between October 2013 and July 2016 for various site conditions, as well as Department of Sanitation complaints.
“Whenever there’s extra money we put it towards the houses,” said John Gravris, who is listed as the general contractor with A.M.K. Contracting Corp., according to the Department of Buildings.
Gravris told the Advance the company is fighting the violations issued by DOB.
He said finances are coming and hopes to have construction finished in the first half of 2019.
ZOMBIE HOMES ON STATEN ISLAND
Typical zombie homes are usually those in pre-foreclosure or foreclosure and abandoned by the property owners and landlords.
Squatters often move into the homes to take refuge from poor weather conditions in cold months.
According to the state Department of Financial Services (DFS), there were 522 Staten Island zombie homes on the state’s database in 2017.
There are 51 properties in Manhattan, 707 in Brooklyn, 716 in Queens and 358 in the Bronx, DFS told the Advance.
In 2016, Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed the Zombie Property and Foreclosure Prevention Act to help reduce the zombie property epidemic across New York state and enforcing stricter laws on mortgagees, servicing agents, homeowners and city and state agencies.
The law also established a database for the properties.
(Editor’s note: Is there a “zombie” home on your block that’s diminishing your quality of life? Let us know by emailing kdalton@siadvance.com.)