City wants to track 'zombie' homes — but it's complicated

Authorities struggle to revive Staten Island's "zombies" partially because no one knows exactly how many call the five boroughs home.

The city is working to create a database and system for tracking vacant and abandoned properties — though officials acknowledge Staten Islanders may not see the effects of the endeavor for years.

"It's not as simple as saying people can expect to see fewer zombies. The reasons zombies exist are not very straightforward," said Leila Bozorg, a deputy commissioner at the city Department of Housing Preservation and Development, known as HPD. "I'd say within two years we should be able to answer questions about vacant and abandoned properties much more easily and have potentially new tools for the city to be able to do something."

Scope of problem unknown

Hundreds of homes and properties are neglected, abandoned or vacant across Staten Island. So-called zombie homes are typically in foreclosure and abandoned, but others are left vacant and in disrepair by landlords and other private owners or family estates.

Staten Islanders have shared the locations of more than 150 "zombie" properties in their communities with the Advance in recent months. Neighbors worry the properties risk public health and safety, decrease home values and worsen quality of life.

But the scope of the problem is difficult for authorities to quantify and therefore address.

The state must keep a database of properties that banks and mortgage providers own or have notes on.

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At least 500 properties on Staten Island, out of roughly 2,300 in all five boroughs and 20,000 across New York state, are on the registry. Banks and mortgage providers are required to maintain these, but the state law lacks effective enforcement to actually hold them accountable for this responsibility.

And the state registry doesn't include homes deserted when owners move or die, or buildings left vacant by landlords.

City aims to create database

The city also doesn't have a comprehensive list of vacant and abandoned homes or properties.

"Different agencies have different pieces of information about vacant and abandoned properties, but there isn't a citywide inventory just for vacant and abandoned properties," Bozorg said.

This summer the city received the first installment of a $350,000 grant to come up with a system for documenting these properties. The Local Initiatives Support Corp. awarded money to the city and 75 other municipalities in New York State using funds from a $3.2 billion settlement agreement with Morgan Stanley negotiated by Attorney General Eric Schneiderman.

"It's not a brick and mortars grant — it's a drop in the bucket, you could fix maybe a couple of houses with this money," said Helene Caloir, director of the New York State Housing Stabilization Fund at the organization. "It's more a tool for municipalities to be able to take a step back and say OK, where are these properties, what are their issues, what code enforcement strategies might be appropriate here."

So what can city do now?

There are significant limitations to what authorities can do about zombies now.

The U.S. has broad restrictions on when and how any government can enter private property, so the Sanitation Department can't simply clean up vacant homes and lots.

Open, unguarded and vacant buildings are typically sealed when they present safety hazards to the public. This happens if owners ignore violations and warnings issued by HPD or the Department of Buildings, known as DOB.

"It would be triggered by the inspection performed by either the Department of Buildings or by one of our inspectors where they determine that the building has a large accessible opening," said Vito Mustaciuolo, deputy commissioner for enforcement and neighborhood services at HPD. "So the front door is unsecured, it's wide open, the windows on the first floor are broken, the building is accessible from the street level."

Securing zombies

DOB is the primary agency that addresses complaints about unguarded buildings called into 311. When owners don't respond to communication attempts or fail to comply with DOB orders, cases are referred to HPD for sealing.

A DOB spokesman said this usually happens a month after "first contact" so the city gives owners enough time to find contractors and finish corrective work at the property, though timelines can vary.

Owners have 12 days to tell HPD conditions have been fixed after that agency's inspectors write violations, according to Mustaciuolo. Then the city usually takes a week or two to hire a contractor to seal the property through HPD's Emergency Repair Program.

HPD doesn't track abandoned buildings or properties, whether they're sealed or not, an agency spokeswoman said.

Eight Staten Island buildings were sealed by HPD last fiscal year, between July 2016 and this past June, according to the spokeswoman. HPD sealed 26 borough buildings the fiscal year before last, between July 2015 and June 2016.

The spokeswoman noted that buildings sealed are a "very small subset" of the total number of vacant or unsecured properties.

Owners are charged for the work. If these bills or violations are unpaid, they turn into tax liens on the property that transfer to new owners.

"An open building would be a magnet for kids who want to explore the building, so we will move quickly getting a building sealed up like that or if it's a known location for squatters," Mustaciuolo said.

The city can issue vacate orders to remove squatters, but only if there are dangerous or illegal conditions like improper gas hookups. Squatters can stay put otherwise.

"We as a city do not know necessarily know the relationship of the occupants to the owner, so we can't ask the police department to remove them," Mustaciuolo said. "Only the owner can."

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