We've traveled across the borough and documented blights that plague neighborhoods from Tottenville to St. George.
They're commonly referred to as "zombie" properties — neglected and/or abandoned homes, public and private buildings and lots that are both an eyesore and a danger.
Many have been invaded by squatters — often homeless or addicted wanderers — who have attracted other unsavory characters to the neighborhood.
They bring vermin, mosquitoes and flies.
And in too many cases, they've been the site of fires. One killed a man and injured his son.
They are a health and safety hazard that neighbors have complained repeatedly about to public officials and they have rarely gotten action.
Significant hope of turning this Islandwide problem around surfaced when a new state law meant to combat the blight of zombie properties across the state was passed and signed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo in June 2016. The legislation also established a Community Restoration Fund.
Sen. Diane Savino, D-North Shore/Brooklyn, along with Bronx Sen. Jeffrey Klein, championed the legislation to protect neighboring home values while ensuring the speedy rehabilitation of properties.
"This is a great day for the people of New York City, especially my constituents living in Staten Island and Brooklyn who've been dealing with this issue for far too long," Savino at the time.
The legislation followed a study that revealed that Staten Island, at the time, was home to 303 zombie homes, which resulted in a $50.7 million drop in property values of privately owned homes in surrounding neighborhoods.
The study, "The Next Great American Bank Robbery" that was launched by the Independent Democratic Conference, highlighted financial and societal problems caused by zombie properties and that New York lacked effective enforcement to hold banks accountable for maintaining the properties.
The law requires banks and mortgage providers to maintain vacant and abandoned properties they have notes on or risk a $500 daily penalty — even before foreclosure proceedings are over.
Now, there are at least 500 properties on Staten Island that are covered by the regulations, out of roughly 2,300 in all five boroughs and 20,000 across New York state, officials told the Advance.
But zero progress has been made despite the legislation.
That's because the state doesn't send anyone out to inspect these properties, relying instead on self-reporting and photos from financial institutions and information from municipalities like the city of New York.
The state's Department of Financial Services hasn't issued a single penalty against a bank or mortgage provider for failure to maintain and secure a property more than a year after the law requiring this upkeep was signed and eight months after it went into effect.
The program, "unfortunately, is in its infancy stages," said Alphonso David, the counsel to Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
Well, it's time get that legislation up and walking by having someone designate and deploy inspectors so the banks responsible either take action and clean and secure the sites or get fined.
What's in the law
Part of the law focuses on foreclosure prevention. There were about 820 foreclosure cases initiated on Staten Island last year, according to preforeclosure data provided by state.
The other measures are aimed at financial institutions, imposing a "preforeclosure duty" on banks and mortgage providers that didn't previously exist.
They must also inspect properties within 90 days of a delinquency. The properties are considered "vacant and abandoned" if three consecutive inspections 25 to 35 days apart and at different times of the day shows no signs of occupancy.
Banks and mortgage providers then self-report these properties to the state Department of Financial Services, or DFS, which is required under the law to keep a registry of them.
DFS has the authority to bring court actions against a noncompliant bank and levy a $500 daily fine — but hasn't done so once.
State officials said that the law is still new and that properties must be three months delinquent and another few months vacant to be covered.
"We've actually received, you know, broad compliance from the banks and the servicers when we received a complaint about a particular property — again, in the short time frame when the law has been in effect," Financial Services Superintendent Maria Vullo said.
State working on enforcement plan
The state said DFS confirms information provided by financial institutions by contacting local municipal agencies. Smaller cities may not be able to verify each complaint, but New York City has several large departments with inspectors.
State officials initially said that the law wasn't intended for DFS to assume the role of code enforcement and the agency doesn't have the staff to do this, but added that there's nothing that prevents the state from creating a system to verify complaints themselves.
While state officials don't want to duplicate existing services, a spokesman said DFS is developing a "broad, strategic enforcement and outreach plan" with localities to make sure there's uniformity in enforcement.
State officials have also pointed out that the law gives individual cities the power to bring a court action or levy a fine, too.
State Sen. Diane Savino, who pushed for the legislation with the Independent Democratic Conference, acknowledged the law requires the active participation of local authorities.
"It's up to the local government to take action," she said. "We're allowing the banks to almost self-certify ... the state doesn't have the authority or the entity to go out and inspect."
New York City was recently awarded a grant that will be used to help create a database and system for tracking vacant and abandoned properties. This is intended to, at least in part, help the city coordinate with the state.
That's a promising step, but for the residents who have lived with these horrific conditions on their blocks for years, the time has come for aggressive, pro-active action.
They've waited long enough.
