‘Zombie homes’ plague Sheepshead Bay block
Residents claim derelict Lake Avenue houses attract squatters and feral cats
BY CHANDLER KIDD
Sheepshead Bay homeowners
claim their block is plagued
by three so-called “zombie
houses,” derelict homes left vacant
since Hurricane Sandy,
which have become mold-infested
blights occupied by drug
addicts and packs of feral cats.
“I have noticed needles in
the yard and in the houses along
with make shift beds,” said
Missy Haggerty, a third-generation
Lake Avenue resident.
The properties located at
4, 5, and 14a Lake Ave. — part
of the “courts” area of low-lying
side streets between Shore
Parkway and Emmons Avenue
— were abandoned by one
Zalman Weber after suffering
sever fl ood damage during the
2012 super storm, and city offi
cials have sought for years to
contact him in an effort to either
remediate, or demolish the
dilapidated homes, according
to Sheepshead Bay Councilman
Chaim Deutsch.
In the meantime, his properties
remain in a state of ruin.
Throughout the wreckage of 5
Lake Ave., family pictures, baby’s
clothes, and moldy stuffed
animals remain abandoned by
Weber’s former tenants, who
fl ed from Sandy’s 90 miles-perhour
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wind gusts and 14-foot
storm surges nearly eight years
ago, according to Haggerty.
“This is somebody’s belongings
from Sandy, they up and
left it. They were the renters,”
Haggerty said.
And mixed in with the
haunting collection of deserted
household items are scores
of used hypodermic needles,
which squatters have discarded
seemingly at random.
During an Aug. 8 visit, this reporter
found syringes littering
the front yards, entrance ways,
and fl oors of the abandoned
homes, and piled on make-shift
couches and atop soiled mattresses
there.
And while locals aren’t
thrilled by the prospect of heroin
addicts shooting up down
the block, the toxic black mold
that infects the air around the
forsaken zombie homes is far
worse, according to Haggerty,
who lives one door down from
14a Lake Ave., which is so mold
infested, she avoids opening
her windows.
“Let’s say I want to open
my windows while I clean my
house, the mold spores are airborne
and will get back into my
home,” said Haggerty.
Deutsch now says he’s given
up trying to contact Weber, and
is working with the city’s Department
of Housing Preservation
and Development to seal
the homes at some point this
month.
Offi cials at the city housing
agency decided to seal the home
at 6 Lake Ave., which is not
owned by Weber, following an
Aug. 8 inspection, according to
a spokeswoman for the department.
The Department of Buildings
will additionally deploy
inspectors to conduct structural
stability inspections of all
four buildings to determine if
they pose a hazard neighboring
properties, the spokeswoman
said.
Brooklyn Paper reporter Chandler Kidd observed a plethora of used needles inside a Lake Avenue home.
Photo by Trey Pentecost
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