16 TIMES • MARCH 17, 2016 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT www.qns.com Congresswoman reaches out to ‘unscrupulous landlords’ BY ANTHONY GIUDICE [email protected] @A_GiudiceReport After residents staged a rally outside of a Ridgewood apartment house last month over alleged mistreatment by the building’s new owners, Congresswoman Nydia Velázquez has written a letter to the landlords demanding that they answer the allegations. At the rally, tenants accused Silvershore Properties, the owners of the 39-unit, rent-regulated building on Summerfi eld Street in Ridgewood section of Queens, of intentionally neglecting the building and allowing it to fall into disrepair. The situation puts lower-income tenants at risk of losing their Section 8 vouchers, making them unable to pay the rent and forcing them to leave. “We’ve heard reports throughout the city that some unscrupulous landlords are gaming the system to end Section 8 vouchers and essentially evict low-income New Yorkers from their housing,” Velázquez said. “These allegations must be taken seriously, which is why I am asking Silvershore Properties to explain how they intend to remedy these problems.” In the letter, Velázquez cites residents’ complaints about mildew and mold growing inside of their bathrooms and kitchens, severe paint peeling and water damage in the ceilings and walls, cockroach and rodent infestations, and inadequate heat during the winter. “Additionally, residents expressed serious concerns with building-wide issues such as: entrance doors not being suffi ciently locked resulting in unauthorized individuals in common areas, excessive garbage accumulation, and failure to provide suffi cient maintenance to common areas,” Velázquez wrote. In order to take care of these matters in a timely fashion, Velázquez requested that Silvershore Properties provide her offi ce with a written response and all documentation for: • their efforts to address their tenants’ concerns regarding the physical conditions of the units, the building as a whole, and common areas, since its acquisition of the property in November 2015; • their work plan and timeframe for remedying the tenants’ concerns regarding the physical conditions of the units, the building as a whole, and common areas; • their efforts to remedy concerns of on-going inaccuracies in the billing statements and rent subsidies for Section 8 tenants and their proposal and timeframe for resolving the billing inaccuracies for those tenants participating in the Section 8 Housing Assistance Vouchers Program who are currently claiming discrepancies in their billing statements and rent subsidies. BY ANTHONY GIUDICE [email protected] @A_GiudiceReport Left vacant for more than six decades, a barren lot on Myrtle Avenue in Glendale could soon see life. The owner of the lot located at 73-45 Myrtle Ave., also known as 78-70 74th St., is seeking a variance from the NYC Board of Standards and Appeals (BSA) to permit the development of a two-story plus cellar mixed-use building on the lot. Community Board 5 considered the matter at its meeting on Wednesday night at Middle Village’s Christ the King Regional High School. The variance is needed because the proposed building would be contrary to the current residential fl oor area, front yard, side yard and parking and use regulations within the R4-1 zone. The proposed building would have a commercial unit on the ground fl oor, with a pair of two-bedroom apartments on the second fl oor. “The application to BSA is basically is to allow a building there … and the building would basically mirror a lot of what’s on Myrtle Avenue in that area,” said Richard Lobel, from Sheldon Lobel, P.C. Attorneys At Law, who represent the owner, Noma Aorta. “It would be ground fl oor commercial and it would be two residential apartments upstairs.” The property has remained vacant for such a long time because it is an oddly shaped corner lot, which means there are specifi c yard requirements — needing to have a 10-foot front yard and an eight-foot side yard — which make it diffi cult to construct any type of building. “If you were to build a building here as of right … you’re going to end up with a building that, at its greatest width, would be about 17-feet wide and then it would narrow to a width of about four and a half feet,” Lobel explained. “Obviously if you have a building that’s 4 1/2 feet wide, you’re not going to develop that building.” The owner is looking to build on approximately 4,200 square feet of space, giving the ground fl oor a net square footage of about 1,500 square feet, while the two apartments on the upper fl oor would be about 900 square feet and 800 square feet respectively. Although the property is located several feet from the Myrtle Avenue roadbed, part of it nonetheless lies within the right-of-way for Myrtle Avenue on the city’s offi cial map, refl ecting a proposed widening of the street that never came to pass. As such, the property owner is seeking a waiver from the city to permit development of the lot within the bed of a mapped street. The proposal will be turned over to the Land Use Committee before the full board votes on a recommendation. Long-Vacant Glendale lot could soon be developed RIDGEWOOD TIMES/Photo by Anthony Giudice RIDGEWOOD TIMES/Photo by Anthony Giudice In response to this rally held outside of 1708 Summerfi eld St., Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez wrote to Silvershore Properties asking them to answer to the allegations.
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