14 OCTOBER 11, 2018 RIDGEWOOD TIMES www.qns.com
Flies at crumbling eatery gross out Glendale residents
Tenants right event in Ridgewood this Saturday
BY EMILY DAVENPORT
EDAVENPORT@RIDGEWOODTIMES.COM
@RIDGEWOODTIMES
Tenants throughout Ridgewood
will have their chance to learn
about their rights as renters
through an event that one local
organization will hold this coming
weekend.
The Ridgewood Tenants Union
will host a “Know Your Rights Presentation
& Tenant Speak Out” event
to educate tenants about their rights
learn of efforts in the neighborhood
to increase tenant power and fight
back against displacement.
The gathering will be held at the
71st Avenue Plaza, located at the
corner of 71st Avenue and Myrtle
Avenue, at noon on Saturday, Oct. 13.
Law students from CUNY School
of Law’s Community & Economic
Development (CED) Clinic will offer
a presentation on the rights tenants
have when dealing with their landlords.
The students will also answer
questions; to submit a question, email
ridgewoodtenantsunion@gmail.com.
“New York City is a city of renters.
Renters need protections from predatory
landlords who just like the real
estate developers, now understand
the full value of their investments,”
said the Ridgewood Tenants Union in
a statement. “This is understandable
considering the economic system we
live under but what should not be
tolerated are landlords who engage
in harmful tactics towards tenants to
force them out of their homes. Instead
of eat or be eaten, let’s support one
another and let’s stop suffering alone.”
The Ridgewood Tenants Union will
hold additional information sessions
regarding rent laws protecting over
1 million rent-stabilized apartments,
which are set to expire on June 15,
2019. The sessions will take place
on Nov. 17, Dec. 8 and Dec. 15 at the
Ridgewood Library, located at 20-12
Madison St., from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m.
For more information, contact
the Ridgewood Tenants Union at
929-251-5044 or email ridgewoodtenantsunion@
gmail.com.
BY ROBERT POZARYCKI
RPOZARYCKI@RIDGEWOODTIMES.COM
@ROBBPOZ
The sign written in black capital
letters on white paper reading
CLOSED TO THE PUBLIC has
been stuck to one of the windows of the
former Belmont Steaks bar/restaurant
in Glendale since it shut down more
than five years ago.
While the last human patron left
there long ago, a different kind of visitor
started making itself visible this
week: horseflies. Dozens of them could
be seen stuck between the glass and
plywood covering the windows; one fly
was spotted crawling across the paper
sign when the Ridgewood Times stood
outside the dilapidated eatery on Oct. 5.
Since the story was first published
on QNS, the Ridgewood Times’ online
home, last week, the shuttered
restaurant’s owner informed City
Councilman Robert Holden’s office
that he intends to correct the problem
for good.
For years, Belmont Steaks has been
rotting away along Myrtle Avenue, a
victim of neglect and inactivity.
The green-and-white striped awning
hangs off the roof in tatters. One
of the three spires on the roof is askew,
its white paint visibly weather-beaten
and chipped. (The spires of the horse
racing- themed restaurant — its name
being a play on words for the Belmont
Stakes, the third leg of thoroughbred
racing’s Triple Crown — were meant
to evoke the twin spires of Churchill
Downs.)
Plywood panels line the windows
and doors from the inside to keep
trespassers out. However, it hasn’t
stopped the flies from getting in.
Passersby started noticing the flies
and took to social media to complain.
One resident took to the Glendale Civic
Association’s Facebook page to share a
photo of the flies sandwiched between
the windows and plywood.
“I live around the corner from it and
was passing by 2 days ago and it’s infested
with flies. It’s pretty disgusting,”
one resident wrote. “The pic doesn’t
reflect how bad it is.”
Without any perishable food inside
the restaurant considering that it’s
been closed for so many years, others
speculated that the shuttered eatery is
infested with either vermin or other
wildlife.
The post got the attention of Holden;
a spokesperson for his office told the
Ridgewood Times on Oct. 5 that they
were looking into the matter.
Community Board 5 was also made
aware of the conditions and has filed a
formal complaint with the city’s Health
Department, according to Board 5 District
Manager Gary Giordano.
A Health Department spokesperson
told the Ridgewood Times it was also
examining it and would follow up.
Despite the restaurant’s dilapidated
conditions, few complaints have
been filed with the city’s Department
of Buildings. A review of the DOB’s
online database found that the most
recent complaint was received in
January 2015. An anonymous caller
claimed that the abandoned building
was improperly secured, but a DOB
inspector visited the site and observed
no such condition; as a result, no violation
was issued.
Four active DOB violations exist on
the property, the database noted. One
has been issued each year between
2015 and 2018 for failure to file a boiler
inspection report.
The Department of Finance’s ACRIS
record system found that the former
Belmont Steaks property was sold
in April 2016 by the estate of Walter
Konaichuk to the A. Trinchese Myrtle
LLC holding company, based in Ozone
Park, for $885,000. According to the
New York Department of State, the
holding company was formed less
than two months before it closed on
the sale.
A. Trinchese Myrtle LLC shares an
address with Trinchese Iron Works
and Construction. The Ridgewood
Times reached out to the company
and to its owner, Aniello Trinchese,
for comment about the situation.
When contacting Trinchese
through his cellphone, the Ridgewood
Times was directed to a voicemail
recording which indicated no new
messages were being accepted because
the mailbox was full.
Photos by Dean Moses
The long-abandoned Belmont Steaks restaurant on Myrtle Avenue in
Glendale
Photo by Michael Higgins
Ridgewood Tenants Union's housing march in 2016.
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