Pelham Gardens community says abandoned home in disarray is attracting raccoons

Residents in one Pelham Gardens community are fed up with a home that they say it's not only an eye sore, but a safety concern due to some unwanted critters that have moved into the property.

News 12 Staff

Mar 21, 2021, 2:22 PM

Updated 1,362 days ago

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Residents in one Pelham Gardens community are fed up with a home that they say it's not only an eye sore, but a safety concern due to some unwanted critters that have moved into the property.
Many neighbors on the 2400 block of Kingsland Avenue say they have seen racoons in the area.
"They come out at five in the morning and there's at least nine to 10 raccoons out here or in front of our homes," says resident Aggie Catechi.
The people who live in the area blame it on the home they say has been abandoned for almost 15 years in disrepair, with trash in the driveway and the backyard overrun with trees and plants.
"And we need to go ahead and evict them. It's time for them to go," neighbor Irene Estrada says.
Residents say they have called 311 over the years, but the problem has not been resolved.
The Department of Buildings says they will be sending an inspector and the Department of Health says they did inspect the home but didn't say what they found. Now fed-up neighbors say they don't know what else to do.
"I mean, everybody maintains their property and they should not be an exception to that. I think that the owners of this property should be fined very heavily," says resident Patricia Bryant.
News 12 spoke with the owner of the property who said they're working on getting the home cleaned up within the month, but she didn't say why it was allowed to get this bad in the first place.