Village Cleans Up Abandoned Properties

The village of Mineola has literally cleaned house for not one but three individuals whose residences could have been featured on a episode of the A&E documentary series "Hoarders" about extreme pack rats whose homes are stacked floor to ceiling with newpapers and living conditions are abhorrent.

During a village board work session at the village hall Wednesday night building department supervisor Dan Whalen showed a slideshow documenting the three residences: 400 Nassau Blvd., 425 Latham Road and 494 Florence Road.

"We have probably a couple of thousand man hours in my department alone involved (in these three homes alone)," Whalen said, excluding time spent at the residences by the other departments.

The village has also collected fines in excess of $13,000 and the surrender of properties following multitude of years from initial investigation to final cleanup.

"We've had people who had in one case disappeared for the better part of 10 years," Mayor Jack Martins said, referring to 425 Latham Road.

The case details are as follows:

• 400 Nassau Blvd. - The residence was found to be the site of activity by transients who were using the property for "various levels" of criminal.  Once they were found out and faced with eviction, the individuals destroyed the interior and flooded the home by tearing out sections of the walls and the interior plumbing. The residence also featured an illegal basement bathroom.
• 425 Latham Road - The residence had fallen into extreme disrepair due to an absentee landlord who had been involved in a motor vehicle accident. The yard and driveway were both extremely overgrown with some weeds reaching over the hoods and roofs of cars parked and left in the driveway. The owner as an individual who was "fond of weapons," evidenced by a cache of 200 guns found in home along with uncounted amount of ammunition. The ceiling had collapsed into first floor dining room due to lack of repairs and the electric meter conduit leading from the meter was found to have rotted away allowing water to flow into the main electrical panel box.
• 494 Florence Road - The homeowner inherited the residence from a relative and subsequently became a hoarder. The situation was so bad that the individual began entering through small window off a ladder and crawling through rafters to gain access. Additional photos show of the front door cut open horizontally by EMS crews in order to gain access when the individual became stuck in the rafters and cleanup crews wearing Hazmat suits to clean out the house. Mayor Martins said that adult protective services had intervened several years ago and the homeowner - who had reportedly been living without power and electricity - had been taken away to be evaluated only to be rereleased into those conditions within 24 hours.