200 Smith Street in Fall of 2010
Back in December 2010, permits for a horizontal enlargement at the 3rd floor were issued by the NYC Department of Buildings at 200 Smith Street, a non-descript old house that had endured its fair share of remuddling over the last few decades. However, instead of building an addition, the entire house was taken down in a matter of days. The debris was carted away in dumpsters at night and by the time the D.o.B responded to several 311 calls, the lot was vacant. D.o.B. immediately issued a Stop Work Order. That, however, was fully rescinded on April 18th, though there are several Environmental Control Board (ECB) violation still open on this property, including one for the demo.
Since the demolition, local residents have had to deal with a rather nasty problems: rats. And lots of them. Since the empty lot sits right over the F/G subway line, the critters have crawled out of the subway tunnel en masse. It sure doesn't help that the building site has not fully been cleaned. Tons of debris was left behind.
Even more disturbing is the giant hole in the former building's foundation. One can look right into its basement. No wonder rats have taken over.
One area resident wrote into Pardon Me to tell me that the rodents "come out mostly on garbage nights and quickly scurry back under the scaffolding whenever someone walks by. But they are always there, and in numbers. The other night one ran over my girlfriends foot!" That is truly disgusting.
One wonders a) why the owner of the site has not had to secure it fully, and b) why he has not had to bait properly. Apparently, the city has not yet responded to several 311 calls made by nearby residents.
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