webfact Posted November 30, 2015 Share Posted November 30, 2015 Town demolishes veteran's house while he has surgeryBy MICHAEL BALSAMO and FRANK ELTMANWEST HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. (AP) — When a U.S. Navy veteran traveled from Long Island to Florida for a knee replacement, his house was the last thing on his mind. But now his memory of it is all he can think about.Philip Williams' home was demolished in the spring by town officials while he spent about six months recuperating from surgical complications in Fort Lauderdale. Back in New York, officials in the Town of Hempstead deemed his modest two-story home unfit for habitation and knocked it down.The 69-year-old has now waged a legal battle against the suburban New York town. He wants reimbursement — for the house and all the belongings inside."I'm angry and I'm upset. It's just wrong on so many levels," he said "My mortgage was up to date, my property taxes were up to date ... everything was current and fine."Williams went to Florida in December 2014 for the procedure, so a friend could help with his recovery. But he developed infections that forced further surgery and heart complications, leaving him hospitalized until doctors deemed him medically able to return home in August.When Williams pulled up to what should have been a two-story cream-colored cottage with a red door in West Hempstead, there was just an empty lot."My first thought was there was a fire or something," Williams said.But there was no fire. According to town officials, neighbors had been complaining the house was in disrepair and a blight on the community. Hempstead officials, responding to those complaints, sent inspectors and determined the house was a "dilapidated dwelling" unfit for habitation. So they knocked it down."The house was in terrible condition for a long time," next door neighbor Keylin Escobar said. "Nobody really lived in the house; the house was abandoned. Everyone who came over to visit, people always say, 'What's going on with this house?'"Kathleen Keicher, who has lived across the street from Williams for 12 years, said notices tacked to the front door of the home began piling up and the house had holes in the side and appeared unkempt."I feel terrible. When we knew a house was coming down, it was sad," she said. "We thought the house was coming down, someone would buy the land, a new house would come up, a new family would move in. ... We don't want anyone to lose their home."Williams says he was never contacted and believes town officials thought his house was a so-called "zombie home" — a dwelling abandoned after foreclosure proceedings begin, but one not yet seized by the bank — and rushed to demolish it."The town basically took everything from me," said Williams, who is now staying with a friend in Florida and has only two suitcases of belongings. "The town does not have a right to take all of my property, all of my possessions."Williams had lived in the house since he was 6 months old. He said many of the items in the home had been in his family since he was a newborn or had sentimental value, like his late wife's engagement ring, photos of his six children growing up and a model train set he had since he was a child. He lost all of his clothing, a bicycle he'd just purchased, dishes, silverware and other housewares.Town officials say they tried to contact Williams and provided The Associated Press copies of letters they said they mailed to the home and to banks. They also held a public hearing before going forward with the demolition. But Williams contends he never received any of the notices and said he couldn't figure out why the letters were mailed to four separate banks where he never had accounts."I have no idea who those banks are," Williams said. "But they never contacted me in any way, shape or form."And that's why his attorney believes that town's actions were illegal."Under the law, it should not happen," his attorney, Bradley Siegel said. "It's un-American. It just doesn't seem believable."Williams has filed a notice of claim, the first step in a lawsuit against the town, and also is fighting for public records he believes may show what happened. Williams says town officials wouldn't tell him the name of the demolition company or the date the house was torn down.The town said in a statement that it "followed all proper procedure with regard to property owner notification." But town officials refused to answer any other questions, citing pending litigation.Williams has contacted police and the Nassau County district attorney's office and has asked for a criminal inquiry. A spokesman for the district attorney's office said the matter is under review."You see people who went through a tornado or a flood and they say they lost everything, but that's not preventable," Williams said. "This was preventable. The town took my house."-- (c) Associated Press 2015-11-30 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeverSure Posted November 30, 2015 Share Posted November 30, 2015 Somebody skeeee reeewed up and is gonna pay. It's a shame about the guy's childhood possessions. It seems they at least could show enough respect to clear it of possessions and store them before demolition. The length of time the guy had with the house and the possessions can't be compensated for with anything but money (that's the law) and I expect it will be big. What a shame. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
topt Posted November 30, 2015 Share Posted November 30, 2015 Somebody skeeee reeewed up and is gonna pay. It's a shame about the guy's childhood possessions. It seems they at least could show enough respect to clear it of possessions and store them before demolition. The length of time the guy had with the house and the possessions can't be compensated for with anything but money (that's the law) and I expect it will be big. What a shame. Agreed. Also wonder what the real story is with the neighbours when you get comments like this - "The house was in terrible condition for a long time," next door neighbor Keylin Escobar said. "Nobody really lived in the house; the house was abandoned. Everyone who came over to visit, people always say, 'What's going on with this house?'" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
northernboy Posted November 30, 2015 Share Posted November 30, 2015 I guess the neighbors are happy now they will have a new sociably acceptable house next door soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TPI Posted November 30, 2015 Share Posted November 30, 2015 Somebody skeeee reeewed up and is gonna pay. It's a shame about the guy's childhood possessions. It seems they at least could show enough respect to clear it of possessions and store them before demolition. The length of time the guy had with the house and the possessions can't be compensated for with anything but money (that's the law) and I expect it will be big. What a shame. Agreed. Also wonder what the real story is with the neighbours when you get comments like this - "The house was in terrible condition for a long time," next door neighbor Keylin Escobar said. "Nobody really lived in the house; the house was abandoned. Everyone who came over to visit, people always say, 'What's going on with this house?'" Wouldn't it be nice if their new neighbours were from Sudan or the Congo with Ph D's in medicine!! OMG!! What will my friends say!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeverSure Posted November 30, 2015 Share Posted November 30, 2015 This is reported by several sources as being the Google street view of the house before demolition. The second pic is reported as being after demolition. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovelomsak Posted November 30, 2015 Share Posted November 30, 2015 (edited) Neversure the house doesnot look derelict to me in the picture do you think the same? Grass looks ok everything painted,curtains on windows.I am sure there are a lot worse homes around than that one was. thanks for the pictures by the way.Probably no one will pay the courts will drag it out till he dies of old age. Looks to be in an area of old houses. I think it was a neighbour problem. Edited November 30, 2015 by lovelomsak Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LukKrueng Posted November 30, 2015 Share Posted November 30, 2015 Nice neighbors.... so kind, so thoughtful............... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FangFerang Posted November 30, 2015 Share Posted November 30, 2015 Many Americans yell--Take care of our veterans! As long as it's not with tax money that Boeing and Raytheon want, and as long as it's not in my neighborhood, or my state... Hypocrisy. Plain and simple. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ggt Posted November 30, 2015 Share Posted November 30, 2015 Dang, where I have lived in the US...especially if a person is an elderly Vet...the neighbors pitch in and help bring the house up to snuff... There is a different mindset and culture in the North...hard to believe they could be so calloused... I hope he wins his law-suit...this destruction must surely be beyond city official's legal capacity... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seastallion Posted November 30, 2015 Share Posted November 30, 2015 Neversure the house doesnot look derelict to me in the picture do you think the same? Grass looks ok everything painted,curtains on windows.I am sure there are a lot worse homes around than that one was. thanks for the pictures by the way.Probably no one will pay the courts will drag it out till he dies of old age. Looks to be in an area of old houses. I think it was a neighbour problem. Google Street View probably didn't go around to photo is while the chap was in Florida. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cloghead Posted November 30, 2015 Share Posted November 30, 2015 (edited) Dang, where I have lived in the US...especially if a person is an elderly Vet...the neighbors pitch in and help bring the house up to snuff... There is a different mindset and culture in the North...hard to believe they could be so calloused... I hope he wins his law-suit...this destruction must surely be beyond city official's legal capacity... Yep, there's gotta be a whole lot of background noise to this story and I reckon the neighbors play a BIG part I had the misfortune of being stuck in West Hempstead for 2 weeks (when I was a teenager) and was overjoyed to leave the shithole Nu Yawk Edited November 30, 2015 by cloghead Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickJ Posted November 30, 2015 Share Posted November 30, 2015 I think they need to build the exact same house again......Also top up his bank acct. Looks like they also removed his tree as well. .........sounds something that happens in a movie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim in Chiang Mai Posted November 30, 2015 Share Posted November 30, 2015 The owner of the house should get a lawyer, and go to the local police department, and file criminal complaints for criminal damage to property, and separate complaints for theft, etc etc etc. I good lawyer would be able to write the complaint so it covered at least a dozen criminal violations of law. Then the local prosecutor will be forced to ignore the complaint, or act on it. If the prosecutor fails to act, it would appear he/she is part of a conspiracy. Then the lawyer needs to ask for an outside prosecutor ... and try to get a grand jury to indict all the corrupt, inept officials. Any banks or any legal entities involved need to be indicted too. The end result will be a monumental ongoing criminal enterprise civil lawsuit (lookup RICO, civil & criminal) .. the civil damages are TRIPLE ... and in discovery of the civil action my guess is a lot of perjury will be found out ... and that should lead to many many more criminal indictments. The thing that irks me about all these cases, and things like the nationwide robo-signing practices and the widespread corruption in foreclosures is, no one went to the police and filed a criminal complaint. Not a single foreclosure judge ever referred the proven criminal activity to a prosecutor .. anywhere in America. I lost my home and my ass in the housing bubble, and years of unemployment .. so I left the USA ... I'm reading this from Asia ... there is so much that is sick about America ... look at yourselves. Can't you see? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silent Posted November 30, 2015 Share Posted November 30, 2015 Neversure the house doesnot look derelict to me in the picture do you think the same? Grass looks ok everything painted,curtains on windows.I am sure there are a lot worse homes around than that one was. thanks for the pictures by the way.Probably no one will pay the courts will drag it out till he dies of old age. Looks to be in an area of old houses. I think it was a neighbour problem. Google Street View probably didn't go around to photo is while the chap was in Florida. And that somehow makes a big difference why? Oh I know, there's no corruption, collusion and backstabbing like here going on in the land of the free, home of the brave or however that hallucination goes. News flash: Timothy Leary's dead Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CMBob Posted November 30, 2015 Share Posted November 30, 2015 This is reported by several sources as being the Google street view of the house before demolition. The second pic is reported as being after demolition. Sometimes it's helpful to actually look at the photos....and it's my guess just based on observation that those are not the "before" and "after" photos. The house on the left doesn't look the same to me (look at the trim) but the kicker is the house on the right (hmmm....notice the house with the brick chimney in the second photo? It isn't there). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tywais Posted November 30, 2015 Share Posted November 30, 2015 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TeWL7fmYvbs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steven100 Posted November 30, 2015 Share Posted November 30, 2015 It's always good to know your neighbors will look after your place when you go into hospital Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Credo Posted November 30, 2015 Share Posted November 30, 2015 If the guy was married and had six kids, it would seem someone in the family might keep an eye on things. Even if they weren't in the area, they might want to help their ailing father until he was better. Perhaps he is not the most neighborly kind of guy. He didn't seem to inform anyone where he would be. I wonder if the lights and utilities were paid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tywais Posted November 30, 2015 Share Posted November 30, 2015 I wonder if the lights and utilities were paid. He stated all bills up to date and owed no taxes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DM07 Posted November 30, 2015 Share Posted November 30, 2015 If the guy was married and had six kids, it would seem someone in the family might keep an eye on things. Even if they weren't in the area, they might want to help their ailing father until he was better. Perhaps he is not the most neighborly kind of guy. He didn't seem to inform anyone where he would be. I wonder if the lights and utilities were paid. ...what are you talking about? Any of that is a reason to tear the house down? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oneday Posted November 30, 2015 Share Posted November 30, 2015 I hope he wins his court case and the judge makes the award 10 times what he is asking for. That house looks just fine. I wouldn't mind living in a house that looks like that. The government had no business tearing it down. However, the owner should have made provisions for getting mail forwarded to him. I'm sure the city gave notice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ulic Posted November 30, 2015 Share Posted November 30, 2015 Build him a new one pronto. Being away for a year unexpectedly I am sure the grounds were in a state, and maybe the house could have used some maintenance but if taxes were paid and the mortgage current I cannot see a justifiable reason to tear the place down. To bad his neighbours did not keep him informed on what was going on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chicog Posted November 30, 2015 Share Posted November 30, 2015 That's what happens when you have snot-nosed curtain twitchers as neighbours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
up2u2 Posted November 30, 2015 Share Posted November 30, 2015 Poor guy. Hope he gets a nice payout from the town officials. Real neighbourly of you Kathleen you miserable old thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nowisee Posted November 30, 2015 Share Posted November 30, 2015 He has the responsibility to maintain it and if he leaves for a long time, then assign a POA.The story sounds sad, but I'm sure if it ever makes it to trial he will lose. "Inspectors then determined the house was a 'dilapidated dwelling' and it was knocked down"Try that in some strict HOA places and you can rack up serious fines/liens.It would interesting to see the results of litigation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maestro Posted November 30, 2015 Share Posted November 30, 2015 Philip Williams 27 Garden City Blvd West Hempstead, NY 11552 Source: http://www.phonebooks.com/name/philip/williams/24797977/ On Google Street View: https://goo.gl/pynQis Photo taken in August 2012 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maestro Posted November 30, 2015 Share Posted November 30, 2015 Even the old tree in front of the house got cut down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maestro Posted November 30, 2015 Share Posted November 30, 2015 This is the August 2012 Google Street View photo of the little house opposite, where Kathleen Keicher lives, the woman who, on television, said of the house on the other side of the street: "The house was turning run down, you know, becoming run down, and unkept, and we just didn't see any...it didn't seem like anyone was ever living there, and over I guess a year, a year and a half, it looked like notices were going up, warnings on the door, and then...and then pople came to us and said they're gonna tear it down." https://goo.gl/5Q4Fcb Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CMBob Posted November 30, 2015 Share Posted November 30, 2015 I'm doubtful we know most of the story here. It theoretically could have been a colossal screw-up by the local government and, if that's the case, they'll pay dearly for that; however, there are so many notices over time that are required for public condemnation that somehow I simply can't believe that the owner had no culpability at all with this. As noted before, those before and after photos can't be accurate. In the first photo, look at the white house on the right with the brick chimney. It's clearly not there in the second photo (let alone the wires are missing, front and back trees missing, etc.). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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