GVSHP continues to press city agencies to take action to halt the deterioration and begin the repair of 43 MacDougal Street, an unoccupied, landmarked 1846 rowhouse at King Street which due to years of neglect by its owner has become a health and safety hazard. There has been some tentative good news — after GVSHP got the Landmarks Preservation Commission to begin to initiate the process of a ‘Demolition By Neglect’ lawsuit against the owner (which would force the owner to make repairs), for the first time the owner has responded to directives to clean out the building of accumulated materials and waste, which has now been ongoing for a month (see PICTURES).
This long-overdue clean-up not only removes some hazards to the building and to neighbors, but should allow the city to make the thorough inspection of the building’s condition we have been urging them to do for months, but which dangerous conditions have prevented.
This is one small step in the right direction, but much more needs to be done. GVSHP recently wrote to the Buildings and Landmarks Commissioners urging that they continue to push the owner to do restoration and repair work, seek payment of $120,000 in unpaid fines for landmarks and buildings violations, inspect the condition of the building immediately, and continue to pursue legal action against the owner unless all needed repairs are done completely and quickly.
