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New York

NYC still has some 800 zombie properties

Brooklyn and Queens boast the most abandoned properties

Zombie properties (Credit: Trulia)
Zombie properties (Credit: Trulia)

WEEKENDEDITIONNew York City’s residential market may be hot, but Brooklyn and Queens are still plagued with “zombie” properties —abandoned homes where the bank has failed to complete the foreclosure process.

Across the five boroughs there are roughly 807 deserted homes, according to the New York Post. In Brooklyn there are 250 zombie properties, with the largest numbers in East New York, Cypress Hills and Ocean Hill, according to ZIP code data from RealtyTrac.

In Queens, there are 220 zombie properties, with highest numbers in the St. Albans, Jamaica and Ozone Park neighborhoods.

“We had kids hanging out, squatters in there, and they even tried to turn it into a brothel,” Vicky Thomas of St. Albans, who lives next to an abandoned home, said. “Johns were parading girls into the back yard. It was torture.”

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The Bronx has 181 zombie homes, Staten Island has 121 and Manhattan has 35.

But the city is attempting to take action. State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman is pushing a bill that would force mortgage holders to care for the properties.

“Zombie homes are a drain on families and communities and place undue burden on thinly stretched municipal resources,” said Melissa Grace, an AG spokeswoman. “We look forward to working with the legislature . . . next session.” [NYP] – Christopher Cameron

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Foreclosures