Village to Vacate 3 Lake Street Apartment Building

The Village of Patchogue is moving to evict remaining residents of 3 Lake Street, a property that was ordered closed by the state on July 13 due to unsafe and unhealthy living conditions.

Since the state ruling, most have found new housing, some with the help of nonprofits such as Help Suffolk. Others have ended up in shelters.

Village attorney Brian Egan said that the court should be authorizing the sheriff to evict the remaining residents by Tuesday night, by force if necessary. After that, the building will be boarded up.

On June 30, the village declared the property uninhabitable after the building department received calls complaining of infestation of both roaches and mice, as well as lack of heat at the building, according to chief building inspector for the village, Peter Sarich.

The apartment building was also heavily vandalized, with broken glass scattered throughout and holes covering several of the walls.

"We asked the Supreme Court to order the building vacated for the tenants own safety," said Sarich.

On July 13, the New York State Supreme Court ruled the building closed after owner Atlantic Real Properties failed to show up for the hearing.

The landlord refused to comment for this story.

However, outgoing residents have voiced several complaints about Atlantic's management of the building.

"We never had hot water unless myself or other tenants put diesel in ourselves," said former resident Kira Cusumano, who had to move to Help Suffolk transitional housing with her son.

Other residents claimed that they had paid rent resident Ned Barry, who they thought was the landlord. Cusumano said that one of the owners from Atlantic Real Properties told the tenants that Barry was not the landlord in May, and that Barry had fled from the building soon after.

"We had come to think that Ned Barry was our landlord, come to find he was not the landlord," said former resident Anthony Whitis, who managed to find alternative housing.

Numerous attempts to track down Barry have been unsuccessful.

Tenants in the building claim they paid Barry in cash and as a result there is a lack of a paper trail to legally prove the situation.

Cusumano said that she had a legal lease document and was paying Barry $800 per month, but that the lease disappeared at the same time that Barry left the building.

Also among the residents is former Vietnam War veteran James Omeara, who said that he and the other residents did not know where they were going to end up due to the situation.

Village Clerk Patricia Seal said that litigation regarding Barry is pending but could not comment further at the time.

The building's ownership is set to transfer to an undisclosed bank.