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Legal win lets Lockport take ownership of abandoned homes

For close to 10 years, a property owner in Staten Island failed to occupy or properly maintain two Genesee Street houses, and it shows. But the dilapidated homes may soon have a new lease on life. The City of Lockport prevailed on Wednesday in a lawsuit it had filed in New York State Supreme Court against Raja Adimoolam to take ownership of 271 and 281 Genesee St.

 City officials described the legal victory as a watershed moment in its years-long fight against blighted and abandoned properties.

“We’re going to do things differently,” said Common Council President David Wohleben, who formed a task force to address the city’s “zombie” property problem. “We’re not going to tolerate property owners who completely neglect their property for years and years.”

Read the full article by the Lockport Union Sun & Journal here.