Owner of Partially Collapsed Building Faces Charges

Residents began complaining about a more than a year ago.

Last July, Trustee Bart Didden asked building department authorities to expedite the case after a resident contacted him. And in March, Code Enforcement Director Christopher Steers promised the situation after Patch readers to force the owner to take action.

Readers wanted the partially collapsed building fixed or torn down, calling it an "eyesore" and saying it was before the building collapses.

Now owner Hugette Sinis faces an ultimatum: show up in court on June 23 to answer a pair of charges, or face an arrest warrant.

On June 9, village court served Sinis with an appearance ticket that summarized the charges and described the building as "dangerous to the life, health, property or safety of the public or the occupants of the structure."

The language in the document declares the Irving Avenue building unsafe and warns that "partial or complete collapse is possible."

Along with a gaping hole in the partially-collapsed roof, the building has also been spray-painted with graffiti.

"If you're stuck at the light and look up you can see the sky through the side window," reader William Beadle on Port Chester Patch. "I've e-mailed the code enforcement office about this because I feel it's a public hazard and no action has been done."

Originally, code enforcement was placed under the authority of the building inspector. When Mayor Dennis Pilla and Village Manager Christopher Russo hired Steers, they created the Department of Code Enforcement as a separate entity because of the long history of corruption allegations against the building department.

Last year, police raided the building department, and Building Inspector Frank Ruccolo was suspended in the wake of the criminal investigation. In the almost 13 months since, village leaders have hired a new building inspector and transferred authority over the building department to Steers.

With Steers controlling both departments and leading efforts to modernize the way Port Chester handles and files complaints, many of the bottlenecks have been removed and residents say complaints have been taken seriously.

On Thursday, Steers said an architect hired by Sinis has scheduled an appointment with Assistant Building Inspector Peter Miley and "will come in this week to discuss the next steps."

Click the attached PDF file to read a summary of the charges against Hugette Sinis, the owner of the 303 Irving Ave. building.

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