Dangerous and disgusting.
That’s how neighbors in the South End of Hartford described a problem property on Broad Street. They said it's been in shambles for almost a year and are demanding that the city help clean it up.
“It is totally out of control,” said neighbor Hyacinth Yennie.
Trees and shrubs outside the abandoned home at Broad and Roxbury streets are at least 10 feet high. The property is covered in mounds of trash, and neighbors said they're nervous to walk by.
“Anyone can hide in that bush anyone that's walking in the street," said Yennie. "They can get robbed, held up.”
Yennie said homeless people have broken into the abandoned home and that the place is a hot spot for drug dealing.
“This is unacceptable in our neighborhood. This is not the way we want to live,” she said.
Yennie and other neighbors are begging the city of Hartford to step in.
“It's not just one month or two months…it's almost a year I've asked them to address the issue,” Yennie said.
City inspectors said the home has been on their radar.
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“The city will clean the property," said Steve Frank with the City’s Livable and Sustainable Neighborhoods Initiative. "That's the mayor's priority."
Inspectors put up a notice of violation on the Broad Street property at the end of July. They said the owner lives in New York and will not respond to them or get rid of the mess.
The owner hung up when NBC Connecticut called him to ask why he has ignored the city's requests.
By law, inspectors are required to give the owner some time to fix the problems, but that time has just run out. In the next few days, the city can take action without trespassing and clean the place up.
Something neighbors said this is critical to restore their quality of life.
“We need to get it cleaned because we can’t live like this. It's downright disgraceful,” Yennie said.
City officials said they plan to bill the owner for the cleanup. If he doesn’t pay, they will put a lien on the property.
If you live in Hartford and have a similar problem in your neighborhood, you can report it by calling 311 or by contacting the City of Hartford Health Department.
