Two Bay Shore Homes Damaged By Fire Demolished

BAY SHORE, NY — Two Bay Shore homes that were deemed unsafe, were torn down last week.

Town officials demolished the two vacant properties on 4 and 8 Thomas Drive as part of an unfinished 9 lot subdivision known as Island Woods.

The Town of Islip fire marshal previously deemed the unsecured properties, "dangerous, unsound and hazardous" after a fire damaged the homes causing disrepair, collapse and structural failure.

In addition, the homes attracted tresspasers.

The home was last inspected on March 25, 2020. Afterward, the town board declared during a meeting last May that the homes and foundations in the 9 lot subdivision be razed.

The other house and four foundations will be demolished by the property owner.

"It was a long road to get to this point," Islip Supervisor Angie Carpenter said. "These demolitions are an arduous process, and we do our best as a Town to rid our communities of these unsightly nuisances once it is within our legal rights to do so."

The neighbors have been expecting the properties to be taken down for quite some time, according to a report in News12.

"Every day I'd ride by, I'd look at it and I would think, 'Wow!' It looked like a few times they were going to do something, then it stalled," neighbor Charles Jones told News12. "So I said I'm just going to take a wait-and-see attitude, and the waiting turned out to be infinite."

Carpenter stated that the demolition would help with the quality of life in the town.

"We are sensitive to the fact that these blighted properties are hazardous, attract illegal activity, and they bring our home values down," she said. "We will continue to move forward, ridding the Town of these eyesores."

Islip Town Councilman James O’Connor and Commissioner, DPW, Thomas Owens were also present during the demolition. The homes were demolished by Panzner Demolition and Abatement Corp.