The city of Binghamton will tear down six properties as part of a blight demolition project, part of a larger effort by the city to make neighborhoods safer and raise property values.

Blighted properties have been neglected and are therefore unsafe and sometimes uninhabitable. According to the Center for Community Progress, a nonprofit organization, these properties can negatively impact an area’s economy, bringing about more neglected properties through “systematic vacancy.”

“Vacant, neglected buildings like these hurt entire neighborhoods, frustrating residents who live nearby and making our community less safe,” Binghamton Mayor Jared Kraham wrote in a press release. “With these demolitions, we’re taking real steps to clean up some of the damage caused by our area’s most notorious slumlord. Every resident deserves to live in clean, safe neighborhoods free from problem properties and blight.”

Five of the six properties to be demolished were acquired through a court settlement with Isaac Anzaroot. In 2022, the Brooklyn-based landlord was arrested for multiple housing code violations in his upstate properties. Under the agreement, Anzaroot was barred from managing or owning property in the Binghamton area for 15 years in 2023.

Anzaroot was also tied to limited liability corporations that own assets in Vestal, Johnson City and Endicott. The city of Binghamton acquired 21 other properties from the “notorious slumlord” and plans to revitalize or sell them. Many of these properties have already been demolished since the 2023 ruling.

The former Anzaroot properties included in this wave of demolitions are 22 Clarke St., 114 Henry St., 193 Matthews St., 30 Thorp St. and 31 Travis Ave. A property at 58 Glenwood Ave. — acquired by the city through property tax foreclosure — will also be demolished as part of the project.

The properties will be torn down by Gorick Construction, a Binghamton-based heavy construction company founded in 1945. The company has been involved in other large-scale demolition projects in the area like the Oakdale Commons project and the Boscov’s parking garage. The demolition will be completed using funds from the federal Community Development Block Grant. Set aside for blight removal, the project is projected to cost $239,475.

Given the disruptive nature of these projects, community members near these properties received a letter regarding the plans. The mayor’s office informed them of the demolition work and reaffirmed the office’s commitment to improving the city of Binghamton.

“As Mayor, I’ve promised to invest in our neighborhoods,” Kraham wrote in the letter obtained by Pipe Dream. “That includes aggressively demolishing blight that hurts surrounding property values and diminishes residents’ quality of life. Vacant and rundown buildings also cause a host of health and safety concerns. Tearing down and repurposing these eyesores are major steps in cleaning up our neighborhoods.”