Demolition of homes in North Amityville mobile home park slated for development begins

A developer has begun demolishing homes at a North Amityville mobile home park as residents continue to fight evictions.

Developer R Squared Real Estate Partners of Plainview plans to build 500 apartments and 42,000 square feet of retail space on the site of the Frontier Mobile Home Park. The park has more than 300 mobile homes where residents pay about $600 a month to rent the land. Residents were first notified of the redevelopment in 2011, and in June those in the first phase of construction began receiving eviction notices.

Last week the appellate division of state Supreme Court in Brooklyn denied a request for a stay on any redevelopment of the site that was filed in June by a civic association in the park. The association had asked that work on the site be halted until its appeal of an earlier state court ruling was heard. The association has also filed a federal discrimination suit against the developer and Babylon Town.

A demolition permit was issued by the town to R Squared on July 24. The permit covers one of three sections of phase one, said Babylon Town spokesman Kevin Bonner, and involves 41 homes. The homes are empty, he said, and the electric and propane have been shut off. Bonner said doing the demolition in sections was required by the town because leaving so many homes vacant would create "unsafe conditions for the remaining residents."

R Squared offered residents in the first phase of construction a $20,000 relocation plan paid in installments once they vacate. According to a letter recently sent to residents, of the 96 homes in that phase, 59 were approved for the relocation money.