[gridlock]

The New York Times might have a point here, but this particular house has nothing to do with it.

Look at the thing. It obviously dates from before the Post-War building boom on Long Island. It is a farmhouse left over from the agricultural economy that existed 60 years ago. It is on Main Street, Hempstead, which is an industrial/commercial area where nobody wants to live. It is bordred on two sides by industrial buildings. This building should have been pancaked fifty years ago to make way for a gas station. Somehow it survived. But the fact that the old coot who lived there finally kicked the bucket and nobody else wants to move in is not indicative of anything.

Though I will say the fact that it is still standing after standing vacant for more than a month is a testement to the ineffectiveness of local government. This house could be siezed under Eminent Domain, and I don't think anybody would object.

[Clemenza]

I remember that farmhouse. I seem to remember it being fenced about 1982-1983 or so. Used to pass it on the way to Tent City, where I would buy my scouting gear.

[AnAmericanMother]

Would a farmhouse have a two-car garage?

It doesn't look sixty years old to me.

It's possible that the garage and the three dormers are additions to a much older core (look at the difference in the windows) but the 4 over 4 windows in the dormers are an older style than the windows flanking the front door. And the only chimney is on the garage side - a farmhouse would have more chimneys and more centrally located.

My aunt-in-law still lives in the old family farmhouse built circa 1930 in eastern NJ. It doesn't look like this house at all. And the garage is out back.