Mayor Palmieri has new plan for vacant property
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UTICA, N.Y. -- Utica's mayor says he has a new plan to finally tackle the city's overwhelming vacant property issues, a problem he says is costing the city money.
Mayor Robert Palmieri's new plan is to utilize a rarely used state law to fast track foreclosures that have been abandoned. City lawyers say they plan to go after about half a dozen property owners to begin with, but hundreds could follow.
Palmieri says he hopes the policy will encourage landlords and tenants to start making positive changes in the city.
“Only in Utica is anybody pursuing the positives with what's going on there. I no longer want to be, 'It's only in Utica that nothing happens,'” said Mayor Palmieri.
The option still isn't necessarily fast. it can still take over a year for a house to be considered abandoned. But the mayor says he hopes the threat will be enough to take care of the problem.