But WHY Was It Demolished? Simply Due To Neglect? Because Galvan Said It Had To Happen? Or Because It Doesn't Matter?

About two weeks ago, Galvan's long neglected and vacant house at 59 Short Street was demolished. Gone. Yet another case of demolition by neglect, brought to us in equal parts from City Hall (ignoring Galvan's neglect) and from the city's largest landowner (neglecter associate of City Hall, Galvan).

Curious as to why the house had to be razed, I immediately FOILed for the Demolition Permit and all documents pertaining to the reason or reasons for the demolition of 59 Short Street. I soon received a copy of the permit from Code Enforcement, but it offered no reason(s) for the demolition. Then I was told that the CEO had "no further responsive documents."

In other words, nothing in CEO's file for 59 Short Street explains what was wrong with the house that required it to be demolished. If the house was beyond repair due to serious structural issues, which it may have been, shouldn't that be public information? Shouldn't the Code Enforcement Department have to be told what the reason or reasons for demolition are before issuing a demo permit?  And shouldn't that reason or those reasons be stated clearly on the permit?

The demolition of a house is kind of a big deal, right?  It sure is, particularly in a city with a rental housing shortage and crisis.  Then why did Nick Fox fail to mention the demolition of 59 Short Street during his report to the SAFETY Committee on Monday night, ten days following the demolition?  Was his reticence because if someone had asked him for a reason why the house had to be demolished, he would have had nothing to say in response?  Or was it because the demolition of a house has nothing to do with the issue of SAFETY?

No one from CEO bothered to sign
 the DEMOLITION PERMIT they issued!

By the way, the demolition of 59 Short seems to have undermined the stability of Rope Alley; the portion of the alley adjacent to the property is still fenced off two weeks later.  Something is not right.  How much longer will the alley be off limits there?  Isn't that a safety issue for emergency vehicles?  Could Nick Fox have explained on Monday what that situation is all about?  Of course not!  He wanted to talk about chickens and rats instead!