Historic flooding in 2011 destroyed the former Vestal Nursing Center.
Residents were moved and the site was closed. The building has been vacant and deteriorating ever since. It sits at the entrance to a small, quiet residential street.
On Thursday, the Broome County legislature agreed to hold over a vote that would give the county land bank over $850,000 to purchase and demolish the deteriorating building.
‘Broken windows, crumbling structure’
The over five-acre property was bought a year later by landlord Isaac Anzaroot. He paid between $116,000 and $120,000.
Broome County Executive Jason Garnar calls Anzaroot “the most notorious slumlord in Broome County, not only has run afoul of a number of municipalities, code violations, failure to pay taxes, but has run afoul of the New York State Attorney General.”
Anzaroot’s limited liability corporation that owned the property filed for bankruptcy last year. That means that when the old nursing home is sold, Anzaroot won’t get any of the money.
That was an important shift for officials in Broome County. Now, the Broome County Land Bank wants to buy the property with support from the county government.
Earlier this week, Garnar held a press conference outside the sprawling brick building. It’s surrounded by flimsy fencing that’s opened in some places. No officials from the Town of Vestal—where the center is located—attended the event.
Garnar was not alone. The county legislature’s chairman and the land bank board chair stood with him. They all said it’s worth spending about $1.5 million to acquire and then tear down the building.
“[There are] broken windows, crumbling structure and eyesore that everyone in this community has to live with,” Garnar said.
The county’s land bank board recently voted to pay $650,000 for the property. It will cost an additional $800,000 or more to demolish it.
Garnar insists the cost won’t burden taxpayers.
“Half of this project is being paid for by grants, not with any local funding, but by state and federal grants that are specifically earmarked to this project,” he said.
But the rest will come from county economic development funds. That’s what the legislature will vote on this week.
The federal money is unspent American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds. That was COVID-era funding municipalities got to help overcome losses because of the pandemic. The ARPA funds have a spend it or lose it deadline. If it doesn’t get spent by the end of this year the county has to return it to the federal government. The state funding is through a grant that is earmarked specifically for this work.
Online records show the property went up for sale in 2024 for $2.3 million. The asking price went down to $1.5 million last year.
“This will wind up getting sold to somebody outside of the area again, and will sit for another 15 years and it'll get worse,” said Dan Reynolds, chair of the Broome County legislature.
‘I think we should assume the worst’
The proposal is not without critics. Tarik Abdelazim resigned from the land bank board over the issue. He is skeptical of the financial lender selling the site.
“There are a lot of questions that this situation arises [sp], and whenever Anzaroot is involved, I think we should assume the worst,” he said.
But Abdelazim said the main reason for his resignation is he doesn’t think the county should be paying so much for the building. He said the decision felt rushed.
“We have far more cost effective enforcement mechanisms to acquire a property that is basically worthless,” he said.
At the press conference, Reynolds said the county and land bank considered all possible options, including foreclosure.
“If this was five or 10 years ago and they weren't paying their taxes, the county would be able to foreclose on this after a couple of years of them not doing, you'd be able to initiate it. Usually, what happens then is like an owner like this pays just enough to make it so you can't foreclose. So it's a game back and forth on it,” said Reynolds.
Likewise, Reynolds said Anzaroot always did just enough to keep the property from being legally abandoned. He added that Vestal would have had to take on that process and that the town could not afford the legal fees necessary.
They considered what happened when the city of Binghamton chose to go after a crumbling property using eminent domain as a cautionary tale. The price was decided in a court process that ended with the city paying the negligent property owners over a million dollars, plus spending another half a million in legal fees.
Garnar said what they are doing now will ensure none of the money goes to Anzaroot.
“Foreclosing on the property would require us to pay the surplus, as Chairman Reynolds talked about, to Isaac Anzaroot, right? What we're doing here, we're paying the financial institution, not Isaac Anzaroot,” said Garnar.
There is one thing Abdelazim and the county officials agree on: nothing could be built on the property because it is in a flood plain.
Garnar said the county is already working with a consulting firm to figure out the best use of the property. He said they have experience converting flood-prone sites to something useful.
“...softball fields or passive recreation, or small parks or something like that, something that will fit the character of this community and be good for the community,” Garnar said.
On Thursday, the Broome County legislature agreed Thursday to hold over a vote to give the land bank $825,000 for the purchase and demolition of the old Vestal Nursing Center.
The resolution will be considered at the legislature’s next scheduled meeting on May 21.
If approved, the demolition is expected to be done by the end of the year.
