101 AND LOSING HER HOME

Mamie Singleton, 101, and her granddaughter, Mary Reaves, 56, are
being evicted from their home of 45 years.

They received a notice last week from Syracuse police Chief Gary
Miguel, giving them five days to leave their two-family house at 114
Baker Ave. They were supposed to move out by Christmas Eve.

The property is being closed for six months under the city's nuisance
abatement law because of drug arrests at the house, Miguel said.

The women's lawyer, Randi Bianco, appealed for an emergency stay to
halt the proceedings until after the holidays and Onondaga County
Judge Anthony Aloi granted the request Tuesday, moving back the case
until Jan. 5.

"I certainly wasn't going to take the chance that someone her age
would be put out on the street at Christmas," Aloi said. "It just
didn't set well with me. I'd rather play Santa Claus than Scrooge."

The looming prospect of having to leave their home has put a damper
on the family's holidays.

"I've been frantic and it's just so upsetting," Reaves said. "My
grandmother is a law-abiding, tax-paying citizen. She says, 'This is
my house and I'm not leaving.' And she shouldn't have to."

They don't know where they will go or how they will pay for the
security deposit and rent on an apartment for six months while still
paying taxes, insurance and utilities on the Baker Avenue property,
Reaves said. The house is valued at $48,300 for tax purposes.

Typically, Christmas involves dozens of relatives, a huge meal and
lots of presents. Reaves has canceled the holiday this year.

"I just can't believe this is going on," Mary Reaves said. "I haven't
been able to sleep since we got this notice. We don't have any other
place to go. Everyone comes to us when they need a helping hand or a
place to stay for a couple days. Our hearts are heavy over this."

They may have gotten a reprieve, but Miguel said they will be evicted
because they have failed to properly address criminal activity on
their property and did not show up at an April hearing on the matter.

Under the city's nuisance abatement law, the police department has
the right to close properties that have been the scene of a crime
more than three times in two years, Lt. Joe Cecile said.

Three arrests at the Baker Avenue house since 2006 have included
weapons and drug charges, and that activity is disrupting the
neighborhood, said Phil Prehn, of Syracuse United Neighbors, a
community agency pushing for the eviction.

A property that starts getting a reputation for criminal activity
tends to attract more crime "and it's like a virus," Prehn said.
"Unchecked, it destroys a lot of things."

Prehn said the closure of this house and another at 227-229 Merriman
Ave. help send a message to homeowners: They need to control their property.

"The city doesn't seize the property," he said. "They're just saying
that we're not going to let this operation continue at this place. We
are trying to disrupt the drug business there."

Reaves and Singleton received a letter in March about the April
hearing. They didn't respond, Cecile said.

Since the hearing, officers have been to the house two more times to
let the residents know that the process was continuing, Cecile said.

A backlog in the city's corporation counsel office led to the delay
in seeking the court order, said lawyer Joseph Bergh, who prepared
the paperwork.

"I agree this is not the perfect situation and it should have been
done a lot sooner," he said. "The timing was not intended to coincide
with Christmas and we didn't do this with the intention of raining on
anyone's holiday."

All three arrests involved Kareem Brown, a nephew who periodically
stayed at the house, Bianco said.

Two of the arrests involved search warrants and police found
marijuana and cocaine, as well as drug paraphernalia leading them to
believe Brown was dealing.

Brown, who served prison time for the drug convictions, no longer is
allowed there and the owners also have put up a "No Trespassing"
sign, which they believed "abated the nuisance," Bianco said. The
last arrest there was in January.

The initial notice for the hearing is to "try to initiate
conversation between the property owner and the police," Miguel said.
"The property owner has a responsibility to terminate the activity"
and work with police to keep it from returning, he said.

"The strength of nuisance abatement is not in the closure, but in the
dialogue," said Cecile, who has overseen the program for almost eight
years. "It's working through it together, but that hasn't happened in
this case. They have never made any type of contact with us."

In 2008, the city held nuisance abatement hearings on 32 properties.
All were commercial except the properties on Merriman and Baker, Cecile said.

"It's very rare that we even have a hearing on an owner-occupied
residence, and it's even more rare that we close it," he said. The
last time one was closed was 2004.

The Baker Avenue closure notice also informed Reaves she is being
fined $500 for the violations on the property.

"Due to her age, Singleton was incapable of stopping the nuisance on
her premises and is not being fined," the notice said.

Singleton, a retired home health aide, is the last surviving sibling
of a family of 11. She moved here from South Carolina in the 1920s.

Because of her age, police may involve the Onondaga County Department
of Social Services to ensure she has an appropriate place to live
during the six months the property is boarded up.

After the occupants move out, police will board up the building to
prevent people from accessing the property, Cecile said. They will
also post a notice that the house was closed by the police chief for
violating the nuisance abatement law.

As for Reaves, she plans to fight the closure.

"My grandmother is being treated inhumanely and it's not fair for her
to be punished because of the bad decisions of one of her younger
relatives," Reaves said. "In her elder years, she's being discarded
like a rag. Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine this could ever
happen to us."