Tearing down houses for a bigger parking lot (on Sears St, extending parking for property on N Tioga St)
The Ithaca Journal, Oct 24 1988, P. 10, Col. 4.

  Letter
"So Dr. Baker is at it again — tearing down a habitable residence at 119 Sears St. to further demote a neighborhood in order to enhance his own commercial enterprise. He proposes an extension of a parking lot that I and others in the affected area have yet to see filled to capacity.
  This house is being torn down because it needs a new roof — not a huge undertaking for a landlord of Dr. Baker's extensive rental and business holdings.
  The Ithaca Journal stated that Dr. Robert W. Baker — on his own or with his wife, Natalie Baker, or others - owns several buildings in the city block encompassing Sears and North Tioga, running from Court Street to Cascadilla Avenue.
  For the record, there are only four remaining properties on three sides of this block that Dr. Baker doesn't own, and he has attempted to add them to his collection.
  Before half of it was bought up by Dr. Baker, Sears Street was a residential neighborhood. First he bought up all the houses on the east side but one (and for this he apparently has an option to buy) and then tore down nearly half of them (four out of the original nine —and keep your eye on 121. It looks like it needs a new roof and no doubt will be the next to go).
  Although this may be Dr. Baker's idea of progress, the City of Ithaca must share some of the blame for this extensive loss of housing. Why is it so easy for a landlord to neglect rental residences for years and then demolish them for the expansion of a commercial parking lot?"