Every time I do a story on a
deplorable apartment within New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA), I feel
like taking a scalding hot shower afterwards to rid myself of whatever germs
lurk in the air. The mold….The roaches…The peeling paint…The crumbling
plaster…If the Canarsie Courier could
provide me with a hazmat suit to wear during these assignments, I might not
feel so grossed out. However, it’s part of my job to endure an environment
where I could be breathing in toxins and unhealthy air.
 |
| Comptroller Stringer fights for NYCHA tenant rights. |
Wait…Residents who LIVE in
those apartment buildings have to breathe in that dangerous air every day! And
what does NYCHA have to say about these disgusting conditions that go unfixed
for years?
According to New York City Comptroller
Scott Stringer’s recent audit, NYCHA is looking worse and worse every month. I
believe – and have proof – that NYCHA doesn’t have a leg to stand on when it
comes to defending the horrible state of their apartments.
When I went to Bayview
Houses a couple weeks ago, I saw one woman’s apartment literally
crumbling. It’s a sad day (or month)
when you have to patch up a hole in your kitchen ceiling with a slab of
cardboard. I’m sure it was embarrassing to bring in a guest when the plaster
and paint in your apartment is disintegrating, cracking and opening. What is
this – a third world country where we have to tolerate contracting asthma and
other respiratory diseases from our deadly environments?
NYCHA’s response to the Comptroller’s audit – which
demands the agency have a more efficient system of reporting work orders – was
that the information was “old” and not based on what new leadership has
enforced since February 2014.
If that’s the case, why do
so many apartments STILL look like they’ve been through an earthquake? Walls
aren’t just cracking – I’ve seen layers of paint in large patches coming apart
from a foundation that’s black and moldy – with some pink substance exposed
underneath.
From my personal experience,
NYCHA’s irresponsible maintenance workers – and their excuses for why they
won’t fix tenants’ problems – are part of the problem. Does a resident have a
leaky toilet bowl? Is there a clog in a pipe? Are the incinerators not working
properly?
If NYCHA wants to fix their
reputation, why not send the right person for the job to DO the job the FIRST
time they evaluate a work order? Send the plumber, plasterer, painter,
electrician – or whoever – to the apartment to complete the work the same day
they visit the irate tenant. I’ve been to tenant’s apartments at the same time
maintenance workers appeared to size up the repairs that had to be made. A
couple of guys came in, looked around and pointed, took some notes and slowly
left the apartment with no reassurance of what would be done or when they’d return.
Let’s get real! It seems
like the city feels that just because NYCHA tenants are low-income or disabled,
they don’t deserve to have their needs met. Just because tenants can’t afford
their own roofers, contractors and plumbers, they have to wait months and years before a qualified city worker can complete a job that most
private handymen could probably take care of in one day.
The more complex question
is, who’s going to monitor repairs and enforce action after the Comptroller’s
audit goes through its due process? Who’s going to go to the worst apartments
in the city – some of them located right here in Canarsie at the Breukelen
Houses – and order NYCHA to send someone to the rescue.
There are also simple
quality of life issues that NYCHA neglects. We know there are a lot of
residents and litterbugs out there – but come on! Household trash, including
food and diapers, overflows along various NYCHA development grounds, spilling
out into the streets. It’s like passing a landfill! What’s their excuse for
this disgusting sight? I’ve seen maintenance workers on the grounds of Bayview
and Breukelen Houses talking amongst themselves and doing menial work instead
of keeping the grounds clean. I understand it’s the Department of Sanitation’s
job to remove the trash – but can’t maintenance workers sweep the scattered
debris neatly into a big garbage bag so passersby don’t have to trip on dirty
containers and broken electronics?
I’m more than just a little
upset and disturbed by the conditions NYCHA tenants are forced to endure. It’s
also upsetting that there’s NO proof of work being completed. The photos we
publish in the Canarsie Courier don’t
even come close to showing the horrible conditions some residents have to live
in every day.
NYCHA can justify their lackadaisical management skills
whichever way they want – for however long they want. The list of violations
and unethical practices will continue indefinitely.
That’s why NYCHA most often stands for New Yorkers Can’t Have Anything!
Photo courtesy of the NYC Comptroller's office
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