Attorneys with the Legal Aid Society have filed a lawsuit on behalf of dozens of displaced tenants who live in a Bronx apartment building that partially collapsed on Dec. 11.
Tenants say the landlord still has not made necessary repairs months after the collapse, even after racking up more than 100 housing violations for various issues.
“I want to leave. I don’t want to stay here,” Stacey Morton told NY1.
Morton, her mother, her sister and her nephew do not want to return to their apartment even though they can.
“Yes, the rent is affordable,” Morton said. “But still, my safety comes first. My mother's safety comes first.”
The building located on Billingsley Terrace in Morris Heights partially collapsed on Dec. 11.
The city Department of Buildings cleared Morton’s family to return to the building, but she said her family will stay in a shelter until her landlord makes other repairs.
“See the pipe. They haven’t done nothing with it,” Morton said while showing NY1 a heating pipe with peeling paint.
Tenants in the 46 units in the building say there is often no heat, cracked ceilings, damaged walls, mold and windows that are poorly ventilated.
“They’re not sealed properly,” Morton said. “You see, the air comes through here. My mother be crying. She’s cold,”
As of Monday, 28 tenants signed on to a newly filed lawsuit aiming to force the landlord to correct 133 open housing violations, over half of which are “Class C” violations, which are considered to be immediately hazardous.
“The common areas have been filthy,” said Legal Aid staff attorney Zoe Kheyman. “Hallways are covered with dust and debris.”
Legal Aid Society attorneys want the landlord to fix problems predating the collapse.
“Look, the water coming through there,” tenant Norma Minerva Arias said while showing NY1 water marks from a leaking ceiling. “All through the middle. I found water.”
Of the 46 units in the building, the six units that were exposed during the collapse are still under a vacate order. Some of their occupants, including Diana Vargas, are still living in city shelters.
“They aren’t providing no help,” Vargas said. “My family and me still have not met our case worker. We don’t know what’s going on.”
Many displaced tenants say they would rather move elsewhere, but rent prices elsewhere are too high. So for now, they are stuck.
“The emotional and financial toll of such a loss can be very overwhelming and it may take a long time to recover and start over,” tenant Ivan Schoop said.
The Legal Aid Society lawsuit only deals with the repairs that need to be made for tenants to feel as if they can safely live here.
The lawsuit does not seek compensatory damages, which the Legal Aid Society does not deal with.
NY1 reached out to the management company representing the landlord, but has not heard back.
The lawsuit also accuses the landlord of illegally harassing and endangering the tenants by forcing them to sign agreements stating their apartments were fully repaired, even though they are not.