Tenants sound off on deplorable conditions at Harlem apartment building: "It's a slum"
NEW YORK -- Once a grand building, the first of its kind in Harlem, it is now last in the eyes of area residents.
On Friday, CBS2's Natalie Duddridge spoke to tenants who say it has been neglected it for years, and is now in squalor.
Before you even enter the apartment building at 2034 Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Blvd., you can see the first problem. Resident Chris Noel, who gets around in a wheelchair, said not only is the door not accessible, it doesn't lock.
"With the front door being broken, anyone can just walk in and do anything," Noel said.
And as surveillance video shows, that's exactly what's happening.
Tenants say the footage shows a woman sneak in, squat, and use the hallway as a bathroom.
"People from the streets who maybe need somewhere to go relieve themselves," Noel said.
"They steal packages. We have had people come in and defecate along the back staircase," another tenant said.
Residents say their halls and doors are often vandalized. Feeling unsafe, many installed their own Ring cameras because they say the building's security cameras are broken.
The emergency exits are also broken, prompting tenants to call them a fire hazard.
"It's a slum. It's a shame, you know what I'm saying, that people have to live like this," resident Thomas Pay said.
Pay's family has lived in the building for 20 years. He said he has filed many complaints.
"Every winter, there is over 1,000 complaints, heat complaints," Pay said.
There are currently 66 open violations listed on the Department of Buildings' website.
Another complaint is a hole in the floor of the elevator. As Duddridge reported, the elevator is currently working, but resident say service is intermittent. Over the years, they say, sometimes it's out for months at a time.
"The elevator is out all the time. We have people that's disabled in this building," resident Denise Jones said.
Built in 1883, the building known as the Washington Apartments was designated an historic landmark in 1991. It is notable for being the first apartment building in central Harlem.
"If you look at it, you couldn't even think it is a landmark just by how it has been taken care of," Noel said.
As CBS2 was recording, a maintenance worker for the management company Shinda showed up. Duddridge asked him what's going on.
"We are trying to fix it, you know? It's not only on us. It also falls on the tenants," the worker said.
A notice on the wall from 2018 says, "It has come to management attention that the property is being destroyed by tenant and/or their visitors."
Tenants say that's not true, adding the building was fine until it was taken over by Shinda several years ago.
"We just want them to put some more care into the building," Noel said.
And return it to the historic distinction it deserves.
CBS2 tried to call the management company, but did not get an answer.