Owner of uninhabitable Plainfield building fires management company
PLAINFIELD, N.J. -- People forced from an apartment building that was deemed uninhabitable are now searching for two things: a comfortable place to stay and answers as to why and how this happened.
CBS New York received a statement from Cyclone West, the owner of the building in question in Plainfield. They said the management company has been fired and contractors are now trying to fix the problems the city found.
Cyclone West told us in part, "While there is certainly some major issues to resolve, the vast majority of the work needing to be done is relatively minor and can be fixed in short order."
- READ MORE: Plainfield, N.J. deems 2 buildings uninhabitable, forces residents out with only 24-hour notice
The rainfall didn't stop the flow of furniture out of doors and into trailers provided by the city of Plainfield. A storage facility offered two months free to tenants who were forced from their homes on Wednesday.
"The worst day of my life," 13-year-old Pedro Rodriguez said.
Pedro returned home with his dad on Thursday to get some of their belongings.
"I just want them to fix it. If they fix it, I could forgive, but if they don't, then I really don't know," Pedro said.
The city deemed all 49 apartments in 501 W. Seventh St. unlivable, describing holes in ceilings, mold-like stains and "uncapped gas conductors that were active fire hazards."
The mayor said the state inspected the property last summer and found 235 violations that were never addressed, adding the city didn't learn about the problems until a tenant complained.
"That's what they said, but out here talking to the residents, they say they called several times about different things, so," Councilman-at-Large Richard Wyatt said.
Wyatt, who cooked food for the tenants on Thursday, said he's working on legislation to improve the inspection process.
"It's clearly a lack of communication. However, we need to take control over that in the city and make sure that we are doing our inspections," Wyatt said.
The mayor's office told CBS New York it is talking with a state lawmaker about legislation to ensure the city is notified when the state finds hazards.
Watch Tim McNicholas' report
Jacqueline Green, given three days to pack up her home of 30 years, says she's not going to miss the leaky ceilings, broken toilet or decaying kitchen that she says her landlord neglected.
"I showed this to them months ago," she said.
"And what'd they say?" CBS New York's Ali Bauman asked.
"'Oh, we'll send somebody, we'll send somebody,'" Green said.
Jose Menjivar's ceiling has been leaking since October, but it collapsed on his wife while she was showering Wednesday.
"It start coming down and she run away," he said.
All of their furniture is now in a storage facility, which offered tenants two free months.
Menjivar says he doesn't know where they will go now.
Neither does tenant Ninoska Ruido. Through a translator, she told us she and her son did not feel comfortable in the temporary communal shelter provided by the city. Thursday is the last night they're allowed home.
"At this point, they're just hopeless," the translator said. "They don't even know where to move out to."
The city is also planning to inspect the neighboring building, also owned by Cyclone West.
"I'm starting to pack all my daughter's clothes," tenant Yesenia Leal said.
Leal said she's not wasting any time because she expects the city to find her building unlivable, too.
"My apartment is bad. I've been telling them for years ... It has mold. The tub doesn't work. The stove doesn't work," Leal said.
Residents in that building were told inspectors will be there Friday.
"We are hoping it's not gonna be closed," community leader Carmen Salavarrieta said.
The city said it is also working to provide hotel space for residents for the next few days.
"We need to engage all of our agencies to work together to ensure that the children and the families are living in safe environments," Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman said.
Green wants to know if and when the landlord is refunding this month's rent; their checks have already been cashed.
"They're gonna give me my money, and you can put that on the recording," she said.
A spokesman for Gov. Phil Murphy told CBS New York in a statement, "Our office is aware of the situation and has been in close contact with Mayor Mapp, city officials, and the Department of Community Affairs, who are actively working to aid in sheltering the displaced families."
As for the owner, their statement thanked the city for bringing this to their attention and said the maintenance they paid for was either substandard or not done at all.
According to the city, those same owners also own three other properties in Plainfield that were recently deemed uninhabitable.
CBS New York wants to ask the owners how they didn't find out about it sooner, but they have not agreed to an interview with us.