Demanding Answers: Advocates Say No One Is Taking Responsibility For Poor Conditions At Lower East Side Housing Complex For People With Disabilities
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Earlier this week, CBS2 told you about a group of tenants with disabilities who say they've been facing neglect and poor living conditions at a Lower East Side housing complex.
Thursday, the city issued the building another violation, but still, advocates say no one is taking responsibility.
Elizabeth Walker, who is deaf and visually impaired, lives at 174 Forsyth Street, a building for residents with disabilities. Many use wheelchairs and rely on the elevators.
"See, this elevator right here never works. This one here, the door gets stuck," Walker told CBS2's Natalie Duddridge through a translator.
Tenants say one elevator is broken and the other is unreliable.
"Over two years, it has not been working. It's ridiculous. There's so many different problems here," Walker said through a translator.
Residents also say the building's doors don't have accessibility buttons and their units are in disrepair, including broken ovens, toilets and even broken window frames.
One resident uses a mattress to hold her window frame up.
"I do this to protect in case when I'm sleeping the window will fall on me," she said through a translator.
Since 2020, the Department of Buildings has issued multiple violations, specifically related to the elevators being out of service.
The DOB says the building owners have been issued more than $57,000 worth of fines.
CBS2 tried to talk to someone in the management office, but they said they were "not supposed to answer any questions."
The management company TUC is a division of MMS Management. A spokesperson said in a statement they're working on it and "the contract for the elevator work at 174 is almost complete."
Bob Angles with the Broome Street Tenants Alliance says that's not true, however.
"The elevator has been out for two years. If they say they can't get a contract or a permit in two years. I can assure you that the luxury building across this street, if their elevator is out, within a day, they will get all the permits that they need," he said.
The building is a federally subsidized HUD building. CBS2 reached out to that department for a response and are still waiting.
"Everyone is saying that someone else is working on it, and everyone keeps passing the buck. No one is taking responsibility," community organizer Grace Lee said.
These residents are calling on whoever's responsible to ensure they're safe in their homes.
The city's DOB website shows a list of 32 open violations.
