Lawmakers, NYCHA tenants demand agency do more to improve living conditions
NEW YORK -- Lawmakers and public housing tenants gathered on the steps of City Hall on Tuesday, demanding NYCHA do more to improve living conditions throughout the city.
CBS2's Kevin Rincon heard from tenants who say they've been living without basic necessities like heat and hot water.
Living conditions inside some NYCHA apartments are unimaginable.
"It's gross. It's nasty. July, August, September, no refrigerator, no stove. I take them my receipts, they want to credit me. I'm on social security. I can't eat credit," NYCHA tenant Chanel White said.
Tenants rallied on the steps of City Hall hoping to get help. They say they've tried their best to go through the appropriate channels, but with no luck.
"If you have to deal with this every morning, that kills your spirit. It makes people not want to do. It makes people give up," NYCHA tenant Sabura Abdur said.
We've seen leaking issues before, along with mold, cracked paint and apartments without heat, hot water or gas.
NYCHA says, "These deteriorating buildings are the direct result of decades of disinvestment by all levels of government."
"It is the case that the federal, state and city governments all have underfunded NYCHA for a very long time," state Sen. Brian Kavanaugh said.
But Kavanaugh says there's simple things that can be done with the resources available that aren't being addressed.
"Due to ... poor management and neglect, they continue to live in these conditions," New York City Councilmember Carlina Rivera said.
Rivera recently toured public housing units in her district.
"[A tenant] told me she wants one thing, and it's to feel normal, for somebody to hear her," she said.
And tenants don't want to have to pack up and leave.
"Why should I go somewhere else? I pay my rent. I pay my bills. Why are they not doing anything for me? Why am I living in a lagoon?" NYCHA tenant Maribel Soto said.
Soto's home is prone to flooding.
White has had a bath tub covered in mold. Cleaning isn't enough to stop it from forming again.
"This is messing me up. Look at my hair, all my hair gone. All my hair fell off worrying, worrying, and falling out. Too scared to take a bath in my house," White said.
NYCHA says it takes about 49 days to handle non-emergency repairs, but Rivera suggests the real wait time is closer to 300 days. Meanwhile, in the last two years, wait times to have an issue heard over the phone has nearly tripled to 41 minutes.
NYCHA is requesting $40 billion for capital repairs.
