Tenants from Bronx apartment building damaged by fire now booted from temporary hotel
NEW YORK -- They are out on the streets with no place to go. Dozens of families in the Bronx said Tuesday the American Red Cross kicked them out.
A week ago, their Fordham Heights apartment building caught fire and they say recovery efforts have now expired.
A large section of the building was left destroyed after a fast-moving fire ripped through it last Tuesday. But what is now slow, according to residents, is the repairs and willingness to help those left homeless.
"I lost everything. Eighteen years I lived in the apartment," one tenant said.
READ MORE: Fire forces Bronx apartment building residents to jump out windows
The tenant said the fire started inside her apartment at 21-62 Valentine Avenue, following an issue with her stove.
"Scared. I am having trauma. I can't sleep," she said.
Her family is just one of the 25 now displaced. Many told CBS New York they were staying at a hotel paid for by the American Red Cross, but now, after a week, they say it no longer has money in its budget to pay for it.
The American Red Cross told CBS New York, "Assistance is intended for the short term, usually 24-72 hours."
But many displaced tenants now have no place to go.
"For me, I don't care, the train or whatever, but my kids and my father-in-law, he has the cancer, they have to do something," one said.
On Tuesday, they protested inside their lobby.
"The shelter systems are overpacked in New York City," said Awilda Cordero, president of the group Emergency Rights.
Not all the tenants are being forced out onto the streets. Some of them said they are being placed inside shelters. However, according to them, the conditions are terrible.
"They sent us to a shelter that is dirty, and we don't want to be there," a tenant said.
Those left behind said the state of the building is in disarray. They have no gas.
"They gave us a little stove, but that stove don't do nothing," Juana Iris Nudo said.
A partial vacate order has been issued. The Department of Buildings says it will remain in effect until the owner repairs the damages. CBS New York called the owner and after they hung up on us several times, someone over the phone said, "They will be in tomorrow morning."
And while those who still live here know its bad, at least they have a roof over their heads.
