Residents In Bronx Neighborhood Are Tired Of Property They Say Is A Health Hazard
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- An unsanitary mess in front of a Bronx man's home has neighbors concerned and fed up.
In fact, they say it's a health hazard and that the city has not been helpful, despite complaints, CBS2's Reena Roy reported exclusively on Sunday.
The Balcom Avenue home has turned into an overgrown jungle, where lurking in the leaves you'll find stray animals and clusters of mysterious items.
"I mean, you can't get worse than this. There's mosquitoes. It's disgusting," neighbor Katherin Wolf said.
Jugs and bottles of who knows what are attracting flies insects and giving off a strong stench.
"He tends to urinate in those buckets and water his tomatoes, his plants," Wolf said.
"I can't hang out in front of my house or the back of my house. I have to stay inside on a beautiful summer day," neighbor Rayme Torres added.
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People who live next door said it has been a problem for years, but a bucket of dead fish that recently appeared in the homeowner's driveway was the last straw.
"He had it outside for two days, three days rotting," Torres said. "You can smell it. You can smell it. There's a lot of raccoons around here and I know they feed off of this stuff."
Neighbors said they've been complaining to the city to get this all cleaned up, but it hasn't gotten any better.
"Nothing's being done," Wolf said. "It's a neighborhood where kids are growing up and you have to live like this?"
"We've called health department, building department, fire department, police department, DEP, whatever agency we can get," Torres added.
They said they've also begged the older man who lives in the home to be more considerate. Roy tried speaking with him, but got no answer.
It's not clear whether the homeowner is violating any laws.
Roy reached out to the Department of Health and the Department of Sanitation, but neither would give her specific details about the home. Instead, they simply claimed the issue would be investigated.
As neighbors hold their noses and cross their fingers that something will change.
