‘What’s been happening out here is bull crap’: Bronx
residents continue to suffer a NYCHA nightmare
BY DEAN MOSES
Residents of NYCHA’s Fort Independence
Houses say they have been
living without heat and hot water
since October, and now they have had
enough.
As reported by the Bronx Times
in January, residents of 3340 Bailey
Ave. in the Bronx have been long suffering
from the lack of heat, leaving
children and the elderly in inhumane
conditions. Now residents charge that
they are not only sick of living in frigid
temperatures, they are also rebuking
a whole host of other quality of life issues.
State of decay
From mold and leaks to broken elevators,
gaping holes, and rat infestations,
tenants who call Fort Independence
Houses home claim living in the
NYCHA building is a waking nightmare.
NYCHA workers say the situation
had been rectifi ed after installing
a temporary boiler outside. However,
longtime residents disagree, stating
that the situation is the worst it has
ever been.
“What’s been happening out here
is bull crap. I am paying this rent and
I am freezing to death,” Madea Green
said who has lived in the building
since 1989. “I sleep with my gloves and
hat and coat on. This is pathetic.”
On Feb. 8, Public Advocate Jumaane
Williams was scheduled to
meet with several, long-suffering residents.
However, prior to the elected
offi cials’ arrival, amNewYork Metro
undertook an independent investigation,
uncovering exposed ceilings
with creaked, leaking pipes, mold-covered
walls, and holes leading directly
into apartments. The shocking state of
the building left workers and longtime
residents unfazed, since they are used
to living in constant squalor. According
to 22 year resident Jorge Davila,
this is nothing out of the ordinary.
“There are a lot of problems. Only
one elevator was working, one day it is
working and another day it is not. The
heat comes on and off—it is never on
when you need it at night.”
After gaining access to both the
temporary boiler and the original
boiler room, amNewYork Metro discovered
that only one boiler in the
building is in working order while the
others have been gutted. According to
a NYCHA staff member, the heat is being
supported by the exterior furnace.
Yet residents like Green say there have
been little improvements.
“Why should we pay rent and we in
the freezing cold?” Green asked.
Fire hazard
On the second fl oor, pipes could be
observed unleashing a shower of water,
caught only by a collection of recycling
bins. Unfortunately, after the
Public Advocate arrived alongside the
Bronx Borough President Vanessa L.
Gibson, they discovered further instances
of decay.
Tiara Napira has a newborn baby
and a 14-year-old teen with special
needs and despite only residing in her
13th fl oor apartment for one year, she
says life has been a struggle.
“I advise you to come back at night
because it is freezing, and I have a
heater in here,” Napira said, admitting
to using multiple space heaters
in order to keep herself and her family
warm.
This comes after last month’s
Bronx fi re that was ignited by a faulty
space heater and claimed the lives of
17 tenants. Heat is not Napira’s only issue,
however. She also explained that
during inclement weather, rainwater
spills in through the walls.
“It just leaks out right onto the fl oor.
I bought corking stuff. I try to like
cork, wherever I feel like a breeze,” Napira
said, holding her baby.
Another resident, Matt Moran, also
complained of a leak that has been
plaguing him for over half a decade.
He says water pours into his kitchen
from an overhead pipe.
“It comes through the outlet and it
leaks all over here. It’s probably been
six years.” Moran explained, saying he
can’t keep up with the cleaning as it is
a near constant fl ow. Moran, who lives
with his elderly mother, also spoke of a
mold issue that is spreading throughout
his bathroom.
“It took them about four months to
install that shower and in that time
period we had to go to the neighbor to
shower because there was no shower,”
Moran said.
The Public Advocate’s demands
After visiting several NYCHA residents,
Public Advocate Jumaane Williams
touted a series of recommendations
NYCHA follow in order to
improve living conditions, the chief of
which include better communication
and better repair models. Williams declared that the landlord
must hold those who make substandard
repairs accountable and follow
up with residents, only ceasing the
restoration when tenants sign off. The
Public Advocate also urged the building
to create a grading system which
would ensure the most severe cases
are rectifi ed fi rst.
“NYCHA is the worst landlord in
the city – the heating and hot water outages
at Fort Independence Houses and
across the fi ve boroughs are at once
entirely unacceptable and entirely
predictable given NYCHA’s history of
mismanagement and chronic underfunding,”
Williams said after the tour.
“The recommendations we are putting
forth today to reform NYCHA’s repair
process will help allow for better communication
with and better conditions
for tenants. The city has an obligation
here and across the city to provide
safe, quality housing– an obligation
they fail to live up to far too often, and
one that I believe these proposals are
an important part of fi nally meeting.”
Above the Public Advocate’s rebuke
and shocking images, the residents of
Fort Independence Houses look to remind
the city that they are real people
suffering.
Matt Moran points to an exposed pipe.
BRONX TIMES REPORTER, F 8 FEBRUARY 18-24, 2022 BTR