‘We want our homes back.’ Tenants say they’ve been left in the dark after losing homes to fire
Tenants of 1427 Watson Ave. say they’ve been locked out of their homes after the fire and haven’t been able to enter them since.
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Tenants of 1427 Watson Ave. say they’ve been left in the dark after a fire took their homes from them on Aug. 8.
MORE: Officials: 15 families displaced, 2 firefighters injured in devastating Soundview apartment fire
They said Wednesday at a rally that they’ve been locked out of their homes since the fire and unable to enter them. One resident who only speaks Spanish says she thought she signed a paper that was for a temporary housing placement but later learned it was for a permanent moving order.
“We called NYCHA to listen to us, because this injustice to my tenants is not fair,” said tenant association president Rev. Carmen Hernandez, who says she organized the meeting to take the New York City Housing Authority head-on. “We’re not going to take a hotel room and gift card to just shut up… we want our homes back.”
A representative from the NYCHA assured residents that they are working around the ongoing vacate orders to get residents back in their homes “very soon”.
NYCHA told News 12 that residents from the first five floors of the building are not being told to move, and that they are working with residents who have requested transfers out of their homes.
