Residents in Morris Heights living in ‘uninhabitable’ conditions demand fair housing
On Monday, a handful of tenants stood outside their homes with signs pleading for more hospitable conditions inside their units.
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Residents living on University Avenue in Morris Heights are demanding livable housing after years of worsening conditions within their building.
On Monday, a handful of tenants stood outside their homes with signs pleading for more hospitable conditions inside their units.
Resident Ogechi Amadi moved to this building three years ago as part of the $122 million deal the city paid to turn Bronx cluster sites into housing for homeless families.
However, Amadi says nobody should be living the way residents like herself are – with rats in the house, mold in the bathroom and floors that are on the verge of sinking in.
In her fourth floor apartment, she can feel the shift in the flooring due to unleveled floors – and in another apartment two doors down, there’s a gaping hole in the bathroom ceiling.
"I can’t even sit in the bathtub and take a bath. I myself have never bathed in my bathtub because we have lead paint in our bathtub,” Amadi added.
Due to that very paint, one resident says her son tested positive for lead poisoning.
On top of their living conditions, residents were notified verbally by the MBD Community Housing Corporation that they needed to pack their belongings due to relocations on the horizon.
Months later, Amadi says she’s still living out of boxes.
MBD says they will continue addressing tenant complaints, conducting inspections and issuing violations.
The building’s management office told News 12 that it would have a statement by Monday afternoon but has yet to respond.
