An East New York woman alleges her 2-year-old son ingested mice feces after
complaining of a mouse infestation last year.
Jasmine Graves says her newly renovated building isn’t as nice as it
appears to be.
She says the building is infested with mice and her two-bedroom apartment is no
longer a safe place to live. Her children are terrified of the creatures.
"They're afraid that either a mouse is
going to come out, or their toy is going to have something on it,” says Graves. “So, we stay cooped up in my one room all day or we just avoid being
in the house, so we don't have to interact with the mice."
The tenant says catching the mice has become normal.
"I catch on average three a night but if
you were to sit for five minutes, you would hear them chewing through the
walls,” says Graves. "Climbing up on top…and I know people might say,
'Oh, it's just mice.' I'm petrified."
Although last year was her first time witnessing a mouse inside the apartment,
she says since then they’ve multiplied.
"You catch three, there's four more,” says Graves.
News 12 is told when Graves contacted management, she was provided mouse traps
instead of having an exterminator coming by to fix the problem.
However, her breaking point came when she said her 2-year-old son ingested
mice droppings which resulted being hospitalized with a high fever.
"He ingested it! So when we got there, he happened to have strep throat
from it… his fever was so high. I'm afraid to have my children here, I'm afraid
to be here,” says Graves.
Graves tells News 12 she hopes legal representation won’t be necessary, but if
the problem persists, she is considering suing.
"I've made 311 complaints, management via phone, via email,” says the
Brooklyn woman. “I've reached out to the heads of management, corporate of
management, nothing has been done.”
News 12
reached out to building management company Livonia Common for comment, but has
not yet heard back.
A statement from the city's Department of Housing Preservation and
Development says, “Inspectors have not been able
to access the apartment to assess the problem. We will take action if owners
fail to uphold their responsibility to maintain safe and quality housing."