Longwood tenants: Henri caused additional damage to apartments due to leaky ceiling that remains unrepaired

Tenants in the Longwood section of the Bronx say their apartments flood with water every time it rains.

News 12 Staff

Aug 24, 2021, 2:44 AM

Updated 1,147 days ago

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Tenants in the Longwood section of the Bronx say their apartments flood with water every time it rains.
They said tropical storm Henri caused impact damage this time around and they said it's all due to a leak in the ceiling that their landlord won't fix.
"And all of a sudden I heard him screaming," Evelyn Hernandez said.
Evelyn and Jonathan Hernandez said that water was flooding out of a massive hole in the ceiling at their apartment on Lowell Street.
"All my clothes got ruined, the TV got damaged," Jonathan Hernandez said.
"It's like I got to start all over again and I don't have the means to do this," Evelyn Hernandez added.
And the Hernandezs aren't the only ones.
Just below them, Mayra Matos said her children's bedroom is ruined after water came pouring in from a leak in her ceiling.
"We have kids here. You know what I'm saying? This is not right that we're living like this," Matos said.
The tenants said this happens every time it rains.
"And it's not fair that a storm, hurricane comes and because the landlord didn't fix the roof, this happens to me," Evelyn Hernandez added.
A Housing Preservation and Development inspector actually came while a News 12 crew was filing the report and the department told News 12 more violations will be issued.
"They come, they see the complaint, they got to give time for the landlord to come and fix it," Evelyn Hernandez said. "They don't resolve nothing."
HPD told News 12 the owner said necessary repairs will be made. The landlord told News 12 the repairs will be done by the end of the week. The landlord declined to be interviewed but said that the building struggled financially during the pandemic and is in transition to new ownership, which slowed repairs.
But the tenants aren't buying it.
"We pay rent to live here, and we're not being taken care of the right way. He doesn't care about his tenants," Matos said.
The residents said that they plan to take their landlord to housing court.