A Bronx woman who has been displaced from her apartment since December due to a four-alarm fire in her building says the city has taken nearly a year to find her a new place to live.
Barbara Bryant has been living in a Manhattan hotel while the city's Housing Preservation and Development finds a permanent solution for her.
Bryant lived in her building on Clay Avenue for 16 years and says her HPD manager has had her fill out several applications, but she has received no answers.
No one currently lives in the building that she was forced to leave. Boards surround the ground floor of the building, with access forbidden inside.
"We were displaced, not by our fault, and I think we should have been given preference for housing and not put on waiting lists," says Bryant.
HPD says they are continuing to work on the situation.
Councilman Ritchie Torres says he is drafting legislation that would require the city to establish a program to put displaced families at the top of the list for affordable housing.
HPD says multiple options are being offered as part of its normal process. The process also requires tenants who are seeking relocation services to actively seek permanent housing on their own as well.