NYCHA residents complain of dangerous living conditions in the Bronx

NEW YORK - Jacqueline Serrano knows the coronavirus pandemic is a tough time for all New Yorkers, but she doesn’t believe it should be an excuse for her family to have to live in dangerous conditions.

She lives with her 5-year-old son, Matthew, at the Pelham Parkway Houses in the Bronx.

Serrano says her problems all stem from a ceiling leak that started years ago but got more severe last year. Finally, she says this past December NYCHA crews came to repair the pipe and stop the leak, but didn’t get any help with the aftermath: peeling paint, crumbling walls and ceilings, kitchen counters and cabinets ripped out due to the mildew. Now, so many months later, she still has to keep all her groceries in her hallway.

“They said due to COVID they were not going to come to my house because it’s not considered an emergency. So, if it’s not considered an emergency they should’ve never started work and left me incomplete like this. I have no bathroom walls, no kitchen cabinets, and no kitchen counters,” said Serrano.

NYCHA workers did come back again at the end of last month to put up a concrete wall and a new tub in the bathroom, but still no wall tiles. Plastic is draped all over and Serrano says she was told no further repairs would be made in the kitchen.

In a statement, an NYCHA spokesperson told FOX 5 NY: “There were safety concerns at the apartment that have been addressed, and we are working with the resident to schedule the necessary repairs.” 

Serrano confirms that just hours after our interview with her and right after Fox 5 reached out to NYCHA, the housing authority called her to schedule a time to make those much-needed repairs.