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Family living with mold, mice in NYCHA apartment
A family living in the Queensbridge Houses in Long Island City says they have been afraid to use their kitchen for almost a year because of ongoing issues that have not been fixed, including mold, bad smells, and vermin. FOX 5 NY's Kendall Green has the story.
NEW YORK - Anfernee Edwards is a lifelong resident of the Queensbridge Houses in Long Island City, but he says he's at his breaking point, over prolonged unresolved housing issues.
"This been an ongoing issue for about a year, maybe a year and change and the problem still hasn’t been resolved," Edwards explained.
More than a year ago, the apartment Edwards and his family were living in had a leak in the kitchen coming from upstairs.
As a result, New York City Housing Authority, NYCHA had to knock down their wall which leaked into a flood of even more problems.
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Edwards told FOX 5 NY that his mother and two teenage children no longer live with him due to her health issues and persistent problems with mold in the apartment.
According to Edwards, NYCHA addressed the leak by patching the wall with plastic paper and a cardboard box, saying it would be temporary until they could get the kitchen completely fixed. But nearly a year later, the work on kitchen has stalled.
The family doesn’t cook or even store food in their own refrigerator now, because of a bad mold-like odor.
Edward’s aunt, Felicia Hayes even stepped in, submitting tickets to NYCHA to help bring the problem to light.
"I keep complaining kept complaining putting tickets in and kept doing it. nothing happened," said Hayes.
To add to their woes, rats and mice are now creeping through the patched up wall.
A rat that was captured inside a NYCHA apartment in the Queensbridge Houses.
They’ve been reaching out to supers in charge of the situation, leading to no results at all.
"It’s just completely unsafe. Unsafe for the kids actually. It’s not even fair and once again I’m speaking on behalf of my grandmother. She can’t even be here because of the living conditions," said Edwards.
They’re in the process of moving into temporary housing while NYCHA addresses their concerns.
NYCHA responded to FOX 5's request for comment saying in part: "NYCHA staff are reaching out to the resident and will visit the unit to assess the necessary repairs and address concerns."