Property Tales
I feel that nobody hears me. Even when I show photos of my apartment, or when the inspectors come. I show them a wall that's literally hanging between two rooms-that I can put my hand under and wave to you in the next room-and they say, 'Oh, it's an old building, and old buildings settle.' But this happened within three months of them removing a wall underneath my apartment last year. I've pleaded with my landlord, reported the situation to city authorities, been to court. But there are dangerous conditions in my apartment, and nothing has been done to correct them.
BETTY LIVES in fear that she and her pre-teenage son are going to fall through the floor of their $1100-per-month Hell's Kitchen apartment, and nobody seems willing to do anything to assure her that it won't happen. In fact, her fears have been substantiated by an independent architect who assessed the site last December and found conditions so dangerous he reported them directly to the NYC Commissioner of Buildings. Sufficient repairs have yet to be done.
Betty's ordeal of terror-and frustration-began in the spring of 2003. She was enjoying a peaceful afternoon soak, when the bathtub jolted and suddenly sank several inches-with her in it. Upon inspection, she discovered the apartment floor had given way, not only in the bathroom, but throughout her 400-square-foot living space. Not only were there noticeable gaps between the floor and most of the walls, there were big cracks around the ceilings, and several windows and the front door to her apartment no longer fit properly into their frames. Over the next months, these conditions worsened, as did the dispute with her landlord about what must be done to remedy them.
"My landlord just fills the gaps between the walls and floor with plaster, and he shaves the door to make it fit. But that's just cosmetic and doesn't really correct the problems," she says. "He's put down an extra layer of plywood on the floor to build it up, but according to the architect the extra weight from the wood just makes the situation more dangerous."
City inspectors have so far failed to properly investigate and report the situation, Betty says. "One inspector refused to enter the apartment, but instead just peered in through the front door and said, 'everything looks fine here.' And another inspector who did come in jumped up and down several times, then said the floor was solid."
Betty's been to Housing Court, where she's been sued by her landlord for non-payment of about $3000 in rent-which she withheld to cover expenses incurred while she and her son vacated the apartment to give repairmen access, and to clean up the mess they left. She counter-sued for repairs to be made properly.
Thus far, she's spent more than 20 days in court and/or giving access to inspectors and/or repairmen-causing her to miss work, lose income, even be dismissed from one job. Her case is supposed to go to trial this month.
Betty appears in court with photos substantiating her claims, affidavits from architects and an HPD records printout showing 160 outstanding violations in her building, of which 16 are Class C, the category covering health and safety-impairing issues. Falling floors are the latest in a series of serious problems plaguing Betty since she took occupancy in 1993. The rodent problem was so bad that she trapped more than 200 mice during one 10-day period. Periodically, there were hanks of rope instead of doorknobs on front doors to the building and her apartment. A recurring leak in her son's room's ceiling has caused an ongoing mold problem-which the landlord covered up with wallboard. And, worst of all, the drain pipes in the tub, toilet, bathroom and kitchen sinks frequently backed up, spewing filthy water with cooking grease, refuse and feces onto her floors.
Betty's landlord wants her to move. Why doesn't she? "I can't afford to," she says. "Besides, this is my home, and I don't want to give it up." o