Further decline of the building

The hallway has not been cleaned in weeks.  Cobwebs are growing on the staircase and the entire building smells like excrement.  The front door look rarely works.  The management is renovating some apartments while we are living in a dump.  We should act together before living here becomes unbearable.

I heard today that if we have a group of ten tenants with similar complaints we can have a city manager assigned for the building.  That would help a lot.  Does anyone know more about it?

Below are a couple of images of the decaying basement door entrance of the building where the garbage is being stored.  It is dangerous to step on it so avoid it!

This blog is for the tenants of 114 East 1st Street

Please begin to post all your problems here. You can remain anonymous.

Below is a list of some of my issues. I need to mention here that it is a fourth management company since I moved to this building and the level of neglect has reached a new phase. I called the management office numerous times to no result. I left many detailed messages (indicating the problems) with the receptionist. When I try to talk to the person in charge, the man who introduces himself as Skip Moses picks up the phone and begins to yell at me, thus preventing me from telling him what I am calling about. I gather that it is a proven intimidation and deterrence technique. Recently, I talked to many of the tenants and they are all alarmed about the general condition of the building. Some of them already moved out. The new renters are unaware that once they sign the lease they won't be able to get any non-emergency repairs.

1. The entire electric wiring (all the sockets and outlets) of my apartment is all on an one 20 amp fuse (the fuse box has six fuse sockets).  I cannot use air conditioner and electric kettle at once because it blows the fuse.  I suspect that this is a fire hazard.

2. For over two years I've been trying to get my sink faucet repaired. It leaks hot water which is a massive energy and water waste.

3. Most of my windows have broken springs which make opening and closing them very difficult.

4. The hallway of the building is just filthy beyond words. The walls haven't been painted in years. Some of the hallway walls are rotting from ongoing leaks.

5. The garbage area is on the basement entrance stairway, which leads to the boilers, water valves and main fuses, (again a potential fire hazard) and often overflows with debris not to mention the constant rat infestation.

6. The front door to the building is rarely functional (the door jams on the deformed floor surface or the lock is falling apart).

7. After a massive leak from the upstairs apartment and a partial ceiling collapse a couple of years ago, a repair that was performed (only after several weeks of requsting it and the city inspection on record) left me with with an uneven bulging wall and ceiling. I finished the repairs myself fearing the hostility and a mess that was made during the partial, inadequate repair. Soon the leak returned and mushrooms sprouted on my ceiling. This time the ceiling didn't fall down and repaired it myself.

8. We scarcely had any heat this spring. The city's building department has a record of this.

9. Water pressure is inadequate. Taking a shower is a constant struggle with hot or cold water.  I am only on the third floor.  I know that the higher floors have much greater issues with this.

10. For a several of months now we have no superintendent in the building.  This is illegal for 30 units building!