Some tenants of 114 E. First St. launched an online forum documenting problems in their building between Avenue A and First Avenue back in July 2008.
Now nearly seven years and several management companies later, the situation seems even worse… and tenants revived the forum this past Friday.
The latest issue? Bed bugs. (And rats, if you want to see in this video.)
A post from Saturday sums up the situation:
Broken windows, broken doors, cracked walls, pealing paint, hallways covered by layers of decomposing linoleum covered with coagulated filth, rats, stench of decay, overworked maintenance crew, and now the bed bug infestation that the management company is trying to hide from the tenants not yet affected.
In order to rent both store fronts the landlord moved the garbage area from the front of the building to the fire egress platform leading to the basement. This produces a garbage accumulation on the fire egress often blocking the way to the basement and inviting all sort of vermin. It also produces a major strain on the maintenance people who have to haul the trash to the front of the building for collection. Often the trash gets spilled in the process and the hallway reeks with decaying refuse. Not to mention the garbage from emptied apartments dangerously stored, in contempt of fire regulations, underneath the ground level staircase.
According to one tenant, residents have not heard a word from landlord Birchwood Properties LLC, who took over the building in 2011.
However, there is work being done in the building. Workers removed the contents of a bedbug-infestated apartment … and placed the remains in the ground-floor hallway for several weeks, as a forum post shows …
… only to move the debris to another vacant apartment …
Per a resident, "No surprise that the bugs spread."
All photos via 114 East 1st Street Tenants Forum
