No Hot Water At Newark Apartments For More Than A Week: Reports

NEWARK, NJ — Residents of a Newark apartment building were recently stuck without hot water amid a frigid winter chill for more than a week, the building’s tenant association claims.

People living in building B at Pavilion Towers on Martin Luther King Boulevard had been without hot water since Feb. 11, Janise Afolo, president of the Pavilion Tenants Association board, alleged in a Saturday email.

Tenants in the affected building were forced to boil water for washing, or had to rely on their friends or family. The building has already received eight citations about the issue, which Central Ward Councilwoman LaMonica McIver said was “excessive” and “unacceptable,” NJ.com reported.

The Colonnade Residents Coalition released a video statement about the alleged issues.

Tenant complaints are not a new part of life at the Pavilion Apartments, which have seen allegations of maintenance woes that go back decades.

Those allegations have been disputed in the past.

“A lot of the issues that the tenants are complaining about are cosmetic issues … many don't have merit,” an attorney for the building's owner told Patch in 2017.

“Our client works diligently to maintain the property,” they continued. “With buildings of this size, there's always going to be small issues. There are more than 1,000 people living there. I think the tenants association – the few members that are exaggerating these issues – are taking things out of context. And I think that if you talk to the vast majority of the folks in the community, they'd say it's a great place to live.”

• See related article: Newark Tenants, Landlord Wage War Over Bulletin Boards

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