'Horrific Conditions' At Infamous Hudson Valley Apartment Complex Lead AG To Take Emergency Legal Action

NEWBURGH, NY — The managers of a low-income housing development in Orange County are now facing legal action from the state of New York.

New York Attorney General Letitia James today sued the owners and managers of the Kenney apartment complex in Newburgh, Bourne & Kenney Redevelopment Company, accusing the group of leaving residents to endure dangerous and decrepit conditions, including a persistent lack of consistent heat and hot water.

The Kenney Apartments affordable housing development is home to more than 100 low-income families and seniors.

For years, these residents have paid excessive electric bills on top of rent for homes that are frigid in the winter, mold-ridden, and rodent-infested, with unsafe stairways, holes in the floors, and water and sewage leaking through the ceilings, according to the AG's office. Despite residents making hundreds of calls to management, the dangerous conditions have not been fixed, the state's top prosecutor contends.

James announced she is seeking court orders requiring the buildings' owners to repair and resolve all violations, as well as pay restitution for tenants and other financial penalties.

"It is outrageous that the Kenney residents have suffered in dangerous and inhumane conditions while their landlords ignored their calls for help," James said. "No one should be forced to endure a New York winter without heat or hot water. I am taking the owners of these apartments to court to get justice for the New Yorkers who have been cruelly neglected, and make sure they have a safe, clean, and warm place to live."

Building owners in New York are required to provide tenants with heat and hot water from October to May. Since 2023, residents of the Kenney apartments have lacked consistent heat and hot water, including a complete shutoff that lasted from October 2025 to January 2026, according to the suit. As a result, residents have been forced to heat their homes by boiling water, leaving their ovens on, or installing space heaters, which have caused their electricity bills to skyrocket and put their safety at risk, the AG's office said.

In addition to enduring winter storms and record-setting cold without heat, the AG's office said Kenney residents have suffered for years in unsafe and unsanitary conditions.

Residents of the Kenney apartments have reported mold and mildew that have caused illnesses and worsened a two-year-old resident's asthma. Doors to several units do not properly close, causing a safety hazard and making the apartments even harder to keep warm in winter, according to the allegations. Residents have also reported severely damaged floors with large holes in them, unstable stairs, sewage flowing out of toilets and into apartments, water leaks, peeling and moldy paint, exposed wiring, and broken appliances that have not been fixed in years.

The apartment complex has been cited for over 160 different building code violations for these conditions, according to officials.

"For years, Black and brown families in Newburgh have been forced to live in conditions that no one should ever be asked to endure – freezing apartments, mold, sewage, and complete disregard from building owners who profit off their suffering," Executive Director of Community Voices Heard Juanita O. Lewis, who has long advocated for the residents, said. "Today marks a turning point that all tenants should take note of. When residents organize and speak out, we can demand accountability. We applaud Attorney General James for taking decisive action and standing with tenants to make it clear that landlords who neglect their responsibilities will be held accountable, and that safe, dignified housing is a right."

Residents of the apartment complex have made hundreds of calls to the owners and managers of the buildings to no avail, according to state and local officials. James is seeking a court order requiring the owners of the apartment buildings to take all the necessary steps to fix the code violations within 30 days, ensure consistent heat and hot water access, and provide residents with safe and livable apartments.

Deputy Newburgh City Manager Mike Neppl said he is grateful for the legal action by the Attorney General's Office.

"The rapid deterioration of conditions at the Kenney Apartments was not mere neglect by one or two bad actors — it was a business model that externalized harm onto residents while ownership ignored its most basic responsibilities," Neppl said. "When corporate landlords choose profits over people and allow conditions to deteriorate to this level, government has an obligation to intervene and escalate. I am grateful to our City Codes Compliance Bureau, and to Attorney General James and her team for moving quickly and forcefully to expand enforcement beyond the City’s authority and make clear that this kind of conduct will not be tolerated in Newburgh."

The order sought by the state would require the Kenney's owners to repair all outstanding code violations and rehabilitate all previously condemned apartments within 30 days. The company would also be required to hire a heating systems and maintenance expert to assess the boilers and make recommendations for their repairs or replacement that would have to be followed within 30 days. The Kenney Apartments would also have to hire a licensed mold assessor and mold remediation contractor to develop and implement a plan to rid impacted apartments of mold.

In the meantime, Kenney Apartments would be forced to provide housing for any tenant whose apartment needs significant renovations to bring it up to code, and provide restitution to affected tenants.

In addition, the legal action would ensure the owners of the Kenney apartments would be barred from retaliating against any tenant who complained about unsafe conditions or obtaining any judgment against a tenant who withheld rent due to unsafe conditions. James is also seeking the appointment of an independent monitor, paid for by the Kenney's owners, to ensure compliance with the order's requirements.

"I've seen firsthand the absolutely unacceptable, dangerous conditions at the Kenney apartments — raw sewage seeping from toilets, chronic roof leakage, no heat, and mouse infestations," Congressman Pat Ryan said. "The fact that the landlords are allowing members of our community – including children and seniors – to live like this is completely outrageous. These Newburgh residents deserve better than negligent landlords who only care about profits and have utterly failed to live up to their responsibilities. I am grateful to Attorney General James for taking on this case, and will not stop fighting alongside her on behalf of our community until their needs are met and those responsible are held accountable."

Newburgh City Manager Todd Venning said that working with the Attorney General's Office will help the city's most vulnerable residents in ways, that city officials could not have accomplished alone.

"Safe, habitable housing is a legal right, and residents should never be forced to endure conditions that threaten their health or dignity," Venning said. "As those conditions worsened at the Kenney Apartments, the City used its full enforcement toolkit—inspections, violation orders, and Housing Court proceedings—to compel compliance and protect residents. When ownership and management stopped engaging and we uncovered that residents were being threatened with retaliation for reporting conditions, it became clear that municipal enforcement alone would not be sufficient. Escalation was the responsible next step, and our established working relationship with Attorney General James allowed us to move quickly to bring additional enforcement authority to bear. We are grateful for Attorney General James’s unwavering commitment to justice, accountability, and the Newburgh community."

Patch has reached out to Baum and Kenney Management Group, the current managers of the property, by phone, but they have not yet responded to inquiries.