Thick Bundles of Exposed Cables Disturb Residents and Parents on South Broadway

Thick bundles of cables are snaking their way up the exterior of the Washington Irving Gardens complex at 300 S. Broadway, a very visible sign of the controversial cell panels to be activated soon.

Despite months of protestations on the part of many residents of the complex, along with parents of students attending the adjacent , the Metro PCS cell panels (), are being erected now.

“It is quite a sight, and not anything that anyone expected,” said one apartment owner who wished to remain nameless. She cited one family that has already moved out because they are expecting a child and didn’t want to take a chance with the radiation risk. Other families, she said, will follow suit.

One of the owners who lives immediately beneath the panels on the sixth floor purchased an EMF reader for just over a hundred dollars to measure the radiation, logging the readings this past week prior to the panels being activated. “I imagine if he gets crazy numbers, he's going to move out,” his neighbor said.

Tenants and parents feel a combination of fury and powerlessness when signed petitions, maintaining a presence at multiple board meetings, and – most recently, sending a letter to the wireless company from a majority owner – proved fruitless. They are also surprised by the location of the cables.

In the initial plans, the lines were to run inside a shift within the building, which, for some reason, didn't pan out. Tenants then expected the lines to run on the backside of the building but they never expected the cables on the side closest to the school parking lot, where they are now.

"We have this horrid bunch of cables going from the ground all the way up to the roof top," said the tenant. "Apparently they are going to cover the cables, but I frankly am horrified at the fact that there are these enormous cables running in between bedroom windows of many of the tenants in this building."

Both the officials from the building’s management company, Sterling Management, and any officials from Metro PCS did not return phone calls by the time this article was posted.

“We'll see what kind of job they do covering the cables," the apartment owner said. "Can't imagine how they're going to do it without drastically changing the appearance of the building.”

In a letter sent out to various fellow apartment owners and Transfiguration parents, this particular owner urged further action, including a possible boycott of Metro PCS:

Any thoughts or ideas are welcome. My only hope is that the EMF waves are really not all that bad and all my fretting is in vain, but who's to know? All evidence is so inconclusive right now. And who wants to expose their children to this in the meantime?

Transfiguration parent Irene Agro responded, “I know this is extremely distressing to all of us... Being a realist, I know we cannot prevent this from happening, but does anybody have any idea on how to delay it as long as possible? We would be willing to help in any way we can.”