UES NYCHA Tenants Say Fixes Haven't Arrived, 1 Year Into Lawsuit

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — More than a year after they sued the city to demand repairs, tenants in two Upper East Side public housing buildings say their living conditions have barely improved.

"It doesn’t seem like it’s going anywhere," said Saundrea Coleman, a tenant organizer and plaintiff in the lawsuit, which was filed in December 2019 by residents of the Holmes Towers and Isaacs Houses.

Residents alleged that their buildings — on bordering campuses between First and York Avenues from East 92nd to 95th streets — were plagued by broken elevators, vermin infestations, faulty heating systems and dangerously hot water, among other concerns.

Nearly 15 months later, tenants say the judge handling their suit has ordered the New York City Housing Authority to conduct more frequent inspections — but that those inspections fail to resolve the root issues causing the disrepair.

"It’s inspection after inspection," Coleman said. "But nothing’s done."

The buildings' grounds are still infested with rodents, elevators are frequently out of service and tap water remains scaldingly hot, Coleman said.

La Keesha Taylor, a tenant who co-founded the Holmes-Isaacs Coalition with Coleman, said the heat in her apartment is cranked up so high that it gives her rashes and exacerbates her son's asthma.

"We are still in the same exact stagnant position that we were when we started this," Taylor said. The only improvement she could point to was a faster response to her recent call for an exterminator after her son discovered roaches in a nearby hallway.

Each month since the suit was filed, tenants have appeared in housing court along with their attorneys from the firm TakeRoot Justice. But with court-ordered inspections resulting in few improvements, tenants are pivoting to a new approach: arguing that the judge, Michelle D. Schreiber, should hold NYCHA in contempt.

"We’re hoping that holding them in contempt will make them actually do bolder things and actually fix things the right way," Taylor said.

A NYCHA spokesperson said the authority would not comment on pending litigation.

Here we go AGAIN! NOT one good night of sleep! The stress of excessive heat is going to be the death of me & my children! Too hot/cold the radiator popping/ticking at 2 & 3am @NYCHA @BenKallos @galeabrewer @NotOneMoreBlock @ka_hackett @sunrisemvmtnyc @AlickaASamuel41 @dashofdairy pic.twitter.com/ZXIyPz2Yof
— Coco (@MamaKeesha) February 27, 2021

The tenant coalition has also come out against NYCHA's "Blueprint for Change" and RAD programs — two money-raising proposals that NYCHA leaders say would help the beleaguered system pay for repairs, but which tenants fear could diminish federal oversight and lead to privatization.

Before their lawsuit, the Holmes-Isaacs Coalition helped defeat a proposal by the city to replace a playground on the Holmes campus with a private 50-story apartment tower.

The "infill" plan, which NYCHA scrapped in June 2019, would have raised money for repairs by selling city-owned land to a developer, but tenants opposed the tower's size and said the money raised would not be enough to cover needed repairs.

Brendan Krisel contributed to this report.

Previous coverage:

• UES NYCHA Tenants Sue City To Demand Repairs
• UES NYCHA Tenants Suing For Repairs Continue Fight In Court
• City Scraps Plan For 50-Story Private Tower At UES NYCHA Complex