UES NYCHA Tenants Sue City To Demand Repairs

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — A coalition of tenants in two Upper East Side public housing buildings are suing the New York City Housing Authority for neglecting to conduct basic repairs at the developments, according to a lawsuit filed Friday in Manhattan housing court.

Residents of the Holmes Towers and Isaacs Houses — located on bordering campuses between First and York avenues from East 92nd to 95th streets — rallied outside the Manhattan court building Friday as lawyers from TakeRoot Justice filed a lawsuit on their behalf. The lawsuit demands that NYCHA conduct full roof-to-cellar inspections of the complexes and repairs any conditions in violation of city housing and building codes.

Tenants in Holmes and Isaacs buildings said they deal with problems such as broken elevators, vermin infestation, lack of heating and hot water and broken intercom systems and overall dilapidated conditions on a daily basis.

Every night before La Keesha Taylor goes to bed she worries about her young son, who woke up with a gushing nosebleed one day because their building's heat was cranked up to an excessive level. Taylor said that some days residents in her building have to open their windows during the winter, but the next day the development will suddenly be without heat.

"I have lived in NYCHA for 46 years. I have seen plenty of problems, but worst of all I have seen the decline in the overall upkeep of my development," La Keesha Taylor, a co-founder of the Holmes-Isaacs Coalition said. "People had to sue to get into this development at one time, but the disinvestment by the government has led to this state of crisis.

Saundrea Coleman, another founder of the tenant coalition, said Friday that she hopes the Isaacs and Holmes lawsuit is a catalyst for NYCHA tenants living through the city to take a stand against the city and demand repairs.

"This lawsuit is not just for us, it is for every NYCHA stakeholder that has gone without timely repairs and is living in hazardous conditions due to the decades of neglect from the largest landlord in New York City," Coleman said.

If the conditions found in Isaacs and Holmes towers were mirrored in a private development, the landlord would be held accountable, TakeRoot Justice attorney Michael Leonard said Friday. Elected officials such as Congressmember Carolyn Maloney, City Councilmember Ben Kallos, Borough President Gale Brewer and State Assemblymember Robert Rodriguez are supporting the tenants' lawsuit.

The lawsuit isn't the first time tenants from Holmes and Isaacs developments have taken a stand against the city. Residents of both buildings fought NYCHA for years over a proposal to replace a playground on the Holmes campus with a private 50-story apartment tower. NYCHA ended up scrapping the plan in June.

The proposed infill construction would result in a public-private partnership between the city and developer Fetner Properties. Fetner would have paid the city $25 million to be used for repairs at the two Holmes Towers buildings. Tenants argued that the $25 million was insufficient for repairs at the developments, which NYCHA estimates may cost nearly $100 million.

Tenants said Friday that they will not accept infill construction or privatization programs such as PACT or RAD to fund repairs at their developments.