Tenants and Community Group Save Dilapidated Bronx Complex
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Ozier Muhammad/The New York Times
Dominga Sanchez had no hot water for days at a time in her apartment.
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By WINNIE HU
Published: February 10, 2013
Minarda Pimentel had to keep her clothes in sealed plastic bags because rats gnawed on everything in her closet.
Ozier Muhammad/The New York Times
After a tenants' campaign against the landlord, the three-building complex was recently bought by a community group.
Ozier Muhammad/The New York Times
The community group has already started to make repairs.
Her neighbor Dominga Sanchez had to boil water on the stove for showers because there was no hot water — or heat for that matter — for days at a time. Ms. Sanchez’s oldest daughter moved out because the mold on the walls made her sick.
Their hardship stories are common enough in the low-rent neighborhoods of the Bronx, where dilapidated buildings are often passed from one neglectful landlord to the next. the tenants of this decrepit apartment complex on College Avenue, many of whom speak little English, finally decided that they had enough.
Behind their creaky, peeling doors, they embarked on a yearlong campaign against their landlord that attracted the attention of influential supporters and eventually led to a change in ownership.
The complex, which has 63 apartments in three 1920s buildings, was acquired last month by a group of community- minded organizations led by the Banana Kelly Community Improvement Association, a nonprofit developer of moderate-cost housing in the South Bronx, which assumed the mortgage on the complex and is committed to spending an additional $3.5 million for renovations.
Even before the closing papers were signed, change was afoot: The new owners sent a mechanic and a truck carrying 1,500 gallons of heating oil to restart the boilers.
“It feels like winning the Mega Millions,” Ms. Sanchez, 48, said in Spanish, referring to a multistate lottery. “Since the new owners came, the heat hasn’t stopped and they’re coming to fix everything.
