The Sky Is Falling...

On April 11th, maintenance staff at Kenmore Hall started removing the ceiling tiles throughout the lobby. A memo had been posted the evening before informing tenants that part of the lobby would be off-limits during the morning hours on the 11th, 12th and 13th. By Friday the 13th, most of the tiles were gone from the ceiling throughout the lobby, and what's visible in the dropped ceiling area is a nasty, dusty collection of wires and pipes. This mess was left exposed over the weekend.

A similar memo went up referring to a closure for the lobby on Monday, April 16. 

A tenant allegedly saw maintenance workers shaking an assortment of dust and dark dirt loose from the exposed areas - and then the area being swept but not mopped - around 8:15 Monday morning. And we haven't seen any memos about WHY the ceiling tiles have been removed, what kind of work is being done, and when the tiles will be replaced...

But I wonder if the Department of Buildings is aware of the situation. Kenmore Hall still has two active Stop Work Orders in place: one is for electrical work, the other is for plumbing work, and I'm just curious because, you know, there are all those wires hanging out - and what appear to be plumbing pipes...

In late July, 2017, the rear of the Kenmore Hall lobby was modified so that tenants couldn’t use it - a “temporary” shed was erected, allegedly to accommodate tools and equipment needed for modifications to the elevators. According to a memo that was posted on bulletin boards throughout the building at the time, the shed was only going to be up for a week.

As of April 18, 2018, the shed is still blocking off the rear of the lobby, and work on only ONE of the elevators has been completed.

Work is currently underway on a second elevator. Elevator #1 (the one that work has been completed on) is not accessible to tenants; only staff is allowed to use it. This means that - in a building with over 320 units and tenants - only two elevators are available for tenant use. On many days, during business hours, tenants have to make due with just ONE elevator. At other times, the two working elevators often “hang” on one floor or another midway up the building while some inconsiderate tenants hold the doors while they chat with neighbors, or worse yet, put objects like bicycles or bags in the doorway of the elevator to hold the elevator while they purchase loosie cigarettes or drugs from their neighbors.

Obviously, this creates an intolerable situation for other tenants who need access to the elevators. It’s impossible to anticipate how long tenants will have to wait to be able to get to the lobby or the floors they live on. It’s frustrating to be delayed getting to appointments because of this. It becomes a very serious issue if a tenant has called an ambulance due to serious illness and the EMS workers cannot get to them in a timely manner. In addition, the building has many disabled tenants who use wheelchairs; they clearly do not have the option of using the stairs, but when only one elevator is working, this often translates into additional delays for many while the wheelchair user gets to their destination and frees up the elevator (only one or two slim people can get on while the elevator is occupied by a wheelchair user). This is not meant to be a criticism of anyone using a wheelchair, by the way: the elevators are very small.

H.S.I. staff and management hasn’t seen fit to let tenants know how long the situation with the elevators is going to continue. And tenants are expected to continue putting up with paying full rent even though building services have been reduced for an indefinite period of time. Anyone else see a problem here?

Fwd: Kenmore Confidential

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Kenmore Confidential <kenmoreconfidential@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, Apr 17, 2018 at 4:16 PM
Subject: Kenmore Confidential
To: emilyholiday@gmail.com

https://youtu.be/nBxOvsG4U34

Check out Kenny Clown

Fwd: You fought — and you won.

This is a very important issue for tenants across the city (especially since HSI likes to threaten tenants who don't cooperate with trivial bullshit - the "go to" threat is eviction). I'll post any similar announcements for Manhattan events.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: IMPACCT Brooklyn <info@impacctbk.org>
Date: Friday, April 13, 2018
Subject: You fought — and you won.
To: emilyholiday@gmail.com

Learn more about your Right to Counsel!

You fought for the right to a free attorney in Housing Court... and you won. Learn more about your new Right to Counsel at a special town hall event! Wednesday, April 18 @ 7 p.m. St. Francis de Sales School for the Deaf 260 Eastern Parkway, Brooklyn NY 11225 Food, Childcare, and Translation Provided New York City's new program offering legal free representation for New Yorkers facing eviction is being rolled out by ZIP Codes starting with 11221, 11216, and 11225. RSVP below to find out more! Right To Counsel Town Hall LOCATION 260 Eastern Parkway, Brooklyn NY 11225 DATE AND TIME 04/18/18 7:00pm - 04/18/18 8:00pm I'll be there! Maybe I can't make it In partnership with... Help #KeepHousingFair! Send a message that our communities rely on economic, racial, & cultural diversity to thrive! In honor of the 50th anniversary of the Fair Housing Act, sign our #KeepHousingFair petition demanding our leaders commit to fully fund programs that prevent housing discrimination and strengthen all members of our communities. Your support helps IMPACCT Brooklyn continue its work in the community. Donate ‌ ‌ ‌

IMPACCT Brooklyn | 1000 Dean Street, Suite 420, Brooklyn, NY 11238 Unsubscribe emilyholiday@gmail.com Update Profile | About our service provider Sent by info@impacctbk.org in collaboration with Try it free today

Having trouble breathing?

Here's a short (less than 5 minute) episode of Kenmore Confidential about air quality inside the building.

It's just a draft... the issue may be revisited later in more depth and with better production quality.

Here's the link: Kenmore Hall's Toxic Air Quality

Kenmore Confidential is launching a series of podcasts and videos this month on YouTube. Here's where to see more:

Kenmore Confidential (click on this link)

Got a story about life in Kenmore Hall that you'd like to share with the public? Got a beef with H.S.I.? Can you document / show proof that what you're talking about is true? Kenmore Confidential is recruiting tenants to participate - and help change the lousy conditions in the building.

Contact them by email at kenmoreconfidential@gmail.com.

MOLD

Tenants have been expressing concern about mold in the building again lately. I've posted plenty of information about mold over the years (all you have to do is scroll down through the blog to find it) - but here's a handy shortcut: here's a list of the molds you need to be worried about. 'Just so you know, mold is everywhere in our environment, and many of them are harmless - or even beneficial (we wouldn't have wine, yogurt, cheese or even penicillin if it weren't for mold, ok?) The molds listed below can cause a wide range of symptoms that can become BIG problems if left untreated, though:

• Stachybotrys
• Penicillium (not penicillin)
• Aspergillus
• Alternaria
• Cladosporium
• Helminthosporium
• Epicoccum
• Mucor

Get tested by an allergist for this group of molds. It's a start toward seeing how sensitive you are to them. Some people have said that they want to see a toxicologist about this, and that may be the way to go, but my hunch is that it's going to be very difficult to get an appointment with a toxicologist right off the bat, especially if you're working with Medicaid or Medicare - but if you see an allergist first, and get an allergy panel done, that's a step toward getting a REFERRAL. 

You can go online and find recommendations of local allergists using ZocDoc or a similar website, or ask your insurance carrier about who's in your networik. Here's on allergist who's pretty good:

Dr. Mary Lee Wong

Beth Israel Medical Center, Allergy and Immunology Department, Office 3F, 

10 Union Square East New York, NY 10003

212-420-4013     212-844-8108  

Of course, getting treated for mold poisoning is going to be fairly futile unless you're also able to get the mold cleaned out of your immediate environment, because of the issue of being constantly exposed to the mold. Look into getting your "apartment" tested for mold as a first step. Getting it cleaned out is going to be challenging because H.S.I. doesn't take this issue seriously. However, that may have to change dramatically in the near future because of this;

The New York City Council recently voted to pass the Asthma-Free Housing Act (Intro385C), a bill that allows renters to live safely in homes free of mold, pests, and indoor health hazards. Councilwoman Rosie Mendez (D-2) worked for ten years alongside advocates, including New York Lawyers for the Public Interest as part of the Coalition for Asthma Free Housing, to pass the bill that mandates landlords clean up dangerous asthma triggers inside city apartments. 

   

The Asthma-Free Housing Act (Intro 385C) requires New York City landlords to annually inspect and correct indoor allergen hazards, including mold, pests, and underlying symptoms that may cause hazardous conditions, such as water leaks and pest entryways (holes and cracks), in the homes of residents diagnosed with asthma, COPD, or lung cancer.  

Kenmore Hall Tops List of Department of Buildings Complaints Last Year

https://therealdeal.com/2015/07/15/former-kemore-hotel-leads-city-in-dob-complaints/

The Real Deal is a very pro-landlord publication... this could be considered a fairly radical thing for them to publish. Just wanted to share what the real-world media picks up on about this place.

Former Kemore Hotel leads city in DOB complaints

Allegations at infamous building include poor ventilation, water leakage

July 15, 2015 05:35PM 
The former Kenmore Hotel – the single-room occupancy building infamous for a 1994 seizure by the U.S. Marshals Service – continues to be troubled after the Department of Buildings recorded a city-high 220 complaints at the property for the year ending last month.

Complaints at the 22-story building, located at 145 East 23rd Streetbetween Third and Lexington avenues, include allegations of poor ventilation and water leakage. The property, now known as Kenmore Hall, provides affordable housing.

The 326-unit property’s 220 complaints – up from 78 the previous year – outpaced 168 complaints at 535 West 162nd Street in Washington Heights and 94 complaints at 2700 Third Avenue in the Bronx, according to the New York Observer.
The building is infamous for falling into dilapidation and becoming a hotbed of drug trafficking and prostitution before the U.S. Marshals seized it in a 1994 raid. The nonprofit Housing and Services Inc. reopened Kenmore in 1999 after a $34 million gut renovation, converting the property into affordable studio apartments. [NYO] – Rey Mashayekhi

Tags: department of buildings, tenant complaints
Short URL

TOXIC SOLUTION

On the afternoon of Wednesday, March 14, H.S.I.’s maintenance staff plugged multiple Glade air fresheners into the hallway outlets on many floors of Kenmore Hall. By late afternoon, the perfume was overpowering, and all over the building.

Staff and management didn’t explain why they did this, and tenants were not consulted or informed about it ahead of time.

Many floors of the building have a foul smell - smoke, urine, cooking odors (and worse) create a stew of odors that is constant and disgusting, so some tenants may find the perfume covering the stink to be an appealing alternative. However, for other tenants who have serious, chronic and potentially life-threatening lung diseases like asthma, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, and lung cancer, the air fresheners are a BIG PROBLEM. Covering bad smells with strong perfume is not the same thing as actually cleaning the air; it’s much worse - it’s adding a layer of potentially hazardous chemicals to the mix.

Many of the chemicals found in products like Glade Plug-Ins and Febreze are linked to cancer, developmental and reproductive toxicity, and organ system toxicity. Many of these chemicals are also potential allergens, immunotoxins, and neurotoxins which can cause irritation to peoples’ skin, eyes and lungs.

Of course, if you go to the S C Johnson (maker of Glade Plug-Ins) website, they make it sound like their products are totally safe, and present rave reviews of the new scented products they sell - but here’s a reality check: they have a whole section covering chemical ingredients that can potentially cause allergic reactions. Even though they minimize the potential for problems, it’s safe to say that enough people HAVE had problems with their products that the company’s legal department realized the need to essentially post a warning in a publicly accessible place.  Try typing the following phrase into Google: can scented products make you sick.

Some people may say that the solution to the air freshener problem would be for tenants having a problem with the perfume to keep their doors closed. That’s not practical, though: these perfumes seep around the doors of individual units the same way smoke and other odors do. Even if we keep our doors closed, we all still have to walk through the hallways to get to the elevators, stairs, trash chute area, and - on the floors that have them - the laundry rooms.

H.S.I. needs to find better ways to address this issue. We need better air circulation throughout the building. We need NOT to have additional chemicals added to the mix (isn’t the smoke from illegal drugs like crack bad enough?) And instead of pulling a sneak-attack, having maintenance plug all these units in without consulting tenants, why not do some research on a better solution, and then communicate with tenants so that there’s full disclosure and an opportunity for informed consent? It’s just another example of how H.S.I. tries to “resolve” issues within the building in autocratic, patronizing and inappropriate ways.

Work allegedly started on the building's elevators last summer, and so far (it's March) only one has apparently been finished - but it's not accessible to tenants because staff is using it, mainly for maintenance purposes. Work is being done on a second elevator now - but who knows how long THAT will take (could it be that 6 months is average?) which leaves us with just two elevators for all the tenants to use, and the back area of the lobby still blocked off because that's where the elevator workmen have their stuff stashed, some of it inside of a makeshift wooden shed.

One tenant was stuck in the elevator for over 20 minutes a few days ago. He uses a wheelchair. The fire department had to be called to get him out, and they pried the door open with some huge pry-bars. Over the past few weeks, we've had several incidents where only one elevator was working all day, and people were significantly delayed getting in and out of the building because of it - and fights were breaking out on some floors as tenants lost their patience. We all know how well the elevators in the building (don't) work during the summer - they get stuck more frequently as the weather warms up. 

Couldn't the elevator work have been made a priority over the construction work we all had to endure? Seems like the ability to get in and out of the building easily is a MUCH bigger deal.

HSI ROUTINELY VIOLATES HIPAA REGULATIONS

March 6, 2018

So, I was coming home from the Morton Williams on 2nd Avenue at about 9:40 p.m., and from a block away I could see two ambulances and a police car pulled up in front of the building. When I came into the lobby, a tenant was on a stretcher near the fire alarm panels and elevator bays with a LOT of EMT workers helping him. 

Another tenant who had come into the building just before me and I waited by the entrance to the mail room to give them room enough to work with the tenant. It seemed impractical and potentially disrespectful to try to get to the elevators while they were in the hall. After a few minutes, one of the front desk workers came out to ask the EMTs what hospital they were taking the tenant to; this is a standard question they ask every time tenants are picked up by ambulance. They've been instructed to do this by the social work staff. One of the EMTs told him that they couldn't give him that information because it was a HIPAA violation, but if the tenant wanted to share it, that was up to him. 

The tenant didn't answer right away because he had a nebulizer or oxygen mask on his face. It's pretty much impossible to speak without moving the mask away from your face, which is not what you want to do while you're receiving a treatment to address difficulty breathing.The front desk worker explained that they've been told to collect that information so that the social workers can help provide continuity of care to the tenants.

Interesting. I've spoken to management and a social worker here about what they plan to do to comply with either adhering to the Department of Health's Smoke Free Housing recommendations or Intro 385, a law that the City Council recently passed to promote Asthma Free Housing by making sure that landlords take responsibility for cleaning up mice, roaches and mold in their buildings because these are the top 3 triggers for asthma. The social worker told me there weren't any specific plans at all. Management told me that it would be very difficult to make the building go smoke free and might pose legal issues. This sounds like they don't plan to do ANYTHING about something that would improve quality of life and health conditions for tenants in the building.

Meanwhile, as long as some tenants are allowed to smoke crack and marijuana in the building, the rest of us (many of whom DON'T smoke crack and marijuana) are forced to breathe nasty second hand smoke from illegal drugs - along with cigarette smoke. Second hand smoke causes health problems too.

The reason the front desk always asks where ambulances are taking tenants is because it helps the social workers provide "continuity of care" to the tenants. That's the "party line" that's been fed to the front desk. What is it that the social workers actually DO to help tenants with health issues? They aren't medical professionals. They collect a lot of personal information about tenants and report it to other agencies, but does very little for the tenants. It just ensures that they get a paycheck. Here's the link to HSI's privacy policy, which nobody seems to have seen, EVER: H.S.I.'s privacy policy

If you want to see background information on Kenmore Hall, including permits, violations, etc., check this link at the Department of Buildings:

http://a810-bisweb.nyc.gov/bisweb/PropertyProfileOverviewServlet?boro=1&houseno=145&street=East+23rd+Street&go2=+GO+&requestid=0

Just click on the link.

Knowledge is power.

As per a recent memo on the bulletin boards on each floor by the elevators, the water is going to be turned off in the building from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Tuesday February 27. They're working on "valves".

Great. How much of a rent reduction can we get for reduced necessary services? This is beyond ridiculous. We recently had only one elevator working for most of the day, and people were getting into major arguments as they waited for elevators for 15 or more minutes.

How long are tenants in the building going to put up with regular interruptions of services by management without getting some action from the city agencies that can impose fines and violations? H.S.I. only seems to respond to things that cost them a lot of money.

According to one HSI social worker, the reason the Stop Work Orders were issued by the Department of Buildings is because the existing permits for plumbing and electrical work had expired, and that this was the contractor's bailiwick. 

Credible? You decide.

Here's a post I'd like to get some tenant responses to. Please post comments regarding this. You can do it anonymously, if you like.

Do you think that Francesca Rossi should be able to "punish" tenants for talking about her sordid affair with Juan Thompson? Do you find her credible in any way after everything that's been published about the whole thing in the  mainstream press?

When she "bans" tenants, who's really going to enforce the ban? 

Our "security" officers aren't actually security. They'd need licenses from Albany to qualify for that. They're not allowed to put their hands on us.

Staff can threaten to call the police, but if tenants aren't actually doing something violent, how seriously do you think the police are going to take this (and do you think this is a productive way to use police resources when there are actual crimes that require their attention)?

There's no written policy posted anywhere about what the grounds for banning tenants should be. 

Speak up.

WOULD YOU LIKE TO BREATHE EASIER AT HOME IN KENMORE HALL?

The Asthma-Free Housing Act (Intro 385C) requires New York City landlords to annually inspect and correct indoor allergen hazards, including mold, pests, and underlying symptoms that may cause hazardous conditions, such as water leaks and pest entryways (holes and cracks), in the homes of residents diagnosed with asthma, COPD, or lung cancer.

The Asthma-Free Housing Act’s main sponsor is Council Member Rosie Mendez, and it is also supported by The Coalition for Asthma-Free Housing, comprised of over 30 organizations citywide, including community-based organizations, legal advocates, medical associations, and labor unions.

Working on making THIS work here would have been a much more intelligent way to spend several million dollars - INSTEAD of replacing cabinets and stove tops and toilets. THIS would have a real impact on the quality of life for tenants.

Many of Kenmore Hall’s tenants have serious lung issues; the building is infested with mice, roaches, and mold. Cleaning up the building would help prevent many tenant trips to the Emergency Room and stays in the hospital. Let’s all talk to caseworkers and management about how they plan to cooperate with this new law that should improve the quality of life of tenants. H.S.I. says they provide supportive housing; let’s see how seriously they actually take supporting the health and quality of life of tenants. H.S.I.’s headquarters are located at 243 West 30th Street, Second Floor, New York, NY 10001. The phone number is 212-252-9377; the fax number is 212-252-9322. The general email is info@hsi-ny.org. Call and ask to speak to Molly Mattimore. Her email is mmattimore@hsi-ny.org.

If you don’t get an appropriate response from your caseworker, you can contact the following politicians about this issue.

CITY COUNCIL DISTRICT 2
Council Member Rosie Mendez (D)
237 First Ave. Ste. 504
New York, NY 10003
 phone: 212-677-1077 fax: 212-677-1990
 email: rmendez@council.nyc.gov
 website: http://council.nyc.gov/district-2/
 twitter: RosieMendez facebook: rosie.mendez

 WE ACT for Environmental Justice (part of The Coalition for Asthma-Free Housing)   Brooke Havlik, 212-961-1000 ext. 320, communications@weact.org

Have you noticed the two partial stop work orders glued to the window at the front of the building? One is for electrical work, and the other is for plumbing. They’re right next to all the permits for the construction work being done in the building.

According to the Department of Buildings (they’re the ones who issue construction permits, AND stop work orders):

“The Department issues a Stop Work Order when Inspectors find hazardous or unsafe work and/or conditions. Stop Work Orders are issued to protect workers, tenants, the public as well as buildings and properties from unsafe conditions.   
Full Stop Work Order Stops all work on a construction site or building, excluding any necessary remedial work to make the site safe. 
Partial Stop Work Order  Stops a certain type of work or work on a particular section of the construction site or building. A partial Stop Work Order does not stop all work on the site and certain work is still allowed to continue 
To lift a Stop Worker Order: 
1. Correct all the violating conditions that resulted in the issuance of the Stop Work Order 
2. Request a re-inspection from the unit that issued the Stop Work Order to verify that all the violating conditions have been corrected.   
3. Pay any applicable civil penalties 
Violating a Stop Work Order If the Department finds work being done against a Stop Work Order, additional violations may be issued: 
First Violation of a Stop Work Order:    $5,000 Any subsequent violation of a Stop Work Order: additional $10,000 
The penalties for these violations must be paid before the Stop Work Order can be lifted.”

There’s more detail on the partial stop work orders, available from the Department of Buildings:

“NYC Department of Buildings
Overview for Complaint #:1471699 = RESOLVED
Complaint at:  145 EAST 23 STREET BIN: 1018044   Borough: MANHATTAN   ZIP: 10010
Re:  PLUMBING WORK WITHOUT A PERMIT

Category Code: 5G      UNLICENSED/ILLEGAL/IMPROPER WORK IN PROGRESS
UNLICENSED/ILLEGAL/IMPROPER WORK IN PROGRESS : PLUMBING


Assigned To: BUILDING MARSHAL'S OFFICE Priority: B     Received:   02/06/2018   11:56 Block:  879 Lot:  27 Community Board:  106
Owner:   KENMORE ASSOCIATES LP

Last Inspection:  02/06/2018 - - BY BADGE # 2694
Disposition:  02/06/2018 - L1 - PARTIAL STOP WORK ORDER
DOB Violation #:  020618PLOBMCJ02
ECB Violation #:  35255131M
Comments:  PARTIAL SWO & OATH SUMMONS ISSUED FOR PLUMBING WORK WITHOUT A PERMIT ON 2ND FLOOR APARTMENTS.”

Here’s background on the electrical SWO:

Overview for Complaint #:1471700 = RESOLVED
Complaint at:  145 EAST 23 STREET BIN: 1018044   Borough: MANHATTAN   ZIP: 10010
Re:  ELECTRICAL WORK WITHOUT A PERMIT

Category Code: 5G      UNLICENSED/ILLEGAL/IMPROPER WORK IN PROGRESS
UNLICENSED/ILLEGAL/IMPROPER WORK IN PROGRESS : ELECTRICAL


Assigned To: BUILDING MARSHAL'S OFFICE Priority:  B   
Received:   02/06/2018   11:57 Block:  879 Lot:  27 Community Board:  106
Owner:   KENMORE ASSOCIATES LP

Last Inspection:  02/06/2018 - - BY BADGE # 2694
Disposition:  02/06/2018 - L1 - PARTIAL STOP WORK ORDER
DOB Violation #:  020618ELOBMCJ01
ECB Violation #:  35255130K
Comments:  PARTIAL SWO & OATH SUMMONS ISSUED FOR ELECTRICAL WORK WITHOUT A PERMIT ON SECONDFLOOR APARTMENTS.

It’s scary to think that all the electrical and plumbing work done on all the floors above the second floor (3 through 23) may have been done without legal permits. Does this put us at higher risk for fires and floods? I wonder what H.S.I.’s insurance company would think of this if they knew.

Keep in mind that all of this work being done on the building is a Major Capital Improvement; while it may look like a pretty improvement, and management tells us that the new infusion stovetops are safer than hotplates, the new stovetops are hardwired into the walls and cannot be unplugged. This could be dangerous if there are malfunctions. The new cabinets, stovetops and toilets are more cosmetic than practical - they’re not essential things that actually improve life. H.S.I. was loaned the money for the construction by HPD, the same organization that pays many tenants’ Section 8 rent subsidy. Because this work is a major capital improvement, H.S.I. can raise tenants’ rents this year - in spite of the Rent Guidelines Board’s ruling that tenants in SROs and residential hotels would receive NO rent increases this year. H.S.I. hasn’t had to spend a cent to get the work done, and because of the rent increase, H.S.I. will profit forever from having the work done - and the tenants who pay their share of their rent out of their own pockets will be paying for the work forever. There’s another issue with the stovetops; they’re under warranty, and the only people permitted to fix them if they break are the construction workers, or the warranty will be voided. What happens when the construction workers are gone, and repairs may become necessary?

Some tenants would love to know why it’s taken so long to get the Department of Buildings to show up and do something. Work started months ago on the 23rd floor; none of it has been “tented” to contain the huge amounts of dust that have spread throughout the building. While some may say “big deal, construction creates lots of dust and you can’t do anything about it”, it actually IS a legitimate big deal for anyone who has a respiratory problem, especially if it’s chronic, like asthma, COPD, or severe allergies.

We also have NO idea whether the cuts made to the walls in the hallways to install the metal cabinets over the trash areas, and the new somewhat larger grilles for the ventilation system, and the alarm system are disrupting decades-old layers of lead-based paint, and possibly asbestos. Airborne lead dust can lead to poisoning in adults.

Has anyone else noticed that while the construction workers are all working without masks, our own maintenance staff has finally gotten the point about potential airborne hazards and many now wear masks on the job. Let’s hope it helps, but since most of the building is currently an active construction site, why aren’t tenants given masks also? We walk through the same hallways, and breathe same air. When the construction work started, the paperwork claimed that everything they were doing was safe for tenants and that it didn’t require people being moved off site. What they failed to take into consideration are all the tenants with chronic lung issues like asthma and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease; this population is much more sensitive to dust and airborne chemicals. They’re not about to compensate us for time lost - and possible expenses - associated with visits to the Emergency Room and being admitted to the hospital.

This afternoon, another tenant and I were chatting in the community room. We saw a construction worker sweep dust from the courtyard where they are working on the building's brickwork into the community room. Totally outrageous. The building is already contaminated enough without THAT. We told him to clean it up, and he did. But how much of this going on around the building?

Here's the picture I took right after the dirt was swept into the room. I know, it doesn't look like much of anything - except that there's more of this all over the building; I have COPD, and shouldn't have to breathe this or be exposed to it. Neither should othinkther tenants with other respiratory issues. Do you think HSI cares? LOL...

Lots of information here!

Check out the archives going back to 2013. There's a panel in the right-hand column where you can find the archives. Click on a year to see the posts arranged by month.

Cubicle rooms...

There's something worse than living in a Kenmore room... (click on this)

But only in the Third World.

Amazing.

HOW LONG DOES IT REALLY NEED TO TAKE TO REPLACE A BOILER?

This truck has been parked in front of the building for at least a month. Some tenants have been reporting problems with hot water, especially later in the evening and at night. Didn't we have a boiler replaced a year ago? And who knows how the water quality in the building is being affected by this. Management hasn't seen fit to give us any indication of a timeline on this.