BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — Judge Patrick Carney of City Housing Court ruled Friday that the owner of Elmwood Heights Apartments has until the end of May to fix several serious safety violations.
An attorney representing the owner says there has been a new installation of smoke and gas detectors.
But some tenants of the building say that’s not enough since they have a hole in their ceiling that hasn’t been fixed in years.
"So now there's mice droppings and stuff like that lands on the cover that I have covered up and sometimes end up on the floor,” the tenant says.
The building’s fire escape and so many other structural things have yet to be fixed, but the Elmwood Heights Attorney Richard Berger is saying otherwise.
“We’re going to be meeting with architects and engineers and having these problems taken care of by the end of May,” he says. “So we hope to have it at least substantially taken care of by that time.”
Berger wants to reassure tenants the owner is doing the best he can to fix the problems.
“No one’s being thrown out, but we will need access to their apartments to make the repairs that are necessary,” Berger says. “And I’m sure the tenants will be cooperative. It’s in their interest as well as my client’s interest.”
But tenants like the one living at 597 Elmwood tell 7 News she hopes to move very soon to an apartment building close by.
“I never lived like this. It’s stressful,” she says. “It’s like pretty much you do what you want here.”
Judge Patrick Carney ordered Elmwood Heights LLC to be back in court by June 1st.
