Bronx residents angry over illegal dumping site originally designated for charter school

Neighbors are airing out their frustration over a plot of land in the Bronx that was supposed to be developed into a charter school, but has instead turned into an illegal dump filled with garbage and rats after money problems sunk the project.

It may not look like it, but residents told Eyewitness News reporter Kemberly Richardson that the vacant lot actually looks pretty good right now.

"They clean it up and as soon as they leave, they come back and live here," resident Shay Jones said.

The talk of the Melrose neighborhood is 700 Gerard Ave, but it's for all the wrong reasons.

"The smell is unbelievable, you got rats bigger than my dog," resident Louisa Lopez said.

"The raccoons, the drugs, it's not good for the children, our neighborhood, we live here, we pay rent... it's not right," Jones said.

There used to be a parking lot at this location, then in 2019, plans were put in place to build a charter school. But things fell apart when the construction firm behind the project reportedly filed for bankruptcy. Things stalled and that's when the illegal dumping started.

"The syringes, if you aren't careful, you will step on two or three of them at a time," Lopez said.

The city told Eyewitness News that even though this is private property, crews have been, and will continue, putting down bait for rats.

In June, there was a glimmer of hope. A new propriety owner, The Vaja Group, did somewhat clean things up last week.

"You can't even have company in this neighborhood. You can't invite your friends, your family here because of the way it looks," Jones said.

Residents say the only solution to all of this is to build something - anything.

Even though there is a tall fence with a lock on it, residents say it doesn't do much.

"This is very easy to knock down, they push it down and they go in and sleep," Lopez said. "I see blankets over there, I look in in the morning and there are people in there sleeping."

A spokesperson for the new propriety owner says it is monitoring the site and will keep cleaning it up.

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