Bronx Tenants Demand Repairs at Violation-Riddled Building

About 170 tenants at Fordham Towers in The Bronx on Wednesday called on officials to force their landlord to make immediate repairs to frequently malfunctioning elevators, leaky ceilings and broken heat and hot water systems.

The building, owned by Fordham Fulton Realty Corp., has more than 500 open violations filed to the city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development and was ordered by a court this past March to make repairs. It has not so far complied with the order.

“We desperately need help here for 480 East 188th Street. We cannot wait for tragedy to happen for the landlord to be accountable,” nine-year resident Melanie Jackson, 62, said at a press conference.

During a tour of her apartment, Jackson showed reporters holes in her living room ceiling where water leaks in when it rains. She uses two buckets to catch the water and chunks of plaster that fall down.

Organizers and supporters in attendance at the press conference included the Northwest Bronx Community Clergy and Coalition (NWBCCC), State Sen. Gustavo Rivera, Councilmember Oswald Feliz and the Legal Aid Society, which helped the tenants file a lawsuit in housing court in November 2023.

Fordham Fulton Realty lists Karan Singh as its head officer, Sean Campbel as an officer/site manager, and Rafael Baez as an agent, according to court documents. Singh was on Public Advocate Jumaane Williams’ worst landlord list last year and is named in several lawsuits alleging negligence of buildings he owns, including 480 East 188th St.

HPD has several lawsuits against the landlords to enforce repairs, and multiple companies contracted to repair the elevators have ongoing litigation against him for nonpayment.

There are 538 active HPD violations at 480 East 188th St., records show, including 147 Class C violations, the most serious. Failure to provide heat and hot water and to repair faulty doors and plumbing are among the most common offenses.

Attorneys and management representing Fordham Fulton Realty Corp. did not respond to a request for comment.

Broken Down

Tenants say that one of two elevators in the 16-story building has been intermittently out-of-order for as long as they can remember. Meanwhile the other elevator goes up from the lobby straight to the 16th floor only. Tenants then have to take the elevator down to whichever floor they live on.

“I’ve been here for 20 years. It has always been inconsistent. Both don’t work. The other won’t stop on your floor,” Ahshaki Long, president of Fordham Towers Tenants Association told THE CITY.

The first elevator, the one that tenants say is normally out-of-order, was working when THE CITY used it Wednesday.

“All of a sudden it’s working today. It’s been down for a while,” tenant Michael Williams, 60, told THE CITY. “They fix it one day; it’s down the next day.”

Department of Buildings inspectors issued a violation to Fordham Fulton Realty Corp. for failure to maintain one of the two elevators after visiting the site on Monday, and ordered them to restore it to safe working service, according to a DOB spokesperson.

Other tenants like Soledad D’Arias, who has been living there for a year, said in Spanish that she’s been without a stove for about a year, noting that it is too old to operate properly.

She also noted the fire alarm in her apartment doesn’t work, and that it took more than a year for maintenance staff to install a new bathroom sink and fix kitchen cabinets that were falling off.

“And the saddest part of it all is that, even after insisting, they’re still charging you for repairs,” she said. “That’s not right, and there are so many violations.”

In an emailed statement, an HPD spokesperson who did want to be named said that “inspectors have been active in this building, responding to complaints as quickly as possible and issuing violations,” and noted that the department “has a comprehensive litigation case seeking an order to correct violations.”

They added: “If tenants are still experiencing inadequate housing conditions, they should call 311 to report the issue. A uniformed inspector will assess conditions and issue violations where necessary.”

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