The following is an extended version of the story that appears in our latest print edition.

Longtime Bedford Park resident, Joy LaFontaine, told Norwood News she is fed up complaining to both 311 and her landlord about various, ongoing maintenance problems she is encountering in her Decatur Avenue building, including a lack of heat, dampness, flooding, disruptive neighbors, and alleged rat sightings, saying she has seen little in the form of results for her efforts.

 

Based on 311 public data, LaFontaine’s complaints are emblematic of those logged by thousands of other New Yorkers, particularly tenants on the federal housing choice voucher program [Section 8 housing], who often bear the brunt of the City’s ongoing housing crisis, where access to quality housing is an ongoing battle, and recurring, needed repairs are the norm. Yet, the latest catastrophe has brought LaFontaine, who serves on both Bedford Mosholu Community Association and the 52nd Precinct Community Council, to the end of her tether.

In December, black-colored water started to emerge from the plughole in her sink, flooding her kitchen and causing damage to her utensils. Her building, located at 2960 Decatur Avenue is managed by JK Management/Decca Briggs LLC, and though she said the team has attempted to address some of the issues, there is much which still remains to be resolved.

 

In late November, LaFontaine told Norwood News she was experiencing extreme cold inside her second-floor apartment, especially between 10 p.m. and 5.30 a.m., a timeframe during which she alleges the management team don’t provide heat. “I have been calling 311 for some time,” she wrote on Nov. 30. “I have my complaint numbers. She told Norwood News that HPD would come and confirm that the apartment was indeed cold, issue a fine to the management company but nothing would change.

LaFontaine continued, “Yesterday, I got home at 6.30 p.m. and there was no heat until this morning at 6 a.m. when management usually puts it on. We have hot water, just no heat.” She continued, “I have a compromised immune system and now really sick. I keep warm with a heating pad in my bed.”

 

LaFontaine said the window frames in her building were old and were not properly sealing in the heat, even though attempts were made to address the drafts. “So, it doesn’t matter how long they put the heat on,” she explained, saying the drafts caused by the old window frames were allowing it to escape. “My apartment was freezing on those dangerous [cold] nights, especially when I had COVID. In December, I have the pictures with a window. The window frame, from the inside, had like ice and snow on the inside of my house.”

 

She said on Dec. 19, management put a type of temporary seal around the door and windows using a type of paste but she still feels the cold in the apartment. Dampness in various rooms was evident and witnessed by Norwood News when we visited in January.

 

By Dec. 4, the Bedford Park resident had more issues to contend with. “I now have hot, black water coming out of my kitchen sink,” she said. “It has flooded my kitchen, messed up my rugs, and pots, cabinets.” LaFontaine shared photos and a video of black-colored water in her sink and a flow of water streaming down underneath it and onto her kitchen floor. She said part of the building was being renovated, and added that she believed the work involved in the renovation was impacting upon the plumbing system, and was causing her water to turn black.

 

Scaffolding was indeed erected outside the building in late January indicating that works were in progress at the location by Z&Z Construction of NY Inc.

 

Norwood News visited LaFontaine’s apartment in late January to witness the issues first-hand and photographed some of the needed repairs. In a follow-up telephone interview, she also complained of a disruptive neighbor, adding that at least two other building residents had also complained about him, but were not comfortable speaking to the press or disclosing their names for fear of retribution by the landlord or by the tenant in question.

“There’s one guy….me and two other tenants have been making a complaint to management over a year about him slamming his door,” she said. “Three o’clock in the morning, he got his door open, he’s smoking marijuana, he’s blowing into the hallway. It comes into my apartment; I have to light incense and put in the hallway. The noise is like…. he does this all the time.”

 

LaFontaine said other residents have shared letters with her they had written about the noise. “One lady, been here 50 years, she just moved out because she couldn’t deal with the noise no more,” she said. “People got to move on because of him. That’s not fair.”

Norwood News spoke with “John” from the building’s management company about LaFontaine’s complaints. He said he had received many complaints about the disruptive resident, and said attempts were being made to talk to the tenant. However, John said he [the tenant] continues to do what he wants. As of press date, we had not received a response on the other issues raised.

 

Asked if anything could be done to have the disruptive resident removed from the building, John said the resident was on a specific program and that his apartment was rented out to the Jewish Board of Human Services for All New York, located at 463 7th Avenue in Manhattan.

 

Norwood News contacted the board for comment. We spoke with Laurie and were informed that someone would “see if they’ll reach out to you.” As of press date, we had not received a response but will update this story with any feedback we receive.

 

LaFontaine also alleged that people were stealing packages in the building and that nobody from management was watching the building’s cameras in order to follow-up.

 

She said the tenants in the building are a mix of working people and others, some on Section 8 housing. “When I moved here, everybody was either working or probably had section eight or whatever and the building was clean, the building was quiet. People respected each other. As soon as they started bringing the rest of the people in….. Don’t get me wrong. Everybody needs housing, but with people like us, I’ve been here for years and years, before they even became management, you got to listen to your long term tenants to tell you what’s going on.”