A third week has gone by since residents of the Harbour Point Gardens apartments in Troy were evacuated due to concerns over falling brick. As more problems emerge, the Troy City Council is taking a rare step to get answers from management.
The Troy City Council unanimously voted to subpoena the owners of the Harbour Point Gardens apartment complex during a special meeting Wednesday, saying owners of the property have failed to fully comply with city mandates to repair falling brick walls and interior damage of apartments as a result of demolition efforts.
Almost 50 apartments were abruptly displaced in June following several city inspections that found issues with the buildings, making them unfit for habitation. The complex owners have disputed the city’s account and subsequent investigations but acknowledged pursuing ongoing remediation projects.
City Councilors say the problems have ballooned and plan to seek help from the State Attorney General’s office. Carmella Mantello is the City Council President and a candidate for mayor.
“I think it's something that we may want to pursue as a council, getting the Attorney General and DHCR [Division of Housing and Community Renewal],” Mantello said. “And it just someone with a heavier hand, help these tenants or just save our possibilities. But there are lots of unknowns, and I'm not sure.”
Troy Corporation Counsel Richard Morrissey says the engineers employed by the owners called for an inspection on Wednesday. Morrissey says he, code enforcement, and the city’s building inspector were shown buildings they were told were fit for occupancy.
"The postings were not lifted for the four units that we inspected,” Morrissey said. “We've also looked at the buildings throughout, there are a lot of problems. I’m surprised that a lot of these problems were not caught before the purchase was done with an inspection and you know, provisions made for repairs at that time.”
Morrissey says he does not see an end in sight and the city is struggling to get a handle on who the landlord is.
“If I were a tenant, I might be looking for other places to live,” Morrissey said.
Councilwoman Sue Steele, a Democrat who called for the subpoena, says the investigation will be lengthy.
“I can't even begin to imagine what we're going to uncover as we investigate going forward, Steele, said. “Each time we meet, we hear more and more from the tenants. And it's clear now that this is a problem that predated the current owners. How this was allowed to continue. And in this condition is a question that's definitely going to need to be investigated.”
Some residents attended the special meeting to share new information with the council. Melissa Boni, the mother of a 19-year-old tenant, says she is fed up with the owners. Her daughter moved out immediately following the evacuation, but she says landlords are still asking for rent, claiming she chose to break the contract.
“Spectrum called me and said, ‘Do you want to cancel your insurance your internet because there's somebody else moving into that apartment and want internet?’ That was on 6/27”, Boni said. “On 6/26, we asked again for security deposit. Nothing. Don't even respond nothing. Over the weekend. We got a letter emailed saying that they are my notice my July rent was late and they are sending it legal if they don't have payment by the 10. I'm not paying it. I mean this is unacceptable behavior.”
Some buildings on the premises are still inhabited and were not evacuated in June.
Councilwoman Kiani Conley-Wilson, a Democrat representing District 5, says while the situation is unfortunate, she hopes this opens the administration’s eyes to internal review.
“I just think that we need to take a look at the council, we need to take a look at what's going on within our city and trying to hold the administration responsible and holding other folks responsible and trying to work obviously collaboratively with the departments that need more support,” Conley-Wilson said. “So, I'm hoping in the budget season, maybe we can revisit this but also looking towards what laws we have on the books and where we're falling short and maybe looking at other municipalities that handle this better.”
Outgoing Democratic Mayor Patrick Madden was not at the meeting. A request for comment from WAMC Wednesday was not returned.
Councilwoman Irene Sorriento, a Republican representing District 6, says property owners need to be held accountable.
"I'm furious,” Sorriento said. “You know, and I feel really terrible for these, you know, these, tenants they've been put through hell. And what disgusts me even more is that we're told that they can't even get their security deposit
back. And the fact that they're even receiving, allegedly receiving, any type of notice, saying that their rent is late, and now they're going to be penalized. That's a shame. It's very shameful.”
WAMC visited the complex Thursday morning. An employee said no one was available to comment.
Other residents shared harrowing experiences. Rochelle Flournah has been bouncing between friends’ and family’s homes and says she’s had enough.
“I'm tired of crying,” Flournah said. “I'm so stressed out.”
Other tenants blamed the city council for not acting swiftly. Eric Spinner is the president of the complex’s Tenant Association.
“Our fate is not your fate because you’re not living in a motel your fate in not our fate is not your fate, because you're not living in a motel.”
The City Council scheduled a hearing for property owners, managers, code enforcement, and others to voluntarily provide testimony July 20th at 5:30 p.m. The council says it will issue the subpoena if involved parties do not appear.
