The Troy City Council held its third investigative hearing for residents and management of an apartment complex that was suddenly evacuated in June on Thursday.
The office manager of Harbour Point Gardens and three tenants testified in front of the city council, three months after 58 apartment units were evacuated due to sagging brick facades. Since the evacuation, affected residents have been staying with friends or family or have been put up in a local motel paid for by management.
Ever since, several construction crews have worked to remove the failing brick walls and address a slew of code violations. Tickets for violations are issued as a blanket fine rather than individually. But during the process, several walls were knocked in, windows removed, and residents’ belongings damaged. Residents say they have not been reimbursed for damaged property.
As of this week, five apartments remain uninhabitable — not meeting the minimum standards of the 2020 New York State Property Maintenance Code, according to Mayor Patrick Madden’s office. Madden, a Democrat in his final months in office, was not present during Thursday night’s hearing. Nor were members of his administration.
Lisa Derkes, office manager and tenant of five years, says she was notified by the complex’s maintenance on the day of the evacuation that residents needed to leave. Derkes says the city code enforcement had been on the property but did not notify management.
Derkes says she is not aware of tenants being told their apartment would be padlocked, an accusation made by several tenants throughout the hearings. Speaking to city councilor Jim Gulli, Derkes said most complaints the office received were about aging apartments.
“Some of the tenants did not put in requests for service,” Derkes said.
“Yup,” Gulli said.
“And when we went in it was like ‘Oh my god,’ and they had been there for years,” Derkes said. “And yes, issues have come up.”
Derkes shared with the council what she thinks management could have done differently.
“Well, I’d come up with procedures to deal with the situation and steps to take that would help everybody involved,” Derkes said.
Management has yet to put in place any emergency procedures regarding emergency evacuations. Derkes says management would not conduct regular inspections unless a service ticket was submitted. Council President and GOP mayoral candidate Carmella Mantello expressed her dissatisfaction.
“To hear it tonight from the office manager that they don’t have internal protocols, that they don’t have evacuation procedures, eviction procedures,” Mantello said. “The communication with the tenants has been absolutely abysmal. I find that just completely unacceptable and it just shows just another instance where this irresponsible landlord has not been held accountable.”
Ashley Sheedy, a former tenant, says her father noticed the sagging in the brick facade when she moved apartments in 2022. She never made a complaint to the office regarding the wall.
Sheedy says when the new owners took over in 2022, promises were made to begin landscape improvements and apartment upgrades. Sheedy says no notable updates had taken place in the first year since the new owners, 182 Delaware LCC, under Lexington Property Group, took over.
“They planned on putting in security systems like cameras and that our front doors would actually lock because they just open,” Sheedy said. “And that there was going to be a gym or fitness center that would open very soon, that was going to be the first thing that happened and that they would be renovating the apartments.”
Sheedy says she has not legally been released from her lease or received her security deposit back.
Susan Furlong says she was given one day to leave the motel and get back into her apartment. When she returned to her apartment there was no power. Management told her to temporarily move into another apartment, which she says was subpar.
“There’s been dogs in there,” Furlong says. “The place was filthy. The hallway going into the building was disgusting. I’m thinking ‘Oh no’. I did not like it. And he was telling me in my apartment ‘Oh you’re going to love this. This is so nice.’ Like it was a refurbished apartment. No, it wasn’t.”
Furlong says she and her partner, an older couple, are tired and worn down.
“I can’t see why when they bought that complex, if they’re so smart, and have all this money why didn’t they go to every apartment and start renewing them,” Furlong said.
In August, the Legal Aid Society of Northeastern New York and the New York State Attorney General met with tenants to discuss options and gather information. Mantello continues to hope Attorney General Tish James will take over the investigation.
The other members of management have been unable to be reached with subpoenas, according to Mantello.
