A small group of Amsdell Apartment residents and supporters stood outside the building Saturday to deliver testimonies and list their newly formed union's demands – a list that includes getting rid of the mold and checking lead contamination in units.
“We're not going anywhere,” said Bebhinn Francis, a tenant organizer with United Tenants of Albany. “We're launching this union. Not just to demand immediate repairs, but to say this is our building, our community, and our future.”
In a tenant testimony, read aloud by Bridgit Sties, a member of the local chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America, a resident gave details about their living conditions in the building, which dates to 1852 but is currently undergoing its largest renovation since 1912.
“Health hazards, raccoon feces in my bathroom, a rat in my living room, flies swarming the hallways and my apartment, insects I have never even seen before crawling near my bed,” read Sties. “This is not just gross, it's dangerous.”
Out of the 35 occupied units, 28 have joined the union. According to the union, many of its tenants are young people between the ages of 20 to 30 and are new to the area.
The Amsdell Apartment Complex is located on Jay Street, and listed studio units rent for between roughly $1,000 and $1,200. According to its website, the complex promises amenities such as laundry, functioning elevators, and an outdoor space called “The Yard,” which includes a patio and a dog park.
However, during a tour of the complex, Francis pointed out that many, if not all, of the amenities are constantly broken or just do not exist.
“This is supposed to be the parking lot,” said Francis, as she gives a tour of a lot behind the building. “It is a massive pile of construction garbage. The last time we were out here, this was not bagged.”
Tenants say “The Yard” is littered with mattresses and construction debris, the elevators break so often that residents do not even use them anymore, and they say the laundry room has become another hazard.
“One of their code violations was for these [washing machine] outlets being on the floor,” said Francis. “…These two [washing machines] are not plugged in right now because they were probably hooked up to their extension cord.”
NCG Jay LLC, the company that is currently listed as the owner of the Amsdell Apartments, received a Notice of Violation because of the laundry room. In their notice, the City of Albany Department of Buildings & Regulatory Compliance wrote that the room had no proper ventilation, no breakers for dryers, and was using extension cords to power the washing machines. According to Kira Bruno, a resident and tenant leader, the lack of proper ventilation also led to other problems for many people.
“There's 30-plus people that live here, and there's five washers and five dryers, and the laundry room would just be consistently humid,” explained Bruno. “There'd be water dripping down the walls, and it was setting off our fire alarms. So, at odd hours of the day, minimum times of like, two times a week, the fire alarm was going off.”
She adds that if there were an actual fire, the residents would have to use the main entrance because the fire exits were another hazard. The hallway to the fire exit is only roughly a foot wide and has even more problems.
“The egresses to even get to the fire escapes were full of construction equipment, construction materials, and there's exposed wiring,” said Bruno. “There's metal protruding from the walls.”
Bruno says issues like these, and the management’s lack of response have made her feel unwelcome.
“I haven't even been here a year, and I already feel like my landlord doesn't care, about my general well-being, but also just my safety, my life,” said Bruno. “And the fact that I'm giving them so much money and they're not even giving a care to try to attempt to make things better.”
The tenants have listed all these problems in a letter of demands directed at NCG Jay LLC. They’re giving the company 30 days to respond. An official from their management company, Hudson Capital Properties, says that they are meeting with the tenant union to address their concerns this week.
