As children played outside the Kenny Apartments in Newburgh Wednesday, tenants gathered on their stoops and were in good spirits, enjoying the warm, breezy day.
Folks were ecstatic about the settlement between New York Attorney General Letitia James and their apartment complex's owner and managers. They will collectively receive more than $400,000 in rent refunds for the payments made while living in what the state's lawsuit described as inhospitable conditions.
Pearline Howard, who goes by Pearl, says this past winter many residents had no hot water or heat.
“We all should get our money back because pain and suffering, and we was cold up in here,” Howard said. “It was the time that it was cold that I didn't want to get up and go to work. Then washing the cold water. Who does that?"
The settlement James announced earlier this week also included an agreement from the owners of the complex to make the necessary repairs to ensure tenants' homes are safe and livable.
The attorney general filed the suit in February against the owners and managers of the complex that is home to more than 100 low-income residents over living conditions, including failure to fix dozens of code violations. In January, James said no one should have to make the decision Kenney tenants were having to make.
“No senior, no parent, no child should be forced to endorse sewage flooding from their apartment, mold in their walls, or rats in their kitchen, while their landlords ignores their pleas for help, and that is exactly what has happened at Kenney Apartments here in Newburgh,” James said.
Anna Alvarez has lived in the apartment for 17 years and was in good spirits Wednesday, but she still remembers this past winter as a terrible time to endure.
“I mean, we have to carry buckets to warm up water,” Alvarez said. “You know, we have to find a way to get heated. People was donating heating to heating blankets. I mean, I'm sure everybody's gone through it, and even others had worse. They couldn't get their medicine because they had no refrigerator working. They had to come outside, put the medicine in the snow."
Alvarez says she has heard they will also be getting new appliances, and she's excited to have all of the repairs finally get taken care of.
"[I'm] looking forward for this whole place to get a, a new life, you know, because it really needed it,” Alvarez said.
Under the settlement, the owners must take immediate actions to repair outstanding code violations, including mold remediation, plumbing fixes, repairs to doors, windows, floors, and new paint.
Beyond rent abatement and repairs, the owners will have to make monthly reports to the attorney general's office, documenting their progress, including any new issues that arise.
"This case should be a warning to landlords throughout our state. If you ignore your tenant's complaints and fail to address code violations, my office will make you pay for your negligence," James said in a statement,
Kenya Gallardo could not be happier about the news. She will believe it though when she sees the rent they are actually supposed to be paid back actually in her hands.
“Oh, I'm so happy,” Gallardo said. “Well, we don't know yet if you get the money. I'm so happy. So all my money, all that I'm gonna spend the clothes, a trip and everything.”
