Bronx Public Housing Residents Complain Of Rat Infestation
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) - Hundreds of New York City Housing Authority residents in the Bronx are angry over what they call an infestation of rats.
Residents said the Claremont Consolidated Houses on Findlay Ave. have been inundated with rats over the past few months. One woman said the pests come into the hallways and apartments any way they can.
1010 WINS' Stan Brooks reports
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"Rats. We have rats coming through the walls, through the radiators...coming through our radiators and into our homes," the woman told 1010 WINS' Stan Brooks.
The Urban Justice Center is preparing to sue the housing authority over the influx of rodents, Brooks reported.
"They're real bad, they're real big. They're in the hallway in the building as we're coming in and out of our apartments...and it's not safe for the children and it's not safe for us," another woman told Brooks.
The residents said the rats don't seem to be scared of humans.
"In the hallway, they come see you just like if you're one of the family. They walk up to you and everything," the resident said.
"I'm scared because they're as big as my foot. That's the situation. If they were something small I don't think it would be a bigger problem but they're big," another woman told Brooks.
The residents said they've called NYCHA to ask for help in getting rid of the rats.
"They tell you to go to the store and get some steel wool and some glass and stick them down in the hole," the woman told Brooks.
City officials were at the apartment complex Thursday setting rat traps.
In a statement, NYCHA reacted to the reports of rats in the Bronx apartments.
"Staff of the New York City Housing Authority did a comprehensive inspection today at the Claremont Houses and will repair items discovered that contributed to the rodent issue. We will follow a targeted treatment schedule to address the problem, and this will supplement the regularly completed treatment. Additional maintenance staff will be assigned to address and assist with the open work orders for the development," the statement read.
Residents have also complained about water and sewage backing up from the toilets.
"The waste line backs and you just smell the stench until they pump the waste line and call somebody to come and fix the waste line," a resident told Brooks.
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