Apartments Robbed After NYCHA Asks Tenants To Leave Doors Open For Renovations

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Two New York City Housing Authority apartments were robbed after officials asked the tenants in one Brooklyn complex to leave their doors open to accommodate renovations going on in the building.

As 1010 WINS' Carol D'Auria reported, Jacqueline Francis has lived in the Ingersoll Houses in Fort Greene, Brooklyn for 40 years.

She said the housing authority told all the tenants they had to give construction workers access to their apartments so that they could make renovations.

So Francis did just that. She let the workers in while she sat in the living room and did her work.

She said she didn't realize they had left for the day and two thieves walked into her apartment their place. The pair took off with her computer worth $1,000.

"It was a 23 inch desktop, all in one. My son had bought it for my birthday. I'm a little upset because I had work on their from 2003. I had pictures of memorials of my mother and my daughter," she said.

Now, Francis said she guards her door like a bulldog.

NYCHA released a statement, saying "We understand that residents are concerned about allowing access to their apartments in light of the unfortunate robbery incidents reported at Ingersoll Houses, which is currently undergoing renovation work. To protect our residents, we have reached out to our contractor to make sure every effort is made to secure the residents and their homes during the ongoing renovations.

"We have instructed the contractor to make sure all stairwell and other hallway entries, as well as doors to apartments under construction are locked when there is no construction activity and that all workers have a photo ID in full view, among other measures. We have notified all residents affected by this project that they should not open their doors or allow access into their apartment to anyone without a photo ID."

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