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Black mushrooms grow, sewage flows in Brooklyn apartment building set in 'The Hole'
By
Sophia Chang
Published May 10, 2023
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Christian Rodriguez for Gothamist
By
Sophia Chang
Published May 10, 2023
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Chronic leaks, sewage runoff and black mold that’s sprouted into mushrooms have made a three-story East New York apartment building nearly uninhabitable — and the tenants inside say their landlord is neglecting repairs while the city's response has failed to help them.
Ashley Saunders, who lives on the second floor of the building on Amber Street with her mother and sister, said the conditions in her home have given her family health problems.
"Why would [the city] even allow a landlord to rent these conditions to tenants?" Saunders said.
The building, on Amber Street, in East New York.
Christian Rodriguez for Gothamist
The building sits in a neighborhood known as “The Hole'' near the border of Brooklyn and Queens. The area is built upon a low-lying creek bed and has no sewer lines, which causes its streets to flood regularly and its buildings to rely on septic tanks to dispose of wastewater. Decades ago, the area was known as a place where the mafia dumped bodies.
Saunders said she and her family have made their home there for years, thanks to the affordable $1,100 monthly rent and tight-knit community.
On a recent visit to her apartment, Saunders pointed to the patch of black mushrooms growing on her bedroom ceiling, and said the problems have caused her to break out in rashes and her sister to develop an upper respiratory illness.
Christian Rodriguez for Gothamist
Her upstairs neighbor, Christina Lopez, has mold spreading on her bathroom ceiling, and said the living room sprung a leak during recent torrential rains.
“It's not fair that anybody should live like this,” said Lopez.
On the building’s first floor, Ricardo Vivas’ kitchen door leads to a grassy yard with an uncovered septic tank that he says is leaking sewage.
“So we try to keep the door closed and the window closed,” said Vivas. “It f****ng stinks.”
Christina Lopez gestures to a corner of the ceiling in her living room that frequently floods when it rains.
Christian Rodriguez for Gothamist
Christina Lopez's bathroom ceiling.
Christian Rodriguez for Gothamist
The building also showed visible signs of a roach infestation, and the tenants said there’s also a bad rat problem.
The building’s landlord, Frank Sollecito, a Manhattan criminal court officer, said he’s waiting for the tenants to pay him thousands of dollars in back rent before he makes any further repairs.
“I take care of the tenants that pay their rent on time,” Sollecito said. He’s a Queens resident who owns several other properties around Brooklyn and Queens.
“You know, it's unfortunate that…there’s a mushroom growing out of that wall,” said Sollecito. “I've never seen anything like it before.”
When asked if he would fix the leaks that led to the mold and fungi growth, Sollecito said: “You got to tell me where the money comes from.”
Sollecito said he hopes the leaks in Lopez’s living room “become so unbearable that she moves out.”
Christian Rodriguez for Gothamist
For more than 20 years, residents of The Hole have begged city officials to upgrade the area’s sewer infrastructure to stop the flooding and sewage problems that plague the neighborhood.
Former Mayor Rudy Giuliani proposed to elevate the neighborhood’s streets and build sewers more than two decades ago. But the work never happened, and the problems persisted.
Runoff from nearby Linden Boulevard floods the street until the water dries or a truck pumps out the storm water.
And the tenants said the flooding on the block has grown worse since a massive affordable housing complex Linden Terrace opened across the street from their building last year.
The city touted the 234-unit building in a press release last year as having an “elevated lobby” and “solar panels.” The owners of Linden Terrace receive property tax discounts through a city program, records show. But its lot was built several inches higher than the rest of Amber Street, which causes storm water to run down and pool in front of the tenants’ front door.
The 234-unit Linden Terrace residences which opened last year.
Christian Rodriguez for Gothamist
Saunders and Lopez went to a City Council hearing at the end of April to ask for help, even though various city agencies have issued dozens of violations against their landlord based on their 311 complaints.
“We have reported these incidents to various agencies with no help,” Saunders said at the hearing while crying. “I was told by the Health Department that I can clean the black mold and mushrooms with Clorox and a washcloth.”
City officials said they’ve responded to their complaints within their powers.
“The city’s Health Department, Departments of Buildings and Housing Preservation and Development are taking action to improve the conditions at…Amber Street and are doing everything within their power to bring about the best solution,” said city Department of Health and Mental Hygiene spokesperson Shari Logan. “Each agency wants the residents at this home to be safe and to live in a healthy environment always.”
City Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Rohit Aggarwala said at a City Council hearing last year his agency is looking at “a variety of solutions for that neighborhood.”
He acknowledged that raising the streets to add sewers in The Hole would have "some very negative impacts for many of the existing homes.”
"We are looking at this as an opportunity to think creatively to explore whether green infrastructure could be as good or better in terms of addressing that neighborhood's problem,” Aggarwala said.
While city action stalls, the Amber Street residents say they’re paying for basic amenities themselves like electric heating and pest control.
Vivas said he’s had to pay exterminators on his own to deal with the roach infestation in the building.
“I actually started paying out of my pocket, but it was getting too much,” said Vivas. He sets his own roach bombs now.
Sollecito has been issued dozens of violations from the Department of Health, the Department of Buildings and the Department of Housing Preservation and Development, according to city officials. The violations range from the mold to rodents to exposed electrical wiring to the unauthorized septic tank sitting uncovered in the backyard.
“The thing is, the city will end up doing the repairs, okay? Attach it to the building. Charge me interest on it,” Sollecito said. “It'll go to my tax bill so I’ll end up paying it in a roundabout way anyway. And they charge me a lot of interest.”
“And those tenants will still never pay,” he added.
Tagged
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brooklyn
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Sophia Chang
Sophia Chang is a former WNYC and Gothamist reporter.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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