BUFFALO, N.Y. - People living in the Buffalo Municipal Housing Authority's Commodore Perry housing development are so frustrated, they took their concerns to City Hall. And they were loud in their demand for action.
Several residents are dealing with lead, bedbugs, and mold in their homes. They say housing authority maintenance workers are not addressing the problem.
Jacqueline Taylor says she is battling cancer, and while she can't say her cancer is linked to her conditions at home, she believes it is. Which is why she came to a Common Council committee meeting to speak out. "I've got lead and mold in my apartment," and she said there are problems with the window frames and flooding.
Community activist Nate Boyd told 2 On Your Side a class action suit is in the works. "People who have tested positive for mold, we're reaching out to get others to join in. We have a place for them to get tested." He says a lack of maintenance and the claim of people with health problems will be the focus of the lawsuit.
The Buffalo Common Council took the heat from tenants. And although it is not the Council that can make changes, they can press for them.
This led to an interesting exchange between Boyd and Councilman Ulysees Wingo.
Wingo accused Boyd of grandstanding and exploiting the pain of the residents. Boyd does not live in BMHA.
Councilman Rasheed Wyatt said it's time for BMHA to listen to the tenants and address all of the concerns. Council President Darius Pridgen said, "We (the city) have a responsibility to keep fighting."
Jeanette Knightner said she was moved from an apartment with mold to another apartment that had roaches. "We were living with garbage under our building."
BMHA Executive Director Gillian Brown attended an afternoon meeting and said, "I do try to be responsive, but that is on us and we have to do a better job of reaching out to tenants and meeting with them on a more regular basis." He promised to take care of work orders that are called in as quickly as possible and get relocation offers.
Brown said he has no documents that residents have been infected or sick because of mold.
"These people in the BMHA Perry building 341 need to get tested for lead and mold. How come you don't demand that these people are moved right now? Excuse my passion, but these people are dying," said Boyd.