Thank You National Apartment Association. I will do my best to get this very important information out ASAP to numerous owners, investors, huge property management companies (e.g., Riverstone Residential), attorneys, and judges, AND, of course, to the MANY people who are currently living in MOLD-INFESTED APARTMENT COMPLEXES right now! katy
By: Susan Jhun
Jeannette Gomez of Manhattan says a severe mold problem in her home is threatening her family’s health.
“My kids, especially my son, were starting to get sick often and I couldn’t understand why he was getting sick. But he always had respiratory problems, either he had the asthma or bronchitis,” says Gomez.
Then one of her daughters became so sick that she had to take a leave of absence from college.
It was not until Gomez told her children’s doctor about the black mold growing all over her bathroom and bedrooms walls that she figured out what was happening.
“I told the doctor that we have mold, and he said that it’s the reason that [my son’s] constantly with the cough and the respiratory problems,” says Gomez.
For years, Gomez says she had been asking her landlord, the New York City Housing Authority, to get rid of the mold.
“Every time, what they do is they just come to the bathroom, they wash it off and they paint over it, but it comes back,” she says.
After numerous unanswered pleas to NYCHA officials to get to the root of her mold problem, Gomez finally took the matter to Housing Court. She documented the number of visits each of her children have made to the hospital and the number of days her son has missed from school — but to no avail.
NY1 called NYCHA and the agency released the following statement: “The New York City Housing Authority takes very seriously the health of each of its 400,000 public housing residents. However, NYCHA must have access to its housing units in order to be able to assess and maintain apartments for the well being of its residents.”
In response, Gomez says she does not want another paint job.
When NY1 asked the NYCHA spokeswoman what the specific plan was to rid Gomez’s apartment of the mold, she said NYCHA’s head of technical services would go out to access the condition.
In the past, she said they removed some plaster and some parts of the wall that were capturing the moisture, and if more has to be done, then they will do it.
Gomez has also requested that NYCHA move her family to another apartment, but so far they have been denied.
For now, Gomez and her family will continue to suffer, but not in silence.
“I can’t live under these conditions, because I don’t want anything to happen to my kids, you understand? I love them, and I want my daughter to go back to school, and I don’t want my son being sick,” says Gomez.
NY1 will continue to follow this story.
U.S. Chamber of Commerce & Deceit in Mold Litigation
TRUTH OUT Sharon Kramer Letter To Andrew Saxon MOLD ISSUE
New Action Committee – ACHEMMIC- Urges Transparency in EPA Policy Over Mold & Microbial Contaminants
Truth About Mold – the most up to date, accurate, and reliable information on Toxic Mold
Sociological Issues Relating to Mold: The Mold Wars
“Changes in construction methods have caused US buildings to become perfect petri dishes for mold and bacteria to flourish when water is added. Instead of warning the public and teaching physicians that the buildings were causing illness; in 2003 the US Chamber of Commerce Institute for Legal Reform, a think-tank, and a workers comp physician trade organization mass marketed an unscientific nonsequitor to the courts to disclaim the adverse health effects to stave off liability for financial stakeholders of moldy buildings. Although publicly exposed many times over the years, the deceit lingers in US courts to this very day.” Sharon Noonan Kramer
Riverstone Residential Litigation
Links to Riverstone Residential Mold and Illegal Business Practice Complaints and More!
