OUR FORGOTTEN BOROUGH | Inside the Bronx's rent-stabilized buildings, tenants feel the strain of a system under pressure - Bronx Times

A tenant in a rent-stabilized nine-story Bronx building carries an aging dog down seven flights of stairs daily and climbs stairs multiple times while also caring for another dog, feeding stray cats, and running errands. After a frozen pipe burst on Feb. 13, the elevator remained out of service due to damage to its electrical system. Tenants repeatedly complained, and the city took over repairs, but residents were told the work could take several more months. Without elevator access, residents must climb flights of stairs or remain largely confined to their apartments, and some use evacuation chairs for heavy items. Similar deteriorating conditions are reported across aging rent-stabilized properties in the Bronx.

"Every day, Carlos Angel makes the long trip down from his seventh-floor apartment two blocks away from Yankee Stadium. His dog can barely walk anymore, Angel said, so he carries him down seven flights of stairs to the lobby to use the bathroom. The routine is especially difficult because Angel recently underwent shoulder surgery himself. He also has a second dog that he takes outside several times a day. Between walking his dogs, feeding stray neighborhood cats and running errands, Angel estimates he climbs the stairs at least six times daily."

"That has been his reality since Feb. 13 -fittingly, Friday the 13th, he said- when a frozen pipe burst inside his building, flooding the garage and damaging the elevator's electrical system. Since then, the elevator in his rent-stabilized building has remained out of service. After months of complaints from tenants, the city eventually took over the repairs, but residents were told the work could still take several more months."

"In the meantime, tenants in the nine-story building have been forced to either repeatedly climb flights of stairs or remain largely confined to their apartments. Some residents even use a specialized evacuation chair to carry heavy groceries up the stairs. Angel's building is one of many aging rent-stabilized properties across the Bronx where tenants say deteriorating conditions have become part of everyday life."

""It's like torture for me, going up the stairs, coming down is not bad, but coming up is just a nightmare every time," he said. "I feel so frustrated. I want to cry sometimes, but I'm just like, 'Oh God, please help me here,'" he added."

Read at Bronx Times