{"id":320011,"date":"2026-08-13T02:26:09","date_gmt":"2026-08-13T02:26:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/320011\/"},"modified":"2026-08-13T02:26:09","modified_gmt":"2026-08-13T02:26:09","slug":"new-york-tenants-say-rats-run-over-their-feet-at-affordable-housing-lottery-building","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/320011\/","title":{"rendered":"New York tenants say rats run over their feet at affordable housing lottery building"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Outside an affordable housing building in the Bronx, residents say rats have become an all-too-common sight, scurrying across the street in broad daylight and, according to neighbors, even darting over residents&#8217; feet as they enter and leave the building.<\/p>\n<p>What happened?<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.riverdalepress.com\/stories\/rat-infestation-at-van-cortlandt-village-building-sparks-calls-for-action-from-residents,240597\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">the Riverdale Press<\/a>, those complaints brought tenants and nearby residents to a press conference in late July, where they called for action from local officials.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to the outlet, residents said they have documented what they describe as an infestation affecting the two-year-old building with 17 units, along with the neighboring housing complex.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At the press conference, the Riverdale Press noted that about a dozen residents stood with City Council member Eric Dinowitz and Assembly member Jeffrey Dinowitz to press city agencies and the building&#8217;s management company, Alliah Management, to respond. The Riverdale Press reported that Alliah Management had no comment.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Adaysha Givens, a tenant and mother of two, said the situation had made her want to move out.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;This was supposed to be a fresh start for us,&#8221; Givens said, as reported by the Riverdale Press, while holding her 3-year-old daughter. &#8220;It&#8217;s supposed to be hard, but not this hard.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Debbie Caruso, a longtime Amalgamated resident, said neighbors had made numerous 311 reports and contacted officials in city, state, and federal offices, the outlet reported.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The 17-unit property was developed through the city&#8217;s affordable housing lottery, intended to provide residents with access to housing they might otherwise struggle to afford. But when a serious problem such as a rat infestation takes hold, residents with fewer housing options can feel trapped in a situation that threatens their comfort, safety, and quality of life.<\/p>\n<p>What&#8217;s being done?<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In a joint letter cited by the Riverdale Press, Eric Dinowitz and Jeffrey Dinowitz asked several <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thecooldown.com\/outdoors\/rat-contraception-new-york-city\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">city agencies<\/a> to intervene, saying the conditions were &#8220;threatening the health and safety of the tenants.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Residents say they are documenting the conditions and filing complaints through official channels, including 311.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;We can&#8217;t keep waiting for others to respond. We, your cooperators, are hostage within our homes,&#8221; Caruso wrote, as reported by the Riverdale Press. &#8220;This is not a way to live.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size\" style=\"max-width:600px\">Get TCD&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thecooldown.com\/newsletter\/?utm_source=recqd5UojLFg7MvmF\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">free newsletters<\/a> for easy tips, smart advice, and a chance to earn $5,000 toward home upgrades. To see more stories like this one, change your Google preferences <a href=\"https:\/\/links.thecooldown.com\/follow\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"36\" height=\"24\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thecooldown.com\/wp-content\/themes\/tcd\/assets\/images\/divider-icon-earth.svg\" alt=\"Cool Divider\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Outside an affordable housing building in the Bronx, residents say rats have become an all-too-common sight, scurrying across&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":320012,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[128,3450,120657,9,24,63,2577,40616,129,131,130,14824],"class_list":["post-320011","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-the-bronx","tag-bronx","tag-home","tag-landlord-gem","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-outdoors","tag-reddit-gem","tag-the-bronx","tag-the-bronx-headlines","tag-the-bronx-news","tag-yahoo-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/320011","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=320011"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/320011\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/320012"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=320011"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=320011"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=320011"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}