PITTSBURGH \u2014 Most people tried to hide indoors Thursday as the ongoing heat wave cooked Western Pennsylvania.<\/p>\n
Not the seniors in the Ebenezer Tower in Pittsburgh\u2019s Hill District. They could be seen sitting on benches outside the low-income apartment building and on the wall of the post office across the street.<\/p>\n
It wasn\u2019t because they wanted to work on their tans. For days now, the air conditioning inside the tower has been broken. When it broke last July, temperatures inside the building soared to nearly 90 degrees.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s like hell living there,\u201d William Shelton III said. \u201cNothing getting done, nothing. How do they feel if they had a mother and father being treated like we are being treated, like dogs?\u201d<\/p>\n
Adding to the insult: for the second time in three days, the elevator was broken, forcing some to walk down nine or 10 flights of stairs before it was fixed a few hours later.<\/p>\n
Tenants said the building\u2019s office was closed Thursday and efforts to contact management to find out when the air conditioner would be fixed weren\u2019t successful.<\/p>\n
WPXI tried seven different numbers for the building\u2019s management and owner to ask what the problem was and when it would be fixed. None of the calls went through.<\/p>\n
Residents said some tenants received portable air conditioners to help manage the heat. Other people used fans, which they said weren\u2019t helping much.<\/p>\n
They also expressed concerns about mold seen around the HVAC vents, which WPXI reviewed in photos submitted by tenants.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt really hurts,\u201d Shelton said. \u201cNo one should have to live like this, man.\u201d<\/p>\n
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