close
close

Buffalo Municipal Housing Addresses Bed Bug Infestation: Investigative Post

Theo

Just over three months after Investigative Post reported bug infestations, leaky ceilings and other problems at the LBJ Apartments, tenants say improvements have been made to the Buffalo Municipal Housing Authority’s largest senior living complex.


BMHA Executive Director Gillian Brown, left, and LBJ Apartments tenant representative Erma Ecford. Photo by I’Jaz Ja’ciel.

The bed bug infestation is gone.

Rats too.

And most of the washers and dryers in the laundry room are working again.

That’s what tenants of the Lyndon B. Johnson Apartments recently said, just over three months ago. after Investigative Post reported that residents were living with insect and rodent infestations, leaking ceilings and safety issues, among other problems.

Tenant representative Erma Ecford, who initially brought to light conditions at the Buffalo Municipal Housing Authority-owned senior living complex, said the constant swarms of bedbugs have been nearly eradicated, there are far fewer cockroaches and no rodents have been seen in or around the property.

Investigative Post visited the complex last week and found that repairs and upgrades have also been made to individual units and the main structure.

“It smells good in here. It looks good in here. It’s phenomenal,” Ecford said.

“We have almost no bedbugs. We have almost no cockroaches – maybe one or two, but Rome wasn’t built in a day.”

LBJ, located at the corner of Main Street and Humboldt Parkway, is the housing authority’s largest senior living complex, with 208 units. Seventy percent of the tenants are seniors and many are disabled, making insect infestations and other problems particularly troublesome.

Ecford is so pleased with the changes that she invited BMHA Executive Director Gillian Brown to present her with a letter of appreciation and show her the improvements that have been made to the LBJ.

“Whatever you do, I’m really happy with you,” she told Brown last Wednesday.

She also credits a new property manager assigned to the property, Brown, who addressed tenant concerns.

Brown said the authority is working to improve conditions at the complex, noting that the building recently received an 85 out of 100 inspection from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

“I was really proud of the guys for their work here,” Brown said. “They worked really hard, they really brought the place back up to par. The people who did the extermination did a great job.”

BMHA has organized mandatory pest control inspections for each unit, days after Investigative Post initially reported concerns about the infestations in April. Those inspections confirmed that 26 of the complex’s 208 units were infested with bedbugs.

Original report from I’Jaz Ja’ciel from April.

Brown said pest control was a joint effort between thorough exterminations and respecting tenants.

“When people don’t cooperate with the extermination procedures in a building, it’s a lot harder to get rid of them,” he said. “These people have been very cooperative. They wanted to do the job and I couldn’t be happier.”

In the complex’s publicly accessible spaces, tenants have seen major improvements.

The laundry room, for example, has been repainted and is being kept clean by hiring a new cleaning company. Brown said the housing authority continues to work with the laundry company, CSC ServiceWorks, to upgrade the laundry room equipment. All but one of the washing machines have been repaired and all of the dryers are in working order.

The community room, which was infested with bedbugs and rodent droppings, has been completely exterminated and will be renovated in the near future. Missing ceiling tiles have been replaced in the community room and in the hallway, which previously had exposed electrical wires.

Most of the homes have benefited from renovations to their kitchens and bathrooms, work that the housing association had already started.

An apartment kitchen in the LBJ Apartments. Photo by I’Jaz Ja’ciel.

“We’ve been working on the kitchens and bathrooms for a long time, so as that work finally starts to wrap up, I think it’s going to be a really desirable building, which is what we wanted when we first applied for funding (from the capital fund program) several years ago. The idea was that these projects are about tenant retention,” Brown said.

Brown applied for the funding through HUD during his first year as executive director in 2018. He said BMHA has made improvements to several of its housing complexes, including LBJ, over the past six years.

“We’ve done a tremendous amount of work. It just takes a long time,” Brown said.

Tenants also noted improvements in their apartments. Lauren Dove, who had refused to pay her rent because she was unhappy with her living conditions, said she felt much more comfortable in her apartment, with the exception of a few pests.

“All that’s left is the cockroaches. At least the bedbugs are gone somewhere,” Dove said, noting that she no longer gets bitten in her sleep.

“I appreciate it, thank you very much,” she told Brown.

Ecford said the leaks in her bathroom have been fixed and she also has no bedbugs in her apartment.

Tenants are also pleased with the changes to the LBJ’s exterior, noting that the authority has replaced the surrounding fence, gardeners are cutting the lawn more frequently and trash is being cleaned up regularly. New flower pots have been installed at the back and front of the building.

They also said security has improved with increased police patrols. Ecford said there are fewer intruders, although some emergency exit doors remain forced open. One door, she said, won’t stay closed because it’s being propped open by strangers, and some intruders have cut the wires to the security alarm so it won’t go off when the door is opened.

Still, Ecford said, tenants are feeling much better than they did a few months ago. She said she plans to present Brown with a plaque at the next BMHA commissioners meeting in August to show her appreciation on behalf of residents.

“Everyone who had complaints (now) has no complaints,” she said.

Brown said he was pleased to see the changes and would continue to improve living conditions.

“Really, I’m the one responsible. It was mine,” Brown said of the problems. “We’re not done with it.”


published 30 seconds ago – July 30, 2024

Related Posts