Thomas MacMillan Photo
Mary Woodberry and her 2-year-old leak.
Officials advised tenants in an often-overlooked West Rock housing project to get ready for more cops and lawn mowers — and for the wrecking ball.
That was the message delivered by Mayor John DeStefano and Karen DuBois-Walton, the director of the Housing Authority of New Haven. The pair paid a lunchtime visit Thursday to the Abraham Ribicoff apartments, the small outpost of senior and disable housing at the end of a dead-end road in the public-housing-dominated West Rock neighborhood that is in the midst of a dramatic rebuilding.
DeStefano was there to fulfill a promise to visit made last month to Esther Pearson, the head of the Ribicoff tenant council. She withheld her endorsement of him at a meeting of the Ward 30 Democratic committee, saying she was waiting for him to address a number of problems at her housing complex.
DeStefano and Pearson.
Pearson mentioned specifically a mold infestation in abandoned units among the apartments. At Thursday’s meeting in the Ribicoff community center, her neighbors raised a host of other issues, including drug dealing, uncut grass, and mold in occupied apartments.
The two dozen tenants who gathered to speak with the mayor also wanted to know about the impending demolition of Ribicoff, and where they will be able to move to.
DuBois-Walton said Ribicoff will be torn down in about four years, but that tenants could begin relocating as soon as this winter. Vacated units will not likely be refilled, she said.
It’s about time for the place to come down, said the mayor. At some point, you need to stop “throwing good money after bad,” he said. He compared Ribicoff to an old car that is nearing the end of it usefulness. “It needs to be retired,” but first it needs some basic maintenance to get over the last hill.
Tenants at Ribicoff, which is bordered on three sides by a two layers of chain-link fencing separating it from Hamden, have historically complained of neglect from the housing authority. Two years ago, the authority was moved to action after news of overgrown weeds and bushes and clogged sewer drains at the complex.
On Thursday, after tenants piled up plates of chicken, rice, gravy, and green beans in the community center, they immediately laid into the mayor.
“Why don’t you come out here unless it’s time to vote?” asked Maple Senior (pictured).
“I’ve been out here quite a few times over the years,” DeStefano replied. He said he was there at Pearson’s request.
Harris.
Minnie Harris followed with a question about why tenants can’t get the housing authority out to cut the grass.
You should expect a “basic level of service” from the housing authority, the mayor replied. That said, Ribicoff is on its way out, to be rebuilt better than before, like Elm Haven and Q Terrace, DeStefano said. In the meantime, Ribicoff needs to be maintained without throwing “good money after bad.”
Those comments opened up a discussion of what’s in store for the current Ribicoff tenants — where they can go and if they can come back after the rebuilding. DuBois-Walton laid out the choices. As soon as December, tenants could move into the new Brookside apartments, currently under construction right outside the gates to Ribicoff. Or, in 2012, they could move to new seniors-only housing on Wilmot Road. Or they could take a Section 8 voucher and strike out on their own. Anybody who wants to return once the complex is rebuilt will have that opporunity, DuBois-Walton said.
“In the meantime, you’re concerned about grass being cut,” the mayor segued.
Michael Hammett, a maintenance man for HANH, said tenants would see extra staff at Ribicoff starting next week. They’re going to “trim everything up nice,” he promised.
Bell (left) and DeStefano.
Geraldine Bell requested more police. “There’s a whole lot of drugs going through here,” she said. Cars pull up and do drug deals in the evening, she said later.
The mayor promised to have Lt. Marty Tchakarides, the local district manager, pay a visit to the complex and help the tenants to put together a block watch.
The mayor asked if everyone living there is on the lease.
“No,” came the response.
“That’s information we need,” DuBois-Walton said. Having people living there illegally can cause problems, DeStefano said. Dubois-Walton encouraged tenants to call in anonymously with that information.
“How you going to get them on the phone and tell them when you can’t get a work order in?” said a woman in pink.
“I’m going to give you my card,” Dubois-Walton said.
Pearson asked about the black mold in the abandoned units. DuBois-Walton responded that those homes will be torn down, and unoccupied until then. As for mold in people bathrooms, DuBois-Walton said that Ribicoff suffers from a lack of proper bathroom ventilation and that maintenance would continue to address those mold outbreaks.
HANH head Karen DuBois-Walton (left) preps Ribicoff residents for the end.
DuBois-Walton also promised action on what Mary Woodberry described as a two-year-old problem at her unit. Water and melting snow comes through the wall into her bedroom, she said. She later pointed out a piece of plastic and bricks she put down to try to stop the leak. She said she hasn’t been able to get HANH to fix it in two years.
After the lunch, Pearson said she’s still waiting to see if the mayor and DuBois-Walton follow through with their promises. As for the abandoned units infested with mold, “They still need to be torn down.”