HIGHBRIDGE — A South Bronx building has gotten some much-needed mending in the wake of a tenant lawsuit.
But while tenants of 949 Ogden Ave. welcome the improvement, they are still not ready to drop the suit, despite the landlord's insistence it never should have landed in court.
Almost all of the repairs were completed as of Tuesday, according to building owner Michael Padernacht, who said he would have gladly made the repairs cited in the lawsuit if tenants had just talked to him.
"We live by a code, my brothers and I," he said, "and the code is you make sure the tenants are taken care of. You make sure that their housing is habitable."
Tenants at 949 Ogden Ave. who were part of the lawsuit confirmed that management had made repairs to their apartments since they filed, giving them credit for fixing problems including mold and broken windows.
However, they maintained that these repairs would not have happened without the lawsuit, saying that their prior attempts to get them taken care of and fixed were unsuccessful.
Residents were also concerned that the repairs management had made were not going to last and that they would simply be facing the same problems listed in the lawsuit again soon.
"It's in better shape after the lawsuit. To be honest, it's in better shape," tenant Darryl Thomas said of his apartment. "But I think in my heart's heart that in three to six months, the same problems will be back."
Padernacht said they had spent the past few months making several renovations to the building, including installing new mailboxes, new outdoor lights and a new boiler, and he provided copies of multiple work orders from the summer that tenants had signed off on saying that repairs such as fixing a broken door lock and abating a water leak had been completed.
"We’ve been in their apartments doing ongoing work for now more than a year," he said.
However, Padernacht stressed that he has no problem with tenants organizing and said the only reason he showed up to their meeting upon realizing they were doing so was to hear their concerns.
Tenant Melissa Holmes, whose concerns included mold and a broken front door, said she was now comfortable in her apartment and described it as more livable in the wake of repairs that management had made, but she expressed skepticism about how long it would stay this way.
"They did what they said they're going to do," she said, "but I'll have the same issue within three months."
The lawsuit will be back in court on Nov. 30, according to the tenants' attorney Keriann Pauls.
Padernacht said that 949 Ogden Ave. is an old building, making maintenance a 24/7 job, and if tenants' problems come back, they should just tell him.
"We're always doing as much as we can to keep the buildings clear of violations, keep them habitable and make sure that the residents themselves feel a sense of belonging," he said. "We want them to be proud of where they live."
