7 On Your Side tackles a NYCHA nightmare

BUSHWICK, Brooklyn (WABC) -- We've heard a lot about problems with public housing and complaints about NYCHA, the city housing authority accused of leaving tenants in conditions which they say are not livable.

One tenant of Hope Gardens in Bushwick felt hopeless, dealing with a caving in ceiling and gushing pipe since October, until she called Nina Pineda and got 7 On Your Side.

Emptying a messy mix of dirty water and crumbled sheet rock is part of Adelinda Marin's daily routine.

"I have no choice I have to do it," said Marin. "I can't just leave the water floating in my apartment. I have to do it everyday."

A few times a day the porous pipe in her ceiling dumps a deluge all over the kitchen. "It's raining in my house everyday," said Marin.

The Bushwick grandma says she's nagged NYCHA for five months to make the fix.

Every time her upstairs neighbor uses her washer: "The water from the washing machine comes straight down here," said Marin.

That was back on October 14th. She says workers showed up again in January and looked at the pipe in her neighbor's wall but failed to fix it. Now, her upstairs neighbor says roaches are coming in from the hole in the wall.

Which is also a huge problem for Adelinda, who babysits her grandkids.

It was her daughter who finally contacted us, sending the video of the hazardous living conditions that she says NYCHA ignored.

"These are my ticket numbers of the job to be done," displayed Marin. "So far I've called 18 times."

We contacted NYCHA and within 18 hours the ceiling went from pathetic to patched and painted, like it was brand new.

And the neighbor upstairs - also sealed and dry-walled.

A NYCHA rep said it identified a pipe leading to the upstairs neighbor's sink as the problem. It fixed the pipe and exterminated behind the walls.

Why did this take five months to fix? NYCHA never answered that question.

----------

SHARE YOUR STORY

Do you have an issue with a company that you haven't been able to resolve? If so, 7 On Your Side wants to help you!

Email 7OnYourSideNina@abc.com, or contact Nina on her Facebook page or tweet her at Twitter @7OnYourSideNY! You can also call the 7 On Your Side Hotline at 917-260-7697 or fill out the form below.