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Skyline Apartment Residents Speak out about Conditions, Demands for Safety & Security

Geoffrey Goose/WAER News

Tenants of Skyline Apartments are speaking out about the conditions in the building that have come to light after the death of a resident last month.  Several of them spoke out this weekend to shed light on the ongoing problems.

The city of Syracuse has charged Skyline Apartments with numerous code violations and made a nuisance abatement claim, meaning that the city could close the building. But no one, including the mayor or chief of police want that to happen.  Longtime resident Bernard Little feels increased security is necessary.

"They need 24-hour security, if not 24 hours then they need security here for overnight because that’s when it all starts. They’re smoking weed, panhandling, it’s like being out on the park.  That’s the type of environment it’s like at night, but me and my wife, we’re in an apartment, I barricade the door and I just make sure we’re safe."  

Last month, 93-year-old Connie Tuori was allegedly murdered by a homeless woman who snuck into Skyline.  Joann Smith, another longtime resident, says this is a pattern that threatens the safety and wellbeing of tenants.

"I think she followed Connie to her house. I think two days before that she bit someone and took their money. And they allowed her right back in again. She doesn’t live here. We don’t have security. They just come in and break the doors and come in and out. You tell them the doors are broken and they still aren’t fixed."

Credit Geoffrey Goose/WAER News
Residents say security lapses in Skyline Apartments have ben going on for a long time.  They presented a list of demands to management

Residents say that management knows what goes on but refuses to do anything about it.  Paul Correia says it shouldn’t take a murder for management to take simple safety precautions.

"It’s sad, it’s sad that lady had to lose her life for them to finally wake up and do something for this building when all this time they’ve been knowing what’s been going on in this building. And they haven’t put a stop to it. I’ve seen needles in here, you still got people out here selling heroine in the parking lot. You’ve got people selling molly out here, weed, you name it. You’ve got more drugs in this building than you can find on the streets. It’s pitiful and needs to come to a stop." 

In a public protest Saturday, the tenants association listed ten actions that owner Troy Green and his company must take. These include full time security presence and other security measures to combat the onslaught of criminal activity; they also want to prohibit non-tenants entering the building illegally. Syracuse Mayor, Ben Walsh was at the Saturday meeting and says he and his administrations will do everything in their power to hold building management accountable.

"We do have the leverage to shutter the building if we want, but what we’ve heard from the majority of the tenants is they don’t want that. They just want to feel safe, and that’s not too much to ask. So we’re going to continue to pursue them in Supreme Court for their code violations, we’re going to continue to pursue them through the nuisance abatement order, and we’re going to continue to maintain our unfit declaration on the public areas until they show they can keep those areas clean and safe."

There will be a hearing on May 10th to review management’s compliance or take further action to ensure the safety and wellbeing of residents.

Chris Bolt, Ed.D. has proudly been covering the Central New York community and mentoring students for more than 30 years. His career in public media started as a student volunteer, then as a reporter/producer. He has been the news director for WAER since 1995. Dedicated to keeping local news coverage alive, Chris also has a passion for education, having trained, mentored and provided a platform for growth to more than a thousand students. Career highlights include having work appear on NPR, CBS, ABC and other news networks, winning numerous local and state journalism awards.