Residents of the notorious Nob Hill Apartments south of Syracuse say they’re sick and tired of waiting to take a hot shower, walking up six flights of stairs because the elevators won’t work, and coming home at night to find the lights are out.
A group of them gathered on the steps of the Onondaga County Courthouse representing more than 200 neighbors who signed a petition demanding urgent action on what they call dangerous living conditions in their building.
The event was supposed to precede a city housing court hearing against Nob Hill Apartment Group, LLC but was postponed for the fifth time. Organizers said the delays have left residents trapped in unsafe and unlivable conditions.
Kona Lisa Mahu is a tenant and co-facilitator of the Nob Hill Tenants Association – a grassroots group educating each other on their rights. On Tuesday, they expected to take their case to a court hearing but were postponed for the fifth time.
“I'm an apartment dweller by choice,” she said proudly, having moved to Syracuse when snow was still on the ground last winter and before she could see the flaws. “This is the worst condition of any apartment complex I have ever lived in.”
Tieasha Muhammad said she moved into a one-bedroom apartment at Nob Hill last year. Her rent was a little over $1,000 a month. On the day she moved in, she said her excitement turned to dread.
“I was not allowed to look at my apartment before I got my keys,” she noted, after having signed the contract. “I knew then I made a bad choice moving into Nob Hill.”
As the door opened, she said it appeared to still be under repair.
“There was a big fire in the kitchen, so it was still the burnt counter in there, And the sink wasn't even hooked up,” and when she asked maintenance what was up, she said, “They go, ‘Oh no, we're going to take care of it. We're going to handle it.’ That Monday night, I came home, my kitchen sink was on the floor. It was at that point. I just cried.”
In April, Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh filed a complaint with the State Supreme Court against Nob Hill Apartment Group and its partners Sinatra & Company Real Estate, Windsor Capital Group, and Basalt Capital LLC.
WAER has reached out to Sinatra & Company and is waiting for a response.
In the meantime, Muhammad said she lives with Lupus, a condition known for causing problems breathing and joint pain.
“Every time the elevator goes down, I have to walk up to the 6th floor, and my doctors are like yelling at me, ‘You have to move,’” she said she’d like to, but said she can’t.
She is locked in a circular contract owing months of back pay after her Section 8 housing declared the space unlivable.
For now, she is one of the hundreds of tenants who have signed the petition demanding repairs to Nob Hill by October 1, and a pledge to refuse rent increases until conditions improve.
