BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — Residents at Buffalo Municipal Housing Authority properties continue to speak out about ongoing maintenance issues that have persisted for months, with some apartments experiencing severe water damage and heating problems.
7 News has been sharing voices from residents at Stuyvesant Apartments on Elmwood, Marine Drive Apartments near Canalside and Sedita Housing about heat problems all week.
WATCH: Buffalo Municipal Housing Authority residents continue to voice frustration over heating issues
WATCH: Buffalo public housing residents endure freezing temperatures without heat or hot water
But the issues extend far beyond heating concerns.
"Every time the weather get bad, there's something going on," said Jeffery Webb, who lives at Stuyvesant Apartments.
Webb described multiple problems affecting his building that need immediate attention.
"We got all kinds of problems going on in here, man, that need to be addressed," Webb said.
While standing outside the Stuyvesant Apartments on Elmwood Avenue on Thursday, it quickly became clear that those issues extended well beyond the heat.
Hector Tirado called out from the window of his third-floor apartment, asking me to come inside and see the water damage in his ceiling.
"Look at all this. Come here, take a picture of that," Tirado said, pointing to liquid and debris dripping through a hole in the ceiling of his bathroom.
WATCH: 'I can't live like this': Residents continue to speak out on Buffalo public housing issues
Tirado said the damage has persisted for weeks without proper repair.
"A month and a half ago. They said the people are on vacation and they can't fix it," Tirado said when asked about the timeline.
The ongoing problems have left him frustrated with the response from housing officials.
"The response is terrible, man. I can't live like this," Tirado said.
I shared Tirado's situation with Gillian Brown, the executive director of the BMHA. Tirado claims he contacted the apartment complex at least four times about this issue.
"That should have been addressed within hours," Brown said.
Brown said he would need to investigate when Tirado submitted a work order, explaining that requests shouldn't sit unaddressed for weeks.
"I would need to find out when he had called in a work order because once we have a work order in the system, it's not going to sit for weeks like that. It shouldn't, and if it does, it's something that we need to do better at," Brown said.
I also showed video of Tirado's ceiling to Buffalo Common Council Majority Leader Leah Halton-Pope.
"That's disgusting," Halton-Pope said after viewing the footage.
The majority leader said Tirado's issue represents another example of inadequate living conditions at BMHA-managed properties. These conditions have prompted lawmakers and residents to demand action from the authority, most recently during a public hearing earlier this month.
"100 percent because they haven't been addressed," Halton-Pope said when asked if this represents the concerns she's been raising.
Halton-Pope believes structural changes are needed within the housing authority.
"I think they need some structural change. Changes within BMHA leadership, I do. This is no attack on one individual or the other, but there's a systemic issue," Halton-Pope said.
The Buffalo Common Council held a public meeting last week to hear complaints from BMHA residents about ongoing maintenance and living condition issues.
WATCH: 'You haven't been showing up': Buffalo residents demand action on public housing conditions at public hearing
