AMHERST, N.Y. (WKBW) — Residents at the Air Buffalo apartment complex on Sweet Home Road in Amherst say they have been living without reliable hot water, heat and functioning plumbing for months, conditions they describe as unbearable.
Since January 27, residents told me they have gone without hot water. On some days, water has been shut off without notice. In November, a sewage problem forced residents on the first floor to be moved to a different floor in the building.
Dan Pitcher, whose son Matthew lives on the top floor of the complex, made a 90-minute drive from Rochester to speak with me and to get answers from the apartment manager.
"It's been very stressful, especially during exam week, to the point where he's had to come home to take showers," Pitcher said.
Pitcher also described the ongoing sewage issue.
"Sewage poured right out that door there and still to this day it has not been fixed," Pitcher said.
Residents David Acosta and Roxana Gonzalez described what it was like when the sewage problem first forced them out of their first-floor unit.
"We just moved our stuff because we felt it was disgusting to live on the first floor," they said. "We asked her permanently move since the whole feces situation, and we didn't want to be there. We didn't want to clean that up because that's not our feces."
Resident Scott Naylor said tenants were left to fend for themselves when the flooding occurred.
"When the ground floor flooded, they didn't relocate anybody right away," Naylor said. "Like people had to fight for their own place to stay overnight and then we're told later they weren't going to be reimbursed because they should have asked to be moved to a higher floor."
Pitcher said he is concerned not just for his son, but for other residents who may not have family members able to speak up on their behalf.
"I feel bad because there are a lot of students here that aren't, don't have family that can advocate for themselves," Pitcher said.
Carter LaFond, a University at Buffalo senior who lives at Air Buffalo, said he has not had heat in his apartment since the end of last year. He said management gave him a space heater as a temporary fix — a solution he noted may actually violate the terms of his lease.
"I went downstairs and I kind of like, 'Hey, I talked to you guys, what's going on? I was given a space heater, and I promised it to be fixed. So, space heater covers a probably about five feet, which I believe in the lease actually you're not allowed to use a space heater, so that happened,'" LaFond said.
LaFond, who has Crohn's disease, said the lack of reliable water service has created serious health challenges for him.
"I suffer from Crohn's disease, which means that I need a bathroom and I cannot hold my bladder," LaFond said. "There was no official notice from Air Buffalo that our water went out, so I've actually been having to leave the premises to leave and go use the bathroom at a moment's notice. With no official notice, being medically disabled, it's ethically and morally terrible."
Roxana Gonzalez, a UB graduate student and resident, said the problems extend beyond plumbing and heat. She said a shuttle service that drew many students to the complex has also been out of service.
While I was preparing to interview Pitcher on the property, a manager told me to leave and did not answer any questions about what is being done to address the issues tenants have raised.
I reached out to the CEO of DMG Investments, the company that owns Air Buffalo, and have not yet received a response.
One resident told me that Town of Amherst inspectors came to survey the plumbing issues yesterday. I reached out to the town for confirmation and was told: "If the repairs are not completed by tomorrow we will take the necessary steps to have the owner relocate all of the tenants until the work is completed and water service is restored."
You can read the full statement here:
I spoke with the commissioner of building, he said the town was out to the property for the plumbing issues and have put the owner on notice. The owners has engaged multiple plumbers to get the required repairs completed. If the repairs are not completed by tomorrow we will take the necessary steps to have the owner relocate all of the tenants until the work is completed and water service is restored.
A spokesperson for the Erie County Department of Health said residents with housing complaints can call 716-961-6800 or use the online form here.
