KINGSTON, N.Y. -- Kingston residents who live near a Van Buren Street house infested with cockroaches, are looking for the city's help.
Dawn Jordan is just one of the many frustrated neighbors who live near a roach infested house at 62 Van Buren Street. She said two weeks ago, her neighbors told her cleanup crews had come to the vacant building.
“When I woke up the next morning, it was just like roaches crawling all over my porch all going into my house,” she said. "I care, I live here. I know how many hours I work. I pay my taxes like everybody else. I should matter."
On Thursday morning, property maintenance workers returned telling Time Warner Cable News there were too many roaches to make any progress.
The property manager, Frank Fucilo, said he didn’t know it was in such bad condition until after the tenant left a couple weeks ago and since then property maintenance crews were sent in twice. He now plans to send a professional exterminator.
“We’re going to have them come over and treat the place. We are not scum landlords, we want to take care of the place and that’s what we plan on doing,” he said.
While the property manager said an exterminator will be going to 62 Van Buren Street, people in the neighborhood said it’s too little too late.
“Anytime you put on a hazmat uniform or outfit that you know that you don’t want to be detected with it, you have a right maybe not a legal right but a moral right to tell the community what’s going on in that house,” said Reverend Shirley Whitlock, a former Alderwoman and lives in the neighborhood.
Whitlock said she was told by the building department that the city couldn’t pick up garbage that is infested with bugs.
"(They) talked to the residents and said that if there’s a lot of roaches in their garbage they can’t pick it up. So you’re just going to leave it here for us?” she said.
The Alderwoman for the area, Nina Dawson, said the mayor has straightened the issue out with the department of public works.
“He has rectified that immediately. That’s why he’s putting in place a reassurance that DPW comes and picks up people’s garbage and any accumulation in this area,” she said.
The city also issued an order requiring the owners of 62 Van Buren to clean up the property’s bug problem.
“We’re asking any pesticide companies to work with us, to rectify this collectively, so that we can take care of multiple houses at one time,” said Dawson.
As for Dawn Jordan, she said she appreciates what the mayor and Dawson are doing and she’s hoping her life returns to normal.
“It’s not fair that we have to go through this, it’s not fair, it’s really not fair,” said Jordan.