NYCHA tenant says sewage floods her floors

<p>A Gravesend woman says she's had it up to her ankles with the filthy floodwater and bugs invading her NYCHA apartment at the Marlboro Houses.&nbsp;</p>

News 12 Staff

Jul 18, 2017, 9:21 PM

Updated 2,472 days ago

Share:

A Gravesend woman says she's had it up to her ankles with the filthy floodwater and bugs invading her NYCHA apartment at the Marlboro Houses.
The woman says unclean water gushes over the floors where her two young children play, and a backed up drain clogs the bathtub where her family ought to be washing up.
"This is sewage water," says Shiniqua Grant. "This has feces. This has cigarette butts. I seen dirty, bloody tissues."
And it happened recently for the fifth time, Grant says.
"This is unlivable. It's unsanitary," she says. "I just want a safe environment for my children, and they're not safe in here. My daughter cannot take a bath because I'm fearful what's going to happen while she is in the tub."
Grant showed News 12 videos of what she says is foul fluid spewing from her toilet and tub -- seeping into the room where her 10-month-old son and 3-year-old daughter sleep. Complicating matters -- bugs came after the sewage, she says.
NYCHA already replaced the floors in her apartment.
Grant says she wants a transfer to live somewhere else, a request that NYCHA says it is trying to fulfill.
A spokesperson for the Housing Authority blamed aging pipes and a cut in federal funding for some of the complications. They said crews aim to address plumbing issues as quickly as possible.
"All NYCHA residents deserve safe, clean homes," the Authority said in a statement. "Staff visited this apartment today to confirm there is no flooding currently in her home, and we are working urgently to identify and repair an underlying piping issues."


More from News 12