Family of Webster Houses resident claims she's in coma due to NYCHA negligence on repairs

A slip at the Webster Houses in the Bronx has left a woman critically injured. Now, community members are demanding that NYCHA step up and stop neglecting their buildings.

News 12 Staff

Jan 5, 2021, 11:10 PM

Updated 1,367 days ago

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A slip at the Webster Houses in the Bronx has left a woman critically injured. Now, community members are demanding that NYCHA step up and stop neglecting their buildings. 
The community rallied together outside the Webster Houses saying that NYCHA has failed their community and that their negligence has left a woman fighting for her life. 
Eleanor Dowe has been a NYCHA tenant for over 40 years. After slipping on the stairs in the Webster Houses on Jan. 2, she is now hospitalized in critical condition and in a coma. 
Her family says that Dowe lives on the 19th floor, but that the elevator in the building is broken and doesn’t stop on her floor. 
Despite numerous complaints to NYCHA, they say the elevator has not been fixed. 
"How many more incidents have to happen before everybody says NYCHA you have to be held accountable? We’re not talking about lawsuits, we’re talking about lives. The simplest things that get taken care of in Manhattan need to be the simplest things that get taken care of right here in the same neighborhood that help pay taxes in this community,” said Alina Dowe, a relative to Eleanor Dowe. 
The family says the elevator has been fixed in the building and that they’re calling on NYCHA to fix every single repair in Webster and Morrisania houses. 
NYCHA responded with a statement saying, “There are two elevators in this building at Webster Houses and both were operable on the morning of January 2, 2021. One of the elevators was not in operation for approximately 1.5 hours that afternoon, while the other elevator was working and available for use.”