PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Sadie Gilfredrick, NYCHA Resident at Jacob Riis Houses, on Living Conditions and NYCHA Issues
2:39:44
·
4 min
Sadie Gilfredrick, a NYCHA resident at Jacob Riis Houses, provides a detailed account of the challenges and hazards she faces living in public housing. She describes issues ranging from poor water quality and gas leaks to environmental health concerns and frustrations with NYCHA's management and communication.
- Gilfredrick reports numerous infrastructure problems, including construction debris, water shutoffs, contaminated water, gas leaks, asbestos, lead, and arsenic.
- She shares personal health issues, including a breast cancer diagnosis, which she believes may be linked to environmental factors in her housing.
- The testimony highlights concerns about NYCHA's responsiveness to work orders, transparency in community meetings, and overall treatment of residents.
Sadie Gilfredrick
2:39:44
Hi.
2:39:45
Chairman Banks.
2:39:46
My name is Sadie Gil Frederick, and I'm a resource resident.
2:39:50
I just wanna give you a overall experience of, like, a walk in my life in terms of being in development.
2:39:56
So there's dump trucks with construction debris uncovered.
2:39:59
Water shut off without notice.
2:40:01
It's cloudy, brown, or yellow water, and we're told it's okay to resume using it.
2:40:05
There's gas orders or leaks have been reported to the point where there are gas specialists trucks parked on-site as a regular occurrence.
2:40:13
There's asbestos.
2:40:14
There's lead.
2:40:15
There's arsenic.
2:40:16
There's a constant hazard at recent other developments.
2:40:19
Work orders are created but nonexistent.
2:40:22
When you follow-up, you're told there's no vendor or no contract contract.
2:40:26
The HAs lose your folder numerous times when they come times of recertification or these new HAs who are not familiar with the development or in terms of the rules and regulation, and they constantly violate the non 64 rags.
2:40:39
And I first amendment writes the quality of life clean water and clean air.
2:40:44
In regards to the pack meeting that happened last week, I was the other first date, and I cited the Sunrise Law, which is I should be able to come into a location for any public event and speak my mind freely.
2:40:56
And what I was identified, they IDED me outside the school, as well as inside the school.
2:41:02
A night shift worker mentioned to me, why they have you signed up twice?
2:41:05
Why they IDED me both to both times?
2:41:08
And it was so unnecessary.
2:41:10
Also, the other thing is I was diagnosed with breast cancer.
2:41:14
I noticed breast cancer were in this month, and I was diagnosed on my 40th birthday.
2:41:19
Okay?
2:41:20
And I took genetic testing.
2:41:22
Nobody on my mother on my father's side has cancer.
2:41:25
Okay?
2:41:25
So I was told it was environmental.
2:41:27
And then there's also a twenty three year old, one of my neighbors, their son passed, Justin.
2:41:32
Justice for Gavin, he had to get double lung transplant.
2:41:36
Just even thinking about it is just like, it hurts.
2:41:42
At the time when I was diagnosed, I didn't believe it.
2:41:45
I just thought that it was me.
Chris Banks
2:41:48
30 seconds to wrap it up.
Sadie Gilfredrick
2:41:49
I appreciate that.
2:41:50
Thank you.
2:41:51
And then, also, when we had the arsenic carbon, which happened, they found a letter in my daughter's system.
2:41:57
They don't know if it was going in or it was going out in her system.
2:42:00
And then when they did the letter statement last year, I have video footage where you could see them taking showers in my apartment during a live letter basement and stuff being stolen out of my apartment, where Dan Green, Mister Healthy Holmes, has said that they will not believe you those 15 second videos, and there's an environmental attorney that I'm working with Joe Copperman.
2:42:20
Who's aware as well.
2:42:22
So I'll be in business.
2:42:24
You will hear my name more than once, and you also will get whatever write ups that I have in terms of emails where I I got from one of their staff members who told me because of the leaks of my apartment, because it faces the East River that there is no contract or vendor.
2:42:38
And I got it in writing and emailed from them stating that the whole eye side, but then I was told that it's everybody in east apartments that's facing the East River when there's a rain.
2:42:48
And then we got these like, 2 ton, I wanna say, like, a big oh my god.
2:42:54
It's, like, the the tank on top of roof.
2:42:56
So when we had the earthquake, we couldn't distinguish between the regular cracks in the building versus the new cracks in the building.
2:43:02
Mhmm.
2:43:02
And they're expecting us to report to them as if we're they we worked for them.
2:43:07
When actually, they worked for us, they're supposed to help us.
2:43:10
And to sit here and say you're with healthy homes, well, obviously not.
2:43:13
Because when I had my issue and other residents had their issues, they disregarded it as if We're not even human.
2:43:20
It's like, oh, we'll pick a green sticker or a red sticker.
2:43:22
I got pictures of that too, where you could see slides 1 through 15, and they bypass 1 through 4, and went 5 to 15.
2:43:30
And when I approached Jonathan and Simon who are the consultants for PAC.
2:43:35
I said, is this a vote?
2:43:36
And they said, no.
2:43:37
This is not a vote.
2:43:38
And I said, because what do you need the dots for?
2:43:41
How can you just distinguish between the dots that the residents are putting up versus what the night show, whoever just randomly walks up in there?
2:43:47
And they're like, well, we just need it for data, what data for what to say that this is what we want.
2:43:54
You know?
2:43:54
But they said it's not a vote I got done on recording too.
2:43:57
So yeah.
2:43:58
So if they come after me, it's gonna be in the clouds at this point because I'm I'm tired of them.
2:44:02
Constantly, you know, treating us as if we're so far because we live in nature as if we're dumb.
2:44:08
Like, kids would do stickers saying green I like and red I don't like.
2:44:13
Thank you.
2:44:13
Can you imagine we had a vote when the presidential Oh my god.
