After years of effort, the long fight over conditions at the Towne Gardens housing complex in Buffalo is in court.
The owners are in Brooklyn and Ellicott District Common Council member and Council President Darius Pridgen said they told him conditions were fine for a New York City housing project. He says that's irrelevant for a Buffalo housing project.
City Judge Patrick Carney adjourned the case to May 11, with city lawyers saying there will eventually be at least 100 housing code violations at issue, not all yet filed.
"Ever since these owners have owned it, even since the days of former Councilmember Brian Davis, this has been a problem. This has been a nuisance problem," Pridgen said.
"It has been a forsaken problem by the owners. The tenants have been complaining there is everything from black mold in this place to broken windows to squirrels in the ceiling. You name it, it's there."
Pridgen said if the owners have the money to hire a high-priced lawyer, they probably have the money to hire someone to fix the problems because a handyman doesn't get hundreds of dollars an hour. Last month, the city hit the complex with an inspection blitz and these charges are a result.