Raphael Lowenstein News Today

Editors note: This story was originally published by Injustice Watch.

Last week, city officials requested that a judge appoint a receiver to address longstanding issues at a Woodlawn apartment building that has been cited for dozens of code violations.

When renters in an embattled Woodlawn building formed a tenants union this summer, they hoped collective action might encourage their landlord to make much-needed repairs to units and common areas.

New York has a Rat Czar. Other cities are trying new trapping methods. But the “rattiest city in America” can’t keep up with skyrocketing rodent complaints, data shows.

After months of mounting health and safety concerns — rodent infestations, electrical outages, leaks and poor building security — residents in a Woodlawn building have formed a tenants union to

Mice and sewage backups among problems tenants face on their own amid delays and absenteeism from the expanding real estate company.

With one co-op sold and the neighboring townhome association in the city’s Troubled Building Initiative, the block is an example of the limited options available to members of the city’s collectively owned housing..