Tenants in an apartment in East Orange say their elevator hasn’t been working for a month.
The building at 75 Prospect Street is called “The Castle,” but tenants say it doesn’t feel like royalty. Especially if you need an elevator every day to get up and down 10 floors.
“This has been sitting idle for over a month,” says tenant Yvonne Mitchell.
It is physically impossible for Mitchell to climb 20 steps. She must find another way to get to her own apartment on the tenth floor.
First, you have to take the elevator on the opposite wing of the complex. She then has to climb her two flights of stairs to reach the roof, then descend two more to get to the apartment.
“It was really bad. Like I said, I have a double knee replacement, back problems, a herniated disc in my back and a bulging disc,” Missel says.
Other tenants with disabilities also complain about having to use the roof.
“I don’t go without my daughter with me,” says Denise Wright. “If I fall or have an accident, at least someone will know I’m there.”
Other tenants say they neglect repairs.
“I don’t know if the elevator is a play to get us out, but there hasn’t been a lot of work done in the apartment. For about a year we had a hole in the ceiling,” says Erica Coleman.
Coleman suggests that the company that runs the building, Platinum Management, wants to divide the current 44 units into 90 units.
A spokesperson for Platinum Management said: news 12 They want to “eventually redevelop” the complex. But is the company intentionally not repairing the building to force people out?
“That’s 100% wrong. We’ve spent thousands of dollars on daily maintenance,” Platinum spokesperson Effy Tilman said in a statement. “We’ve already poured hundreds of thousands of dollars into it.”
Tillman added that one of the reasons the company is $1 million in debt is that “50% of its tenants are in arrears.”
The spokesperson added the company is waiting for parts to fix the elevator. He said the elevator should be fixed by the end of Monday.
Mitchell says she hopes this is true.
“It’s not just a health issue, it’s also a mental issue. It’s causing a lot of anxiety,” she says.
The City of East Orange is aware of this problem. Platinum Management fined him $2,000 for each day the elevator wasn’t fixed.