‘Head’ ache
‘Fixed’ by NYCHA, bathroom ceiling hits teen
WHEN IT COMES to the New York City Housing Authority, it can be dangerous going to the bathroom.
Sixteen-year-old Tyquel Sylvester was in the bathroom of his Polo Grounds Houses apartment in upper Manhattan minding his own business Wednesday evening when the ceiling suddenly collapsed on his head.
The apparent cause: NYCHA’s continuing inability to deal with basic maintenance issues.
Tyquel’s mother, Jeannette Sylvester, says she had harangued NYCHA for months to fix a persistent leak from above. Workers came in August, punched a hole in the floor of her bathroom to see if the water was working its way downward, then left, she said.
Despite repeated calls demanding to know when they would finish the job, she says no one returned. As a longtime resident of NYCHA, which is often criticized for taking an eternity to perform even routine repairs, Sylvester said she had low expectations.
In September she stopped paying her rent, telling NYCHA managers, “You’re not doing the work you should be doing. Why shouldn’t I hold the rent?”
Then Wednesday evening, just as “Empire” was wrapping up on the living room TV, the family heard a sudden holler from the bathroom.
“We ran into the bathroom and he was lying on the floor, caught in a haze,” Jeannette said.
“I just felt something hit my head,” Tyquel said. “I was getting lightheaded and I just sat there because I was afraid if I stand up and move, I was gonna fall.”
Tyquel said he had trouble keeping his balance as he walked downstairs to an ambulance that took him to New York-Presbyterian Hospital.
A CAT scan showed he was OK, but his mom monitors him for possible lingering headaches.
Polo Grounds is a relatively new NYCHA development, built in 1968. But like most of NYCHA’s 328 developments, it has fallen into disrepair.
The authority has managed to trim a backlog of 420,000 repairs in 2012 to about 100,000. But tenants continue to complain about months-long waits for actual fixes.
After the collapse, a NYCHA crew patched the ceiling with cardboard and said they’d return next week to finish the job.
Late Thursday, NYCHA spokeswoman Aja WorthyDavis promised repairs would begin Friday.
“Earlier repairs to the unit appeared to correct leakage issues, and there have been no signs of leakage since. However, in light of the sudden injury caused, this work has been prioritized. We regret the inconvenience this incident has caused.”
In the interim, water damage and mold plagues the bathroom ceiling.
“It’s just a matter of time till the rest of the ceiling collapses,” Jeannette warned.