`The Roaches Are Crawling into My Refrigerator’: Bronx Tenants Sue over House of Horrors

"Even before fire roared through the walls and uprooted their lives, residents of a Bronx tenement said the apartment building where they lived was a house of horrors replete with leaks and toxic mold and other signs of chronic neglect.

There was trash in the hallways, dust in the air and rodents settling in like they were paying rent. Entrance doors didn’t lock, and staircase floors were filled with cracks and holes. The roof leaked, and the smoke detectors didn’t work.

Then came the fire.

According to a new lawsuit, residents displaced by the February blaze have yet to move back into their homes on E. 163rd St. in Melrose. Their lives are on hold with friends, family or in shelters, where the only consolation has been that the fire-forced repairs will leave them with new and improved apartments..."

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