Conditions are so bad for some people living in New York City that the state’s governor, Andrew Cuomo, had to see them for himself. It’s estimated that a half million people live in places in New York City that are uninhabitable, the majority of them are children. Places that have had no heat or hot water, […]
Conditions are so bad for some people living in New York City that the state’s governor, Andrew Cuomo, had to see them for himself.
It’s estimated that a half million people live in places in New York City that are uninhabitable, the majority of them are children.
Places that have had no heat or hot water, where cockroaches crawl everywhere in broad daylight, where walls crumble in your hands, revealing cockroach eggs behind them, and chips of lead-based paint litter the floor.
It’s been characterized as a humanitarian crisis.
The governor, seeing it for himself on camera, called conditions he witnessed “much worse that anyone can imagine. This is an emergency.”
Tribune’s CW affiliate WPIX and reporter Monica Morales have been revealing what residents have been going through in public housing in the city for months.
“I applaud you for the work you’ve done as journalists because you really have exposed a terrible situation,” the governor told Morales.
It was, in fact, Morales’ reports that prompted Cuomo to visit some of the places she named in her reports to see conditions for himself.
He said conditions were “very disturbing, unbelievable.”
WPIX has been airing Morales’ reports, dozens of them, for the past three months. Morales streamed a town hall meeting on Facebook Live that more than 130,000 people watched.
“So many families came over to me, and said, ‘we need help, we need help’,” said Morales. “Nobody was listening to the people who live in public housing.”
As a result of Morales’ reports on WPIX, 55 buildings in the public housing developments across the city now have heat and hot water.
“One voice can make a difference, and I think that is so true in this situation,” said Morales. “This is really a testimony to the people and them telling us about the problem. We’re going to keep pushing and getting answers.”
Local television investigations often get answers, action and sometimes results.
WPIX does. And Monica Morales is making it happen.
NOTE: Just yesterday, Governor Andrew Cuomo made a proposal to help fix the problems with New York City’s housing problems. Click here to read it.
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