Public Employee Press

HEALTH AND SAFETY NEWS
Members laud safety improvements at HRA hellhole

Pressured by media exposés, the Fire Dept. and the union, a notorious landlord addresses rotten conditions in a Bronx building.

Conditions have improved dramatically at the Bronx HRA office owned by a notorious landlord who recently removed the fire escapes from an apartment building with 200 tenants inside.

Local 1549 Shop Steward Jackie Bonner has been on a mission for over 10 years to remedy a range of safety hazards at the 1790 Grand Concourse Boulevard location of HRA's HIV/AIDS Services Administration, which Fire Marshals inspected after the fire escape incident involving the Goldfarb Properties real estate firm.

Bonner, DC 37's safety and health staff, and Clerical Division reps have been filing grievances for the past 10 years about the rotten conditions at the HRA site.

"The fire alarm system was out of commission for years and Fire Exit signs hadn't been posted for the past three years," said Bonner.

"There was so much dirt and soot that our desks were covered with it. The dust and dirt were aggravating peoples' asthma and some members were getting sick from the lack of ventilation."

"The heating, ventilation and air-conditioning system has needed repairs for years, and our members were either freezing or burning up," said Principal Program Coordinator Lillian Goodwine, of the DC 37 Safety and Health Dept. Other problems included dirty bathrooms, dirty or absent window blinds, windows that wouldn't stay up, missing exit signs and a live electrical switch located under a leaky skylight.

In the wake of the front-page exposure of the Goldfarb company's negligence by the city's tabloids and the pressure by the Fire Dept., conditions for the 50 HRA employees at the Grand Concourse site have improved and the union members are relieved, said Bonner and Clerical Div. Rep Jestina Roberts.

The women's room is now clean. A vanity shelf and mirror have been installed. "It's beautiful - I love it," said one ecstatic member as she raced to work.

— Jane LaTour