A safety hazard has one Brooklyn tenant looking for a way out. NY1's Susan Jhun filed the following NY1 for You report.
It's supposed to create a sense of security, but Brooklyn tenant Renee Griffin says a padlocked chain on her ground floor window is really just a safety hazard her landlord refuses to address.
"He took the old lock off, he put a padlock on, a chain with a padlock on, and gave me a key," Griffin says. "311 came back out, said, 'This cannot stay like that,' took the key and left. He never came and fixed it after that."
Griffin says the original lock for the security gate on her window, which opens onto the street, has had a broken latch since she moved in over a year ago. Instead of fixing the latch, she says her landlord simply put a chain with a padlock around the bottom of the window. The single mom says she worries what she'll do in the event of a fire now that the city took the key and the padlock remains.
"He just keep telling me he gonna fix it and I shouldn't be calling 311 on him, I could come straight to him," Griffin says, "I went to him so many times."
NY1 For You called her landlord, and he claims he hasn't fixed the latch because he hasn't been able to gain access to Griffin's apartment. However, he said he will have it fixed this weekend.
NY1 For You also called HPD. An inspector was sent out and a class B violation was issued for unlawful obstruction bars and unlawful gates, a violation that had been issued last year as well. HPD instructed the landlord to remove the obstructing bars and unlawful gates from at least one window, or provide an approved gate type to meet the requirements of the Housing Maintenance Code.
Griffin is hopeful that she'll soon be free of the dangerous situation.
NY1 For You will keep you updated.