Mold has grown around the windows and on the ceiling in one NYCHA apartment. Relatives of an elderly man who lives there say he's also been suffering with little to no heat.

"He has to sleep with a whole bunch a blankets, he sleeps with his sweatpants, sweater, hat on," the man’s daughter, Joanna Hernandez said.

Joanna Hernandez believes the state of this Union Avenue Consolidation building may have made her father, Francisco Hernandez sick. The 75-year-old is now hospitalized in a coma battling pneumonia.

“He thought he had a cold so he started coughing and then he started feeling agitated,” she said. “He would tell me ‘I feel tired, I feel out of breath."

Relatives say he collapsed Thursday after rushing to Lincoln Hospital and that when they told doctors about his living conditions, "they said this is one of the main reasons why he is in the hospital," Hernandez said.

Relatives say NYCHA ignored repeated complaints about the heat and mold.

"He says well I complained and they don't listen, he's complained about the mold, he says that he called to have them remove the mold and paint but they told him it's only done once every ten years," Hernandez added.

NYCHA disputes that, in a statement saying “NYCHA has received no heat complaints from this resident for the last year but did check their apartment yesterday. Since heating season began, we have only received three heat complaints for this building"

But, one neighbor who didn't want to go on camera fearing retaliation from maintenance staff says her efforts have also been ignored.

"I called the main office and I called the bigger office and it's just ‘make a ticket, make a ticket’ that's all they tell us. They never come up here to see if I have heat or if the heat turned on, they always say yeah, they go to the boiler room," the anonymous neighbor said.

Relatives say the agency should have more compassion as they pray for their father's recovery.

“He’s been neglected and that's why he's in this condition,” Hernandez said.

NY1 spoke with one of the doctors treating the elder Hernandez who says living in an improperly heated apartment could have contributed to his condition.

The family also contacted the Bronx borough president's office; staffers there say they've been helping to facilitate repairs.