(new York) Cockroach Infestation

Location: New York

Recently, on February 8th, my childhood home burned down, leaving me and my brother displaced. We, along with a friend of ours, ended up signing a lease to live at a new apartment, beginning on February 13th.

Within a week of moving in, we began to spot small roaches. We immediately notified property management, and what has transpired since then has left me feeling frustrated and disgusting, with a legitimate concern for me and my roommate’s health.

A basic pesticide treatment was performed on February 21st. It would not be until March 27th that they would perform any follow up services. We have been in constant contact with property management, reminding them that they are in violation of the lease. It wasn’t until I called the health department that they were conveniently able to have a treatment scheduled 2 days later.

Following the recent fumigation treatment that occurred on march 27th, we were informed by the exterminator that the apartment below us was completely infested, inhabited, destroyed, and contaminated with cockroaches. Since then, it has been nearly never ending with how many we see a day. We are aware that fumigation disrupts their normal behaviors, but that doesn’t take away the fact that there are likely hundreds of thousands of them in the walls and plumbing system. This is not an issue that will be resolved in an acceptable timeframe.

My brother, who is one of the leaseholders here, is legally disabled and receives disability payment every month because of it. His conditions include, and are not limited to, asthma, anxiety, insomnia, ptsd, autoimmune disease/thyroid disease. These conditions have been worsened immensely by the current living situation.

I’m tired of living in an apartment that costs $2,099 a month and dealing with conditions that are reasonably uninhabitable for anybody. I would ideally like to be able to break the lease without penalty and move out. But if that’s not a feasible resolution I would like any sort of recourse possible for what we’ve had to go through.