When a storm rained sheets of water through Cynthia Saldana’s closed bedroom window, she bought the materials to fix it herself. When the bathroom ceiling burst, drenching her clothing closet, she didn’t lose hope. Even a mushroom growing out of the molded wall wasn’t Cynthia’s last straw.

But when a gas leak was discovered in January at 1349 Stratford Avenue in the Bronx, gas lines for the entire building were shut off. As of August, Cynthia and her 26-year-old daughter, Ashley Pagan, still have no gas in their home. The never-ending outage made the deterioration in Cynthia and Ashley’s longtime home begin to feel unmanageable. It also began to represent something larger than just physical damage. The women felt forgotten.

Three generations of Cynthia’s family have shared the apartment at 1349 Stratford for close to two decades. Many residents in the 72-unit building have lived there even longer. For years, the building management has worsened.

Combined with the outage of gas at 1349 Stratford Avenue, tenants also experienced periods of lack of heat and hot water. No gas meant no functioning stoves and ovens. Complaints went largely unanswered. Over the winter, Cynthia and Ashley’s dog, Archie, a thick and stout corgi, was freezing. The women worried about leaving a space heater on because of the recent and fatal fire at nearby Twin Parks North West.

Since January, the two women have relied on a hot plate to cook: a small, weak, and inefficient electric device that adds to their rising electricity bills. Hot plates have no oven mechanism and take an excessive amount of time to heat; cooking rice takes 15 minutes on a stovetop, but close to an hour on a hot plate.

Tenants are forced to rely on unhealthy food options like fried food, which is faster to make, or takeout. The women work full time, but financial strain is a growing challenge the longer they go without a working kitchen.

To advocate for tenants’ rights in low-income communities, and with funding from the City’s Anti-Harassment Tenant Protection program, The Legal Aid Society created the Housing Justice Unit-Group Advocacy Project. Their goal is to work with those facing harassment and displacement to keep them and their families in their homes. They focus on maintaining stable and healthy living conditions for these residents, preventing landlords from taking advantage of their tenants. Residents at 1349 Stratford, including Cynthia and Ashley, connected with Legal Aid lawyers Ben Seibel and Russell Crane through the office of State Senator Luis Sepulveda.

Seibel and Crane held tenant meetings where people could express their frustrations, share their stories, and air complaints in a safe environment. Both Cynthia and Ashley attended these and were vocal about their issues. After the meetings, Legal Aid filed a lawsuit representing 41 of the apartments (over half of the building) against the property owners and management. Complaints included cockroach and mice infestations, mold, lack of gas, malfunctioning outlets, holes in walls, and leaks, among a slew of other violations.

New York is Cynthia Saldana’s home. She moved here from Puerto Rico at age 6. She raised her daughter here, and her mother is in a nursing home nearby. She calls herself a helper and manifests this energy around her, “I like to help everybody. But don’t take my kindness for weakness either. If I see someone struggling, I will sit there and help that person.” She was thrilled when Legal Aid signed on to represent the tenants in their fight. And though the process hasn’t been easy, she’s seen progress.

Long-term solutions for gentrification, displacement, and decaying property must emphasize systemic change and can’t rely only on legal action. Housing Court must take these cases seriously by using their authority to impose civil penalties and hold landlords accountable through the Court’s contempt powers to ensure ordered work is completed. But the 1349 Stratford lawsuit, and other similar lawsuits, are a vital step in catalyzing repairs while also raising awareness of how to combat careless management of buildings, particularly those inhabited by low-income communities and communities of color.

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As a result of the lawsuit, gas lines have slowly but surely begun to be replaced at 1349 Stratford. Cynthia hopes theirs will be fixed soon and they can resume some sense of normalcy and routine in their lives.

Standing outside of 1349 Stratford on a humid summer evening, Cynthia and Ashley take in the neighborhood. A family with young kids exits the building, and the neighbors share a sympathetic moment. The adults chat while the two young girls stare, wide-eyed, at Cynthia. The women complain lightheartedly about the building but seem at ease as they vent. Their hope has been challenged, but this is their community. This is their home. “We have a lot of memories here,” Cynthia says. “Good ones and bad ones. It is what it is. Life goes on. We just want to be comfortable.”

Words and photos by Phoebe Jones.