Betances Houses Rat Infestation Major Problem For Seniors

By Alicia Cruz

Senior writer

Theblackurbantimes

The Betances Houses in the South Bronx houses a section of their developement specifically for senior citizens. The average person would expect this area to be safe and more importantly, clean. The senior citizen section is far from either. For several months the residents have had to deal with rats.

In addition to the sounds of gunshots, screams, loud music and fights...and the scratching sounds of scurring rats. Rat feces and urine permeate the halls and in many cases, the apartments. The rodents have gnawed holes through ceilings, then fell down into the apartments.

Sadly, resident behavior has aided the rodents is setting up shop at the Betances. The second story rooftop is littered with everything from chicken bones, junk-food wrappers and take-out food containers, enabling the maurauding rodents to have a field day.
Residents incessant complaints to the NYC Housing Authority brought about an exterminator, but that led to another problem: decaying carcasses. The poisoned laid by the exterminator killed the rats, but now, when residents leave their apartments they are met by the rank stench and site of decaying rat carcasses.

Photo courtesy of / Lindsay Lazarski

“This should be the best kept building in New York. Instead it’s the stinkiest!” said tenant Ernest McNeill, shaking his head. McNeill, a retired mailman who has lived in the building for eight years, said the rats behaved as if they were tenants, walking around, and crossing the street. “They looked like puppies, like little Chihuahuas,” chimed in Herman Escabi, another tenant. Segundo E. Delgado, another resident, said, “They’re big rats, like cats,” as he held out his hands to measure an imaginary rat for effect.

The New York City Housing Authority, which owns and operates the 12-story, 88-unit building, reserved for seniors 62 years old and older, openly acknowledges the infestation and the nauseating smell that followed the dispatch of the exterminator.
“No one should be subjected to that,” said NYCHA spokesman Howard Marder of the odor. NYCHA has since removed the panels of the dropped ceiling and is in the process of sanitizing the space and replacing the ceiling. “It will be done expeditiously,” Marder promised.
But residents say the horrendous smell from the lobby is all too familiar.

The senior building has been nicknamed “Calvary,” after Calvary Hospital in the Bronx, explained McNeill.
“Calvary is where they put you on your death bed. When they can’t do nothing else for you. When your insurance runs out and the city is going to bury you,” said McNeill, who disapproves of the name and expects a better living environment. “We all need to work together,” said Canales. Custodian, Tony Rodriguez, said there is nothing more that can be done.“Rats have been here for the last hundred years, and they are still going to be here,” said Rodriguez. “As long as people are here, rats are still going to be around.”