Fed-up CHA tenants push city to rehab squalid apartments

For Jimmy Murray, there’s not much to be thankful for this year.

With a leaky toilet, no working stove and a cockroach infestation, Murray hopes his living conditions improve soon at the Harrison Courts Apartments in East Garfield Park.

“It’s the holidays, and there’s no way for someone to be living like this,” 37-year-old Murray said Wednesday as he stood in the vestibule of one of the three high-rise apartments at 2950 W. Harrison St. “None of us should have to go through living like this.”

Murray stood with other tenants of the apartment complex who have grown tired of asking the Chicago Housing Authority to make repairs and fix the rodent problem.

“For two years, I’ve been telling them about the tub and toilet leaking. They haven’t come up to fix anything. Now, I’m sick from the mold. My dog is sick,” Murray said. “I’ve been telling them to come up and do something. I know it’s not Presidential Towers, but it’s mine.”

Murray used to live with his uncle until he died. Now, it’s just him in the apartment where pictures of his deceased parents are displayed on a small desk.

Murray said he pays $230 every month to live in squalor. He said it doesn’t feel much like a home.

“It’s like a holding cell at 26th and California,” Murray said. “I know something has got to give.”

Angel Tingle has been living in the complex since 2009. She listed a litany of problems, from mold to lack of heat to people defecating in the hallways.

“Just because we are CHA residents, I don’t think we should live in these inhabitable conditions,” Tingle, 37, said.

“We don’t have the proper security to feel safe and secure in our own homes. The front door is broken. The back door is broken,” she said. “We need help. What we want from Mayor Johnson is all residents to be relocated immediately and given the right to return after Harrison courts is rebuilt.”

At a new conference at the complex, the Rev. Robin Hood, a community organizer, called for the mayor to invest $10 million to repair the complex. He wants another $10 million for economic development to support businesses in the area.

“For several years now, the residents in this building have been complaining about the horrific conditions that this building has been in,” Hood said. “This place is basically inhabitable.”

Hood said he planned to deliver a letter to Johnson’s office listing the group’s demands.

Harrison Courts is considered an affordable housing development with 122-units in three seven-story buildings.

In May, CHA announced plans to market Harrison Courts to a developer but aimed to preserve it as a “long-term affordability” option for residents. It acknowledged the need for capital investment to address “challenges posed by aging infrastructure and limited funding options.”

In a statement about the current conditions, CHA said: “We want to assure residents that we are listening to their concerns. This summer we released the first resident survey in recent memory so that we can better understand what’s working and what’s not working for our residents. We will be reviewing the results of this survey soon, as well as discussing with resident leadership. We have also increased staffing in our Property and Asset Management Team to provide better oversight of our third-party property managers.”

CHA declined to comment on what it can immediately do to aid tenants. It said the building passed a HUD inspection earlier this year with an 80% score.

A spokesperson for Mayor Johnson could not be reached for comment.