Mold has been growing in Fabian Bravo’s apartment in the Sunset Park area of Brooklyn for years. Because his landlord has failed to fix the problem, Bravo has repeatedly notified New York City’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development, which puts pressure on landlords to make repairs and issues violations if they don’t. Bravo has even gone to Housing Court over the issue.
But the mold has yet to be resolved. “The landlord just has someone put a layer of paint on top of it,” Bravo says. “This doesn’t get to the root of the problem, which is that pipes are leaking throughout the building and need replacing. The mold comes back three months after it’s painted over.”
