MORRIS HEIGHTS, the Bronx (PIX11) -- It's been eight weeks since a six-story-tall section of an apartment building in the Bronx collapsed to the ground. Since then, most of the families that had been displaced have been told by city authorities that it's safe for them to return. Many of those residents disagree with the assessment and have joined with the families whose apartments were destroyed in the collapse in a lawsuit against the city and the landlord.
"He knows what he's done," said Ivan Schoop, about landlord David Kleiner, who Schoop is now suing as part of the legal action by the residents of 1915 Billingsley Terrace.
Schoop elaborated on what he and the other tenants are seeking: "For him to be a decent human being, and for him to do what he needs to do to set this right."
Schoop's bedroom was on the top floor of the six-story line of rooms that all detached from the building and fell. His bed and all of his other belongings in his room were completely visible in video of the collapse, which was shown in coverage worldwide.
"My privacy and everything was just out for the world to see," he said. "Very devastating."
Since the collapse on Dec. 11, Schoop, his family, and other residents have been relocated to two different shelters. The one where he is now is in Lower Manhattan, a whole borough and 170 blocks away from his home.
In another shelter, at the other end of the Bronx from the partially collapsed building, is resident Diana Vargas. Her apartment was directly below Schoop's.
"We could have lost a life," she said on Monday about the emergency in which, miraculously, there were no serious injuries. "My nephew was in the room, right before it collapsed."
She has joined in the lawsuit, which was filed by the Legal Aid Society on Monday morning.
Vargas said that while she knows that she and her family can't return anytime soon to their condemned apartment, she joined the legal action in an effort to get the building owner to make emergency repairs, and to reverse a long list of violations by the city. The Department of Buildings has cited the landlord dozens of times, for years before the collapse.
In addition to Kleiner, the lawsuit also names Yonah Roth, Moishe "Mo" Doe, and 1915 Billingsley LLC as landlords.
Vargas said that all of the landlords owe their tenants a decent place to live, and that a lawsuit is the only way to get it done.
"I would want the whole building to be fixed," she said, "For everybody. All the neighbors."
She said that fellow residents like Marilyn Arias, are the reason to take legal action. Arias was in her apartment on Monday, trying to clean up the extensive dust and debris that was there. Her home is next to one of the apartments that collapsed.
She'd been told by the city that her apartment is OK to move back in. She disagrees, strongly.
"This apartment has a lot of problems," she said, not the least of which is the dust, which may be full of lead. The lawsuit calls for thorough testing for lead throughout the building.
Other residents, like Vannesa Olivo, reported looting in some apartments before they were allowed to return. Also, said Olivo, whose mother lives in the building, most of the apartments had multiple problems, that are unsafe to go home to. She said that the bathroom in her mother's apartment had severe mold, missing tiles, and other issues.
Also, in the building now, there are utility problems. There is no natural gas, and in some apartments, there's no full water service.
"We don't want just repairs," said Schoop, one of the plaintiffs. "We want them done right, so this does not happen again."
PIX11 News tried to contact David Kleiner, the property owner, as well as his registered agent. Neither were reachable.
They will be required to appear in court in the process of defending against the legal action against them. Their first court appearance is scheduled for Feb. 20.
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