Elevator Sabotage At Greene Homes, Potential Retaliation From Drug Dealers

Jillian Baldwin, chief executive of Park City Communities that oversees Bridgeport’s public housing stock, is grappling with an ongoing issue involving the sabotaging of elevators causing outages and requiring tens of thousands of extra dollars in maintenance as well as headaches for residents particularly at Greene Homes in The Hollow.

On Friday no sooner than the installation of replacement parts restored viable elevator service the vendor “discovered that someone had intentionally wedged a key box containing what appears to be crack and heroin into the receiving side of the elevator door frame.”

Greene Homes comes under the domain of the federal Housing and Urban Development but day-to-day maintenance responsibilities rest with local property management that can lead to complicated situations, especially costly infrastructure repairs. Sometimes elevator parts, particularly for older systems, are difficult  to secure.

Modern elevator systems are extremely expensive and not a priority for Republicans in power to finance on behalf of a vote that isn’t theirs.

Under the Trump administration the public housing operating fund of HUD has been slashed substantially, something that could be restored if Democrats control the House of Representatives – and with it the power of the pen – after Tuesday’s vote.

Another possibility under consideration: relocate residents and demolish the building for something better than a financial and law enforcement drain.

Statement from Jillian Baldwin:

As you know, PCC has faced significant criticism over elevator outages at Greene Homes and Trumbull Gardens. We’ve repeatedly tried to communicate that many of these outages involve intentional vandalism, not inaction on PCC’s part.

This morning (Friday) provides a particularly troubling example. After weeks of working to secure replacement parts, our elevator vendor finally restored service to Building 3 at Greene Homes—one of the buildings where residents have been most vocal about the outages.

Within one hour of the elevator being restored, it was out of service again. Fortunately, our vendor was still onsite and immediately investigated. They discovered that someone had intentionally wedged a key box containing what appears to be crack and heroin into the receiving side of the elevator door frame. The magnet attached to the box damaged the elevator’s electronic control board, effectively undoing months of effort and expense.

Just like that, we’re back at ground zero. PCC pays between $7 and $10K for electronic replacements each time. We might as well have opened our windows and thrown that money out of it for all the good the investment did.

I want the public to see this picture and understand what our staff and contractors are confronting as they work to provide essential services. Residents deserve functioning elevators, and our teams deserve recognition for the extraordinary challenges they’re navigating to keep them operational.

Adding to my concern, we’re hearing rumblings about potential retaliation following the removal of illegal drugs, referred to as “the pack,” from the development. While I cannot establish a connection between these events, the environment raises serious concerns about staff and contractor safety. I believe greater public visibility could offer some additional protection.