Christopher Coen
Melissa Sogard
nancylee1
An article in the Syracuse Post-Standard details a refugee success story — a Bosnian man who is now a police officer and home owner. Apparently refugee resettlement agencies resettled more than 3,000 Bosnians in the Syracuse area and another 6,000 in nearby Utica.
When I read the article I noticed that the resettlement agency, Interfaith Works, a CWS and EMM affiliate, placed the refugees at the notorious Vincent Apartments on Smith Lane.
…The former InterReligious Council refugee program, which is now the Center for New Americans Refugee Resettlement Program at Interfaith Works, helped set up his family, and many other Bosnian families, at the Vincent Apartments on Smith Lane in Syracuse…here
According to media accounts Vincent Apartments is one of the properties owned by Longley-Jones Management Corp. at which the company illegally removed asbestos, exposing workers and residents to the cancer-causing particles.
A Syracuse company admitted Tuesday that its workers illegally ripped asbestos out of 98 apartment buildings across Onondaga County, potentially exposing residents to the cancer-causing material for up to 15 years.
Longley-Jones Management Corp. of Syracuse, Central New York’s largest manager of commercial and residential real estate, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to eight felony charges and agreed to pay $4 million in fines.
About $3 million will pay for the cleanup of remaining asbestos, which in some cases was left exposed inside apartments and communal laundry rooms, prosecutors said.
The case involves some of the Syracuse area’s most prominent apartment complexes, including several historic buildings. The largest apartment buildings are the Skyline Apartments, at James and Lodi streets in Syracuse, the Vincent Apartments near Syracuse University and Springfield Garden apartments near Le Moyne College in DeWitt.
…Federal investigators are trying to notify former and current residents of the affected apartments. But prosecutors said they likely will never know the names of all the residents exposed.
“We can’t identify, let alone notify, all of the people, ” said Assistant U.S. Attorney Craig Benedict, who prosecuted the case.
“We’re having a dickens of a time tracking down some of the people who lived in these buildings, ” Benedict said. “Over 15 years, we don’t know who has been in and out of the buildings.” here
Refugees who lived in the following apartments should pay particular notice, although basement and laundry areas were also effected.
Vincent Apartments, 102, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110, 111 Rony Lane, and 101-111 Smith Lane, Syracuse
Here are some reviews by former Vincent Apartments tenants:
- Really poor services
Rated 1.0 out of 5.0 By gao – Oct 23, 2009
The management is a mess and the maintenance is horrible. I signed up automatic payment but I still got charged late fee because they messed up my credit card information. Generally need to wait for days before they come to repair things, even for emergencies. A big chunk of ceiling material just fell off in the bathroom and water from upstairs drips down. I called them yesterday morning and nobody shows up yet. here
- Reviewed by: Anonymous
Review Date: 7/26/2009
Rented: From 2008 To 2009
This place is filthy, loud, and dangerous. I lived with a roommate, our apt. was burglarized, my license plates stolen off my car, and other tenants cars were broken into as well. Things that maintenance promised to repair never were, snow and ice not cleared during winter and hallways are disgusting. here
A 2006 State Department monitoring report for the former InterReligious Council, now Interfaith Works, noted the following about an apartment visited by monitors:
…[in a situation involving] a Liberian single mother, monitors observed broken glass, trash and graffiti around the building and in the corridors. The hallways were dirty, an upper floor window was open without screens, the entrance buzzer did not work, and a metal stairway banister was broken. Another resident in the complex indicated to monitors that the complex was substandard and dangerous. Monitors were told that there had been a fire on the first floor and gunfire heard on several occasions. Although the refugee’s apartment was clean and reasonably comfortable, the toilet was not working and the bathroom sink was clogged. The family was missing one bed frame, which the mother described as having been given but not replaced when the original mattress and frame had been discarded for having bedbugs…here
