Tenants in Plainfield hold rally after several apartment buildings condemned
It has been over a week since dozens of families were kicked out of their homes on West Seventh Street.
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People who were forced to leave several condemned Plainfield apartment buildings held a rally outside one of the buildings.
It is a story News 12 New Jersey first reported on earlier this month. It has been over a week since dozens of families were kicked out of their homes on West Seventh Street. Those tenants were joined by tenants who lived at an apartment building on Arlington Avenue. Both buildings are owned by Cyclone Investment Group and share similar stories.
Cyclone Investment Group owns multiple properties in the Plainfield area. Tenants say the apartments on Arlington Avenue were also recently condemned.
"The owner does have more properties that are either going to be shut down or have already been shut down, so there is a lot of families, a lot of kids, and it's unfair that suffering,” says tenant Estephany Blanco. “Especially so close to the school year starting. We wish they would've done right by us, but this is why we're here now."
MORE: State Dept. of Health finds 195 new violations against Plainfield apartment building
One tenant tells News 12 she believes the number of people impacted could be as high as 500, mostly made up of families.
A Plainfield City Council member tells News 12 that he believes there are more than 100 people from the Arlington Avenue building who still have not received city housing assistance. He said there was clearly something wrong with how the situation was handled.
Tenants are calling on the Cyclone Investment Group to do whatever it takes to make repairs quickly so they can return to their homes.
Plainfield Mayor Adrian Mapp encouraged the tenants to utilize the city's social services, which are based out of the performing arts center. Housing assistance hours are only on weekdays during working hours. Officials say they are looking to expand those hours to accommodate more people.
Former tenants tell News12 they don't all qualify for housing assistance and still want to see the management company held accountable.
More information from the city can be found HERE.
