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Greenburgh Fairview Manhattan Tenants Afraid, Some Say

GREENBURGH, N.Y. – Some residents of Greenburgh's Fairview Manhattan housing complex said their building is getting more dangerous as short-term tenants wreak havoc on the area.

The 192-unit affordable housing complex on the corner of Manhattan Avenue and Oak Street has seen an influx of transient residents in recent years that don’t care about the community, one longtime tenant told the town board Tuesday, noting that adults hang around in the hallway drinking vodka and sometimes fighting. 

Town Council member Ken Jones said Tuesday that he has fielded calls from Fairview Manhattan residents who fear crime rates are rising and the quality of life is changing for the worse.

“The town has worked really hard to avoid urban blight that occurs in other places,” Jones told Mark Soja, owner of Marathon Development Group, the company that bought the complex in 2006. “We want to make sure that doesn’t occur here.”

While all tenants listed on the lease are subject to a background and credit check before they move in, town Council member Kevin Morgan said he has heard concerns of new tenants coming from places like Yonkers, the Bronx or Mount Vernon and housing family members that may not be on the lease.

Soja said his company is in the process of making “big changes” to help ensure the quality of the building. That includes the addition of security patrolling the grounds three days per week, starting Thursday.

Soja said the building will also get a new property manager and will replace a superintendent of the building who was “overwhelmed” with the task of monitoring the grounds.

“We really struggle to make this a community the residents can call home,” Soja said.

While crime statistics were not immediately available, Supervisor Paul Feiner said he will ask the Greenburgh Police to supply the town board with quarterly reports of crime at the building so the town will be able to monitor any occurring trends in the future. 

 

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