Jeff Preval is an award-winning anchor and reporter who joined the News 4 team in December 2021. See more of his work here.
Call 4 Action: Plumbing leak concerns at Lockport apartment complex
LOCKPORT, N.Y. (WIVB) - There are health and safety concerns at Lincoln Apartments in Lockport -- the water damage in some of the apartments is so bad, tenants have been told not to take a shower, out of fear they could fall through the floor.
Laura Taylor contacted Call 4 Action, saying the past four or five months have been embarrassing and degrading after noticing water coming from her tub and getting on the bathroom floor at the Transit Road apartment complex.
"I'm scared to step in there, because the last time I did -- I did use it like probably a month ago -- it was a little weak," Taylor said.
Birgo Realty, which is based in Pittsburgh, owns the property. They say two homes have plumbing leaks in the bathroom and that extensive repairs are needed to the plumbing line and the floors, which means Laura and her partner have had to go shower elsewhere.
"Now we we go to my mom's house every week to take a shower once a week," Taylor said. "It's horrible, we don't like it. We take our bird baths in the sink everyday, just to get cleaned, and then we go every week, every Sunday, to my mom's house to take a real shower and we work every day wherever we work at. It's not right."
Call 4 Action has asked Birgo Realty what it is doing to help people here.
The company told WIVB that residents have been given the option to relocate to another home or another development owned by Birgo or be allowed to break their lease.
Laura said she doesn't want to move because of the close proximity to her job, so she's looking at other options.
This is now the fourth property owned by Birgo Realty that Call 4 Action has received complaints about. Other complaints include flooding, not having hot water and sewage backups.