For the twelfth time in 13 years, a Bedford Park senior says he has suffered through a flood of rushing water pouring into his home. However, this time, he said the cascading water brought down the ceiling on top of his head in a spare room adjacent to his living room.

 

Longtime tenant, Tony Apostolos, 78, of 116 East Mosholu Parkway South, invited Norwood News to inspect the damage to his apartment and belongings on Sunday, April 25, a day after rushing water caused his ceiling to collapse, and sent Apostolos on a day trip to the hospital.

 

“I’m going to have to send all of my clothes to be cleaned,” said Apostolos, a former carpenter and restaurant worker. Pointing to a turntable and a Macintosh CD player, he said, “That thing was $2,500 – just for that.” Going down a list of destroyed or damaged property, Apostolos counted an equalizer, two chairs, ten coats, and six pairs of shoes. “The shoes, ranging from $2 to $500 – everything in the closet was flooded out,” he said.

 

Recalling how the incident unfolded before 7 a.m. the previous day, Apostolos said, “I heard something, but I just went out [of the room where the ceiling fell in]. He added, “I thought they were running a washing machine upstairs. I went to the bathroom and as I was coming out, I heard the sound like a washing machine, and as I was going in [to the original room], I started to see the water coming out from the walls,” he said.

“I tried to grab my turntable… and by that time, it was on top of me,” he said, referring to the water and the debris from the ceiling. He said he was hit by the debris on his neck, back and shoulders, and fell to the floor. Apostolos said an ambulance took him to Montefiore Hospital where he was treated and released at around 2 p.m. the same day.

 

He said before he went to hospital, the fire department had arrived on the scene. “They told the Super at 7 o’clock in the morning to shut the water off,” Apostolos said, referring to the FDNY’s apparent request to turn off the water supply to the entire building. “He didn’t shut the water,” he continued. “I came home at two in the afternoon and the water was still coming down.” He said the FDNY were called back to the building once again therefore, having left earlier that morning while Apostolos was at the hospital.

 

When the firefighters returned, and arrived on his floor, he said a discussion ensued with the Super. Apostolos said, in his opinion, the Super was initially acting like he didn’t understand what the firefighters were saying when they asked him to turn off the water supply. “He speaks perfect English,” Apostolos said, referring to the Super, though he acknowledged he has an accent.

 

Apostolos said one of the firefighters then demanded, in Spanish, that the Super shut off the water and told him that if he didn’t, the firefighter would break down the door leading to where a broken pipe was located that was apparently causing the flooding. Apostolos said the landlord then proceeded to shut off the water but that, at that point, it had been seven hours since the original flooding began.

 

Norwood News called the number listed for the Super which was posted in the lobby of the building to ask for his comment regarding the allegation by Apostolos that, in his opinion, the Super delayed turning off the water supply for whatever reason. The call went through to the answering machine for the management company, Genesis Realty Group. We a left message requesting that they return our call.

 

Apostolos recalled being in similar situations in the building, several times before. “I sued him six or seven years ago,” he said, referring to the landlord. “I won the case.” He said, on that occasion, it had been a smaller flood which, nonetheless, had destroyed some of his personal property.

 

When asked if Genesis Realty Group had offered to fix the pipe or the damaged ceiling, Apostolos responded, “Personally, I really don’t want them to come and do the job because they never fix it. This is twelve times.” He did not elaborate on how he planned to fix the ceiling, nor who would pay for it.

 

According to records obtained from the New York City Department of Buildings, the building currently has a partial stop work order in effect, as well as a whopping 215 complaints and 22 open violations. The records also indicated that Genesis Realty was slapped with two $10,000 fines in October and December 2020 for a construction safety violation.

 

Several subsequent calls were placed with Genesis Realty Group, at the number listed in the lobby, requesting a comment. Our calls were not returned. Apostolos subsequently gave us a direct cell phone number for Jac Zadrima who, according to his LinkedIn profile, is the manager member for Genesis Realty Group. On Tuesday, May 11, Norwood News spoke with Zadrima, who said, “I don’t make comments to newspapers regarding our properties.”

 

116 Mosholu LLC is listed as the owner of the building.

 

Norwood News will continue to monitor the situation.