Pittsburgh shuts student rentals to cut risks
0 Comments | Tribune – Review / Pittsburgh Tribune – Review, May 16, 2008 | by Jeremy Boren
Rickety fire escapes, busted locks and leaky gas valves are some of the “dangerous conditions” that defy Pittsburgh building codes and frustrate students in 64 Oakland homes and apartments, city records show.
Building inspectors have declared two of the worst student tenements unfit for habitation, and a third, 42-unit apartment complex could be shuttered soon, Dan Cipriani, acting chief of the Bureau of Building Inspection, said Thursday.
“When you walk in the kitchen, it smells like natural gas,” said Don Cortese, 22, a University of Pittsburgh senior. “But the pilot lights are on, so there must be a leak.”
Cortese has lived for two weeks in one of two dilapidated McKee Place buildings owned by Jason Cohen that city building inspectors ordered to close by Monday.
Cohen, 27, of Mt. Lebanon said he feels singled out by the city’s aggressive action against his properties, which are his livelihood.
“I can drive up and down the streets of Oakland and point out buildings that are a wreck and would get an F grade,” Cohen said. “My properties are B, B-plus properties.”
Residents of the 24 units rushed to move out beds, couches and stereos from the buildings, which were cited for not having fire- resistant doors, smoke detectors or safe fire escapes.
The displaced students have until Monday to move out. Pitt’s housing service is helping to relocate them, said city Public Safety Director Michael Huss.
Cortese’s rent is $800 a month for the two-bedroom apartment, with an $800 deposit that he doesn’t expect will be returned, he said as he pointed to a flimsy looking weld holding a section of the fire escape outside his kitchen window.
His friend, Dave Savakinas, 22, said rundown apartment buildings are common in areas of Oakland laden with student housing.
Savakinas’ apartment on nearby Dawson Street was burglarized recently because of a broken window pane that allowed thieves easy access to steal an X-box, iPod, laptop and a global positioning system worth about $3,000.
“And it was all because this window wasn’t property installed,” Savakinas said.
The city closed the apartments at 331 and 337 McKee Place because Cohen wasn’t cooperating with numerous orders since 2006 to fix the dangerous building code violations, Huss said.
“It’s gone on way too long,” Huss said. “I’m just not inclined to take those risks. People send their kids here to go to school and they think they’re going to be safe. For us to know that these violations are going on … we just couldn’t take the chance.”
Two students died in Oakland apartment fires in 2006.
Huss said the city hasn’t evicted tenants of buildings with dangerous conditions in the past.
“We turn to the courts for help when we can’t get things fixed, but in this case, we had to do as much as we can to get compliance,” he said.
Cohen conceded that code violations probably exist at his properties, but he called the fire escape “very sturdy” and explained that rowdy students have “kicked in the front door five or six times,” which is why it doesn’t lock.
Wayne Bossinger, city field operations manager, said inspectors cited 10 Oakland buildings with “dangerous condition” notices between January and April. If they’re not resolved, the violations could lead to other evictions, Cipriani said.
Bossinger said there are 54 properties with dangerous flaws left over from 2007
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