Residents of the Quinnipiac Avenue apartments in New Haven say they thought they were making progress with Ocean Management on important quality of life issues.
“That was a big step that they’re at least agreeing to meet with us,” said Hope Vaughn, of the Quinnipiac Avenue Tenant Union.
Vaughn says Ocean Management was on board to hear the concerns of the union and collective bargaining for leases looked promising.
But they were back at the picket line Thursday trying to get the new property management company, Hammock Home Management, to pick up where Ocean left off. Hammock took over managing the complex on October 1, and former Ocean Management employee Yohay Levram is now the manager of Hammock.
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“We tried to meet with them three times but to no avail. So, we had to sharpen our tools,” Vaughn said.
“Change is definitely something that is said, but actions speak louder than words,” said Richard Machuca, a member of the Quinnipiac Avenue Tenant Union.
They say they were hopeful before, now they feel frustrated again about housing issues they say are unaddressed, like broken windows, rodents and insects, standing water, and mold.
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“It’s bad that we have to go through this at the end of the day because everybody wants to live comfortably,” Machuca said.
In a statement sent to NBC Connecticut, a representative from Hammock says in part:
“Contrary to what is implied, there are no known housing code violations at present for the Quinnipiac/Eastern properties.
Further, both properties were granted a residential business license from the city of New Haven, and Hammock Home Management employs a dedicated superintendent, who is present on the property daily to attend to any need.”
It goes on to say “Yohay Levram is not employed by Ocean and has never had any ownership in the Ocean entity. He is an employee and manager of Hammock Home Management and has no association with Ocean Management.”
When asked about taking part in collective bargaining for leases, the company representative said their door is always open and “in fact, there was a meeting scheduled last week, which was cancelled last minute by the union for unclear reasons.”
The representative was clear that there is no crossover of employees or properties managed between Ocean Management and Hammock Home Management, and that they are two completely different companies.
In October, city officials were at Quinnipiac Avenue apartments to announce fines up to $2,000 for housing code violations and stronger union support, which Richard Machuca says is necessary.
“We need that. we need people that’s going to stand by us and give us that hope that we’re hoping for.”
