70-year-old Cora Robinson, a breast cancer survivor living without a spleen in her Bronx apartment at 1777 Grand Concourse, has spent nearly a year battling a severe rat infestation that has invaded her kitchen, living space, and peace of mind while endangering her already fragile health. The large rodents enter through radiators, walls, pipes, and baseboards, leaving droppings, urine, and flies in their wake as they rummage across countertops and leave teeth marks on appliances. Robinson captured video and photos of the creatures in action, including one perched on her kitchen counter last fall and others active as recently as Friday night.
Armed with a piece of plywood, she spends her days trying to defend her home against rats.
“I thought it would keep them from running around the baseboard, right?”
Robinson explained.
“But now what they’re doing is they just come, they’re so big, they’re jumping over it.”
Pointing to a recent trap holding one of the rodents, she described the setup.
“This is what we used last night to catch that other one,”
she said.
“We had to put the weights on him, the hammer. They certainly don’t look small.”
The infestation has taken a heavy toll.
“I can’t sleep. I’m not eating,”
Robinson said.
“And if I don’t stop this, I’m going to wind up in the hospital.”
She added that she almost wound up there yesterday. As a breast cancer survivor already managing a weakened immune system, she keeps her food, bed, and water confined to the bedroom.
“I can’t leave it out here because they’ll get into it,”
she explained, while her small dog shares the same hazardous environment.
The ordeal has left her exhausted and deeply disgusted.
“I’m tired of cleaning poop off the stove. You know, I mean, it’s terrible,”
she said.
“If you turn the oven on, it smells like them.”
Any hope of hosting for Easter went right out the window.
“I’m sorry. I’m just done. I’m just so disgusted,”
she said about the conditions that have persisted despite her repeated attempts to defend her space.
Robinson has filed multiple complaints with the city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development, which according to documents has cited the landlord in the past. The property, managed through Asden Management, was named as a respondent in a 2023 tenant lawsuit alleging unlivable conditions at 1777 Grand Concourse, and court documents confirm the case remains pending in housing court. She has also reached out directly to the management company without success until broader attention prompted a response.
Public awareness of her situation has now led to concrete steps forward, with city officials intervening to arrange free professional pest control services and address the outstanding violations at the building. At 71 years old, Robinson said she would love to just move out of her building but she just can’t afford to.
“Something is very wrong in this city if a senior can’t live comfortably,”
she said. She urged decision makers to come and take a look and smell the conditions themselves.
“All these people need to come and take a look and smell,”
she concluded.
“Okay? That’s what I wish they would do.”
This situation illustrates the acute challenges that confront vulnerable residents in New York City‘s older multifamily buildings, where longstanding maintenance neglect can quickly escalate into serious health threats for seniors and immunocompromised individuals. Tenant complaint systems and legal avenues provide important tools for accountability yet they often move slowly without sustained external pressure to enforce repairs against property owners. Stories like Robinson’s serve as a reminder that effective housing oversight must prioritize rapid intervention and stronger protections to prevent such infestations from undermining the dignity and safety of longtime community members who deserve stable living environments.
For tenants facing similar issues the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development tenant reporting system offers a direct channel to document complaints and trigger inspections. Details on the ongoing legal proceedings can be tracked through New York City Housing Court resources while building ownership and violation history appear in the NYC Property Information Portal. Additional building specific data including complaints and citations is available via HPD Online.
