Public Housing In the Bronx Is Making Its Residents Sick

While living in New York last year, Portuguese photographer Ana Brigida Moreira Mendes spent a couple of months in neighbourhoods like the Bronx, Harlem and the Lower East Side photographing the inside of some of its more dilapidated housing blocks. And that wasn’t her being nosy, it was her trying to get the state to give a fuck about the fact the buildings’ dilapidation was manifesting itself as a fungal mould all over the residents’ walls and, in some cases, on their actual bodies, which is obviously gross and distressing and something a housing association should really sort out.  

I called Ana up for a chat about her project, Bloomberg’s Legacy while she was back home, bedbound after a bicycle accident.

VICE: Do you want to start by telling me how the project came about, how did you come up wit the idea?
Ana Brigida Moreira Mendes: I got an internship with Magnum in New York last year, so I left Portugal and ended up living in the Bronx opposite this massive block of flats. Its outside walls were covered in bullet holes, which made me curious, so I just started asking around the neighbourhood about it. In the end, Michael Kamber from The Bronx Documentary Center introduced me to the local parish priest who told me about this organisation called Manhattan Together and got me in touch with Marielys Divanne who works with them. And that’s how it started.

What does Manhattan Together do, exactly?
It’s an organisation that’s been working to get the residents of Manhattan to better their communities. At some point they realised that this particular housing block was decaying so badly that it was actually interfering with its residents’ health. They got to knocking on doors, trying to get the details of each tenant, find out whether it was mould or infiltration and pinpoint if residents’ respiratory problems derived from it, but they couldn’t get a good sense of the scale of the issue. That where I came in, taking pictures of the damages of portraits of the people that could function as proof when they sued the New York City Housing Authority last December.

Susana, a 16-year-old asthmatic who’s been living with mould in her bathroom, kitchen and bedrooms for more than ten years. Melrose Houses, Bronx, NY, 2012.

How negligent has the NYCHA been?
Well, when you have to deal with public housing, the main problem is bureaucracy. Once you report a problem – let’s say there’s water leaking from your ceiling – it can take them up to two years to get it fixed. Imagine how sick a person can get surrounded by mould for two years.

What are the most common type of illnesses you came across?
It’s mainly asthma, but I also met a person who was diagnosed with mould in the skin. I don’t even know how that’s possible; she doesn’t know how it’s possible, either.

How come there are mostly women in your photos?
Oh, that’s purely circumstantial. I visited during the day, when the men where at work. Also, the children would often be there because, in some cases, they are too sick to go to school. Then again, staying at home worsens their ailment. The parents don’t know what to do.

Maribette Cortes and three other family members suffer from asthma. There is mould in her bathroom. Melrose Houses, Bronx, NY, 2012.

How did you get the people to let you in their houses?
In the beginning, Marielys Divanne would take me with her and introduce me to everyone and I’d take a few pictures, but I soon realised that, if I wanted to get the complete story, I would have to spend more time with these people. Everyone would tell me that I shouldn’t go there alone because of the gangs, and there’s been a few cases of rape. As you can understand, for a stranger with a camera, the situation might not seem as the most welcoming but the people were. I was absolutely fine – I didn’t face any problems.

What state is the project in now?
Well, Manhattan Together went public with the issue in December and the last thing I heard was that they were looking to transfer some of the worst cases to another place, but the NYCHA hasn’t done anything.

Oscar Cruz has been living in these conditions for more than ten years. Oscar and most of his family members who live in the house suffer from asthma and other respiratory allergies. Webster Houses, Bronx, NY, 2012.

Does that mean the damages in the apartments are beyond repair?
In my opinion, it would need a lot of work to get those places running properly again. In some cases, I can’t even understand how anyone can live there – some people live under completely open ceilings. There’s this photograph of a man in his living room. He’s got a part of the wall covered in a plastic bag, and when he takes the plastic off a river of water starts running out. You can see all the wires in the wall if you look through the hole. It’s so terrible and dangerous.

Did you exhibit the photographs?
Yes, we put on an exhibition at the Bronx Documentary Center in New York. The funny thing is that when I would first enter each house, the people would be a little bit shy about the issue or too embarrassed about the state of their homes. They all came for the exhibition, though. People would point at their pictures and show them to their friends, which I think is great because it brought everyone together. It created a sense of community, so now they actually fight for their cause.

Well, that’s inspiring. Thanks Ana.

See more of Ana’s work here.

Follow Elektra on Twitter: @elektrakotsoni

Previously:

You Will Give a Shit About Nick Hannes’ Photos

What to Do When All Your Friends Start Making Babies

Photographing the Loving Gays of Vietnam

Luz Ortiz has mould in her bathroom and was diagnosed with asthma. Morris Houses, Bronx, NY, 2012.

Maribette Cortes and three other family members suffer from asthma. There is mould in her bathroom. Melrose Houses, Bronx, NY, 2012.

Omayra Gomez has mould in the bathroom and in her kitchen. Her 13-year-old daughter has asthma. Omayra has leukemia. Wagner Houses, Lower East Side, NY, 2012.

Maria Rosario has lived with mould for 10 years in the bathroom, kitchen and bedroom. She has been diagnosed with asthma. Melrose Houses, Bronx, NY, 2012.

Ana Nunez has mould and mildew in her bathroom and has waited for four years to get the problem fixed. She has fallen twice in the night on standing water in her hallway. Gompers Houses, Lower East Side, NY, 2012.

Tristen Davquez lives in a house exposed with mould and cockroaches. He was diagnosed with asthma and needs to use the machine every day. Bronx, NY, 2012.

View from Melrose Projects. Bronx, NY, 2012.

Oscar Cruz has been living in these conditions for more than 10 years. Oscar and most of his family members that live in the house suffer from asthma and other respiratory allergies. Webster Houses, Bronx, NY, 2012.

Shakisha, 27 years old, has been diagnosed with mould inside her body. Her house has infiltration problems in the bathroom and in the living room. Jackson Houses, Bronx, NY, 2012.

Alicia Moore’s bathroom. She has been waiting three years for NYCHA to fix the hole in her bathroom. Melrose Houses, Bronx, NY, 2012.

Bienvenido Abinader’s bathroom, Webster Av., Bronx, NY, 2012.

Gloria Diaz is diagnosed with asthma and other allergies. The kitchen has an exposed hole, the bathroom has mildew and her apartment’s walls are deteriorating. Baruch Houses, Lower East Side, NY, 2012.

Aurelinda de Marine, diagnosed with asthma and other allergies. Her living room, bathroom and bedroom have holes and mildew. Her six-year-old great granddaughter also has asthma. Wald Houses, Lower East Side, NY, 2012.

Alicia’s Moore’s daughter, Tiffany, 13 years old, diagnosed with lead in her body. Melrose Houses, Bronx, NY, 2012.

Susana, 16 years old, diagnosed with asthma. Living with mould for 10 years in the bathroom, kitchen and bedrooms. Melrose Houses, Bronx, NY, 2012.

Vanessa has lived with her family in the houses for 14 years and NYCHA never came to fix any problems. They have mould in the bathroom, cockroaches in the kitchen and mildew in the corridor. Bronx, NY, 2012.

Sonia Nunez’s bathroom. Grant Houses, Lower East Side, NY, 2012.