'Nightmare After Nightmare': Mold, Safety Fears At Affordable Complex

GREENPORT, NY — On the North Fork, where the dearth of affordable housing has left so many scrambling desperately for ways to stay rooted in the community where they grew up — where their families reside and where they, themselves, live and work — the Vineyard View affordable housing community in Greenport, when first proposed, was seen as a veritable "great white hope" for many.

But now, residents have come forward with photos and videos — stories of mold, leaking infrastructure and failing HVAC systems, broken outdoor furniture, faulty locks and cracked glass — detailing health and safety issues that they say have turned what they thought would be their dream homes into living nightmares.

Destiny Salter, who lives in the Vineyard View complex, reached out to Patch. "Several of us have been living with mold in our units for quite some time," she said.

For months, residents said, there has been no property manager or maintenance technician onsite at regular intervals. "There are several other hazards in the community that we are concerned about for the safety of our children," Salter said, adding that residents are hoping to galvanize and organize a community forum to outline their concerns.

She added: "All of my vents have mold growing in them and I believe my family has developed health issues because of it."

Speaking with Patch, Salter expressed her dismay. "It's absolutely terrible, just disgusting," she said.

When she first planned to move into her apartment, Salter said she was excited. "It was supposed to be such a great project," she said. "This is a shame. I just want safe, afforable housing for my children."

It's not the first time the project has seen pitfalls: In 2020, a lottery for the affordable housing complex was botched, necessitating a redo.

The lottery was for the Vineyard View housing community, with 50 affordable rental units located at 6200 North Road in Greenport; the project when pitched was a joint effort between both Conifer Realty LLC and the Community Development Corporation of Long Island.

Salter, a single mom of two children, 10 and 8, said she was in the first batch of lottery winners but, after the lottery snafu, moved down the list, seeing her hopes dimmed. "When I got the call, I was very shocked but very grateful," she said.

She moved into her new home in November, 2019, jut before Thanksgiving. "It was really nice, to celebrate the holiday here."

But from Day 1, she said, she noticed "condensation" around the AC, and "immediately, there was mold on the vents."

Salter said she reported the issue to management, fearing that it would become a potentially serious problem. "It got to the point that the paint was so moist, there was a bubbling effect taking place," she said.

In 2020, Salter was slated to host Easter and again, complained about the leaking from her ceiling; maintenance, she said, told her "they were going to patch it up. So they patched it up, scraped it and painted it and then said they had to come back and do it right. I told them, 'This is going to turn into a problem.' Then, this past year, I started noticing black dots appearing on the bathroom grate — I was visually seeing mold."

The mold was in her bedroom, her kids' room, she said.

At the same time, Salter said her daughter, who'd never been sick, developed asthma and needs a pump. And, while the connection to the mold has not been proven, Salter said she's worried: "She was sleeping in a bunk bed on top, nearest to the vent, the first person to receive that air."

Her son, she said, has eczema, rashes on his skin.

She, herself, has chronic headaches, Salter said. "I cried, when I had a lightbulb moment — I think it could be the enviroment," she said.

And, when another resident began posting on social media with similar concerns, Salter said she and others realized they weren't alone. "The moms came together, because this is a huge problem."

Salter said she and a group of other mothers met with Southold Town Supervisor Al Krupski, as other town officials, including the town's building inspector, who came and surveyed the units.

Krupski told Patch that he and other town officials, including Councilwoman Anne Smith, Government Liaison Gwynn Schroeder; and Chief Building Inspector Mike Verity had first met with residents on-site.

He said the group who attended saw the mold that residents have cried out about — when he contacted Conifer, they said it would be remediated.

"We listened to their concerns, viewed one apartment, and afterward, contacted Conifer Realty to advocate for our residents," he said. "We asked for better communication with residents about safety issues, including unlocked doors and a broken window. The residents need a contact and Conifer responded that they are taking this seriously and will remediate the problems," he said.

A Conifer representative also responded to a request for comment from Patch: "The health and safety of our residents is our top priority. We were made aware of and have been actively addressing concerns regarding mildew and condensation issues in a number of units at Vineyard View. While the number of impacted units is limited, we are inspecting every unit to ensure nothing is missed," Dave Lanzillo, director of marketing and communication, said. "Meanwhile, we’re pleased to share that we are taking numerous steps to improve Vineyard View moving forward including hiring a full-time maintenance supervisor who will address resident concerns as they arise and actively searching for a full-time community manager."

Lanzillo added: "Our president has met with Supervisor Krupski, Councilwoman Anne Smith and town staff who have been strong advocates for our residents, and we offered our full commitment to respond to these issues expeditiously, and to take additional steps to provide for an outstanding quality of life for our residents at Vineyard View and all of our properties."

Salter also said she and other mothers were stressed when Vineyard View representatives reached out regarding remediation but gave them little time, in some cases less than 24 hours notice, telling them that there would be crews coming and they would have to leave their homes for the duration of the work.

On Monday, Salter told Patch: "I was called on Friday and was told I have to be out of my unit by Monday or Tuesday so remediation can begin on my unit."

She was told that she'd be housed in a motel about 15 miles away until September 10, while the work was in progress.

Salter added: "While I am glad they are coming to fix things I feel like they are bullying us— 48 hours' notice for a single mom to vacate her home 10 days before school starts is horrible. I still do not have a storage pod to store my personal items less than 24 hours before work is supposed to begin. This whole process has been such a nightmare."

Camille Limongelli, married with one child, 6, said she moved in to Vineyard View a year ago, after being on the waitlist for three years. "We were thrilled when we first moved in. We were very excited," she said.

Limongelli maintains that her apartment has outstanding issues from the previous tenant who had left the space in "horrible shape."

According to Limongelli, the apartment was never repainted — and, there is a large crack in her window and a sliding door lock that has never been repaired; child window safety guards are also not in place, she added.

While Limongelli said she does have leaking from her air conditioning unit and mold that has never been remediated, hers is "not as extensive" as what's been seen in other units.

"However, it's never actually been fixed. They bleached some of the mold last year but this year, when we started using the system, it's worse than last year. Not just dripping — sometimes a bucket of water. They have never addressed these issues."

There is also a persistent leak under her kitchen sink that has never been repaired, she said.

Limongelli said she does not want to be a "thorn in anyone's side. I am grateful for the unit and don’t want to lose it. It wasn't until one of us said something on Facebook and we saw that we were all suffering in silence."

She and other residents maintained that the faulty HVAC systems have caused a "huge spike" in electric bills; their units are run entirely on electric.

Limongelli and the others agreed that without a community manager or maintenance person on-site, calls go through to a third-party vendor often located miles away; at one point, she said, the emergency maintenance number had changed without notification.

With a young child, the cracked window is of utmost concern, Limongelli said. "If you open and close this window it could shatter at any point — crack from one end to another."

Looking forward, Limongelli said she hopes for "clear communication and a clear plan. I hope Conifer lives up to their word. We just want a safe, habitable place for our children. Our kids can't sleep in their bedrooms."

Her own son, she said, keeps slipping on the puddle on the floor where the leaking takes place. "That's just not the way we want to live."

Porschia Poteet said she first posted the videos and photos of her home on Facebook in a desperate attempt to receive help.

( Courtesy Porschia Poteet)

"I have active mold on my ceiling, down my wall, and God knows where else," she said.

Poteet said the issues have been going on for years. She first moved into Vineyard View in 2019 and in June of 2022, moved into a three-bedroom when she had her youngest daughter.

"Within the first month a bubble formed on my living room ceiling— a cathedral ceiling, that's where first leak happened."

Although there was some attempt to repair that issue, mold has continue to appear, that she's tried to maintain on her own. She is "severely allergic" to mold, Poteet said. Her older child has begun to suffer migraines, she added.

Last summer, Poteet said she began to notice moisture in the ceiling and discoloration; heat and mold spores were in a closet in the baby's room, she said. So, for the entire time she's lived in the apartment, that room has only been used for three to four months. When asked where her small child, who also now has eczema, sleeps, she said the child has long had to sleep in her room.

This year, she began seeing moisture again in the ceiling. That's in addition to the roaches and water bugs she said she sees, with no sight of an exterminator, she maintains.

"Paying to live in deplorable conditions," she said.

The issues are not just within the apartments, the residents said, noting that there are broken outdoor benches and electrial panels left exposed by unlocked doors.

Poteet agreed that the emergency number reaches an outside agency, with technicians as far away as Bay Shore or Coram. One night, water began pouring down her walls near her electrical sockets on a holiday weekend; she had to call the police and fire department to ensure her safety, she said.

Speaking of the meeting with town officials, Porschia said she believes it was a step in the right direction. "I feel like our voices were heard. I think the ball is in Conifer's court now."

But, she said, asking, with just a few hours' notice, to leave, to upend her life and be sent miles away while remediation work is ongoing, is stressful.

"I'm going into panic mode," she said. "I have two kids." One is ready to start AP classes in school and her youngest has childcare inside the home.

She's troubled, too, she said, by the lack of communication that she says existed for months. As a single mom working full-time, Poteet said she doesn't have the hours to devote to raising awareness about the mold and other safety conditions she and others say exist.

The dream she held so closely diminished with each passing day, Poteet said. "Moving in here, I thought everything was going to be great for my children, for myself. I'm a longtime local. I've lived her the majority of my life — and I want to stay here. My family is here. We have roots here."

But, like the others, for so long, Poteet said she was afraid to raise her voice. "I was afraid to speak up. I have nowhere else to go," she said. "I don't want to lose my housing."

There are no affordable apartments to be had on the North Fork, she said — a rallying cry that's been heard with greater frequency since the pandemic led to a real estate boon in the area, and many longtime renters left displaced.

Salter, too, prays for change. "I'm born here and raised here, invested in the community," she said.

But the conditions in her home make it impossible for her grandfather, who used to care for her kids, even visit. "My grandfather is very important to me," she said. "He's a key piece to my village. But he has a severe lung condition; he's on oxygen. I can' risk that. My kids miss him."

However, Poteet said, the support of the elected officials has buoyed spirits. She hopes the time has come for concrete steps forward.

"It is disheartening. I am working so hard to pay for what is supposed to be my safe haven — and it's just another hell that I'm coming home to. This was going to be a nice, new chapter in my life. But it's been nightmare after nightmare."