Death In Uptown Emergency Housing Unnoticed For 2 Weeks: Report

WASHINGTON HEIGHTS-INWOOD, NY — Family members of a man who died in city-funded emergency housing in Washington Heights claim the facility was improperly run after it took staff two weeks to notice the man was dead in his room, according to reports.

Robert Townes died in April while staying in a temporary housing facility funded by the city Department of Housing Preservation and Development, ABC7 first reported. By the time facility staff noticed he was dead, his body had begun to decompose, according to the report.

Townes' body was in such bad shape that the city Medical Examiner could only identify him by his fingerprints, ABC 7 reported. The man's mother and sister told the new station that Townes deserved better.

"I am furious due to the simple fact of how can you not smell a body." sister Idel Patterson told the station. "It's just horrible, no one should have to be found like that."

Core Services Group, the private company that operates the 50-bed facility, told reporters that the delay in discovering Townes' body comes from the private nature of the facility. Unlike a shelter, facility staff does not go into residents' rooms. Core is contracted to run the facility through HPD's emergency relocation services, according to the report.

Read the full ABC7 report here.