East Cleveland tenants struggle with no heat or hot water, burst pipe flooding building

EAST CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) - A group of East Cleveland apartment residents are speaking out building conditions they call unlivable.

Daniqwa Martin says it’s getting worse every day.

“When you first get in, you obviously can smell the urine,” said the resident of Quiet Cove Apartments on Euclid Avenue as she walked in the front door. “This is like all the water that’s literally just pouring from the ceiling.”

A burst pipe on the third floor next to her apartment sends water gushing down three floors and has left inches of standing water while destroying the units below.

“Deplorable,” she said. “No one should be livin’ in this.”

The building has no heat or hot water and she said she she has to sleep in the living room to be close to the stove to keep warm.

She also says rodents and indigents are replacing residents, many of whom are moving out, but some elderly residents and Daniqwa aren’t going anywhere.

“I have nowhere else to go,” she said. “Yeah, I have family but this is my home. Why should I have to leave the comforts of my home?”

The sign at the front of the building makes it seem there are units to rent and the building has not been condemned.

Calls to East Cleveland Mayor Brandon King’s office haven’t been returned, producing no answers.

Daniqwa says Section 8 isn’t helping her find any accommodations.

“It’s sad that no one is coming to help us out, just basically trying to find us another place to stay because it’s getting worse, literally by the day, by the minute, by the hour,” she lamented.

Daniqwa wants repairs to the building or help to find some place else to live.

“It’s sad,” she concluded. “No one should have to live like this.”

She’s set up a GoFundMe account to help with her struggles.

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