‘It’s disgusting’: Several tenants in New Castle apartment say they’re living among roaches

NEW CASTLE, Pa. — Several tenants in an apartment building in New Castle said they’re living in horrible conditions. They told Channel 11 News they’ve been dealing with an infestation of roaches at McGrath Manor.

One man brought us inside his unit where he immediately found one under his coffee pot in the kitchen.

“There’s one right there,” the man, who didn’t want to be identified, said. “It’s disgusting. You cook your food here.”

Channel 11 saw dozens of cockroaches crawling on the walls in the building’s hallway.

“One, two, three, four, five, six, since you’ve been standing here,” said tenant Venetta Jones.

Jones said she started seeing them about a year ago, but over the last few months, the problem has gotten worse.

“This is ridiculous,” she said. “When I see a roach, I get up and kill it. I know I shouldn’t be seeing them because I don’t have garbage laying around. My apartment, I clean up every day.”

Another tenant, Vickie Price, said the cockroaches have taken over her kitchen, her bathroom and her living room. She said it’s gotten out of control.

“I’ve been spraying,” Price said. “I’ve put down boric acid. I’ve put out baits. I’ve put out motels, and they just keep coming because they’re in the walls and they’re everywhere.”

The tenants said a majority of their neighbors throughout the entire building are dealing with the same problem.

“No one deserves to be living like this, and we pay our rent and they won’t do nothing for us,” said tenant Michelle Borst. “It’s not fair to us.”

They claim maintenance sprayed a week ago to kill the bugs but it’s not enough.

The tenants said they’ve also called the Lawrence County Housing Authority, which owns the property, but they said their pleas to fumigate the building have gone unanswered.

“Just please, there’s no reason for us to live in these unhealthy conditions,” said Price. “We just need something done.”

Channel 11 reached out to the Lawrence County Housing Authority for comment, and we received the following statement:

“In today’s challenging times, the operation of a public housing facility is difficult. The Housing Authority of the County of Lawrence (the “Housing Authority”) strives to maintain the highest standard of living for its tenants. Pest control is a challenging task. In keeping pace with the current needs of our tenants, the Housing Authority hired three full-time employees specifically for the task of pest control.

“The Housing Authority utilizes a tenant-based maintenance request procedure. All tenant maintenance requests are documented. Work orders are assigned to specific maintenance personnel. The requested tasks are completed in a timely manner.

“In 2023, the Housing Authority implemented pest treatment at McGrath Manor, in its entirety, on two separate occasions. Also, the Housing Authority implemented treatments for 109 individual units at McGrath Manor as requested by tenants utilizing the maintenance protocol.

“In the specific instances reported to the media, none of the tenants reported any current pest problems, nor did the tenants follow the proper maintenance protocol. The Housing Authority shall continue to work diligently with its tenants to resolve the current and future pest issues to the satisfaction of the tenants.”

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