Press Release: Baltimore Tenants Respond to Trump-Cummings Controversy

View in Browser For Immediate Release: August 1, 2019 Press Contacts: Tisha Guthrie, 410-948-8898, Bolton House Tenant Coalition; Yasmina Mrabet 202-441-5172, Organizer, LinkUp & PSL Baltimore Tenants

For Immediate Release: August 1, 2019

Press Contacts: Tisha Guthrie, 410-948-8898, Bolton House Tenant Coalition; Yasmina Mrabet 202-441-5172, Organizer, LinkUp & PSL

Baltimore Tenants Targeted by Slumlord Urban Atlantic Respond to Trump-Elijah Cummings Controversy

Tenants at 1100 Bolton St. in West Baltimore have been fighting slum conditions in a 260 unit building owned by Urban Atlantic, and managed by Edgewood Management. Dangerous conditions impacting all residents, including children, seniors and the disabled, have included rodent infestation, black mold, chronic elevator outages that have left residents trapped for hours at a time, open walls and ceilings, raw sewage overflows, and more.

Donald Trump’s recent racist tweets, ironically, have brought to light a reality for many working class and poor people in Baltimore who need affordable housing, and are subjected to a sub-prime slumlord market controlled by wealthy, mostly white, developers.

Bolton House Tenant Coalition leadership released the following statement today:

“We deplore Trump’s continued racism and attacks on Black and Brown communities, not only in Baltimore, but across the country and around the world. Given Trump’s own history as a slumlord, we ask that the media shine a light on the wealthy developers that are operating slum buildings in the city of Baltimore. Our building, located at 1100 Bolton St., owned by Urban Atlantic and managed by Edgewood Management, has been the site of dangerous and unhealthy living conditions, and many of us are facing serious medical conditions associated with mold illness, including respiratory conditions, daily nosebleeds, fungal infections, and more. Children, families, seniors, and residents with disabilities are suffering. We are pointing out the fact that elected officials representing the city of Baltimore, have been insultingly non-responsive to low income and working class people who are in desperate need of affordable housing. We have a public petition that asks Congressman Elijah Cummings and other Baltimore city officials to initiate an investigation into Urban Atlantic and to hold them accountable for collecting money, while subjecting us to unsafe and substandard living conditions.” -Karen Walker, on behalf of the Bolton House Tenant Coalition

Bolton House Tenant Coalition members have repeatedly reached out to Congressman Elijah Cummings for years, asking that he take action to stop billionaire developer Urban Atlantic’s operation of what appears to be a slum-for-profit, as they collect rents and subsidies while overseeing, with Edgewood Management, the total deterioration of the Bolton House building.

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