St. John Towers tenants concerned about safety, demand more security
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BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) – News 4 is hearing from tenants of an apartment building in downtown Buffalo on their concerns about safety.
Tenants want to see security there around the clock — something that is not happening now.
Tenants at St. John Towers are concerned about security inside their building, theft and random people just walking into their building. Some residents say they’re scared inside their homes.
In fact, some residents at St. John Towers would only talk to us off camera for fear of retribution.
The building, located on Michigan Avenue, is made up of mostly seniors and those with disabilities. Last month, the former tenant council president tells us part-time security guards were removed, something many tenants don’t agree with.
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St. John Towers has been undergoing a multi-million dollar renovation and because of that residents say some of the security cameras have been down.
“We have had packages that have been taken away from doors that were delivered, we’ve had packages that were put in between the sliding doors left in the hallway because we have no security, we have people that are knocking on doors on tenants doors, 2 and 3 o’clock the morning we have no idea how they’re getting in,” said Kim Arnold, a tenant and former tenant council president, “Of course because we have no security we have no sense of well-being here we are afraid in our own home.”
Tenants first protested about security concerns two years ago after security guards were removed. Residents want to see full-time security.
The property is owned by Capital Realty Group. On Tuesday, News 4 went to the property manager’s office. Managers there said they could not answer our questions and sent the questions to their Corporate Office. News 4 still has not heard from Capital Realty Group.
Buffalo Police say so far this year, there have been 30 calls to 911 but there’s been nothing of serious nature, most of the calls have been ambulance calls.
“We are in a vulnerable state and we are in a community that is a high crime community,” Arnold said. “So what we’re asking is for the public our representatives our council our families to get involved and to say hey, we’re not going to stand for this we want our loved ones to be protected.”
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Jeff Preval is an award-winning anchor and reporter who joined the News 4 team in December 2021. See more of his work here.
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