An aging public housing complex in Atlantic City is in crisis as residents go without heat and hot water

ATLANTIC CITY — Some people living in Atlantic City’s historic but aging Stanley Holmes Village public housing have been without heat and hot water for weeks.

On Tuesday, Mayor Marty Small Sr. said the city would inspect the development to determine how many people lacked these basic services and identify those with mold in their units. He said the city would provide blankets in the meantime, and hoped to have a timeline for other remedies by early next week.

But Councilman Bruce Weekes has already been collecting donated space heaters for distribution and said Tuesday he would continue to do so.

“While they continue to inspect & do their analysis, we will continue to get heaters,” he said, via Facebook messenger. “People don’t have an additional 2-3 weeks to wait on something that the administration knew was a problem for years.”

So has John Extadaktilos, owner of the Ducktown Tavern, who purchased 15 space heaters from Home Depot Tuesday and said anyone who wanted to donate one “new and in the box,” could drop it off at Ducktown, at 2400 Atlantic Ave., and he would see that it was distributed by Weekes.

Small cautioned people to hold off on donated space heaters at a Tuesday news conference at the development, saying the city would determine how many were needed, and what the safest kind were to provide to residents.

“It’s easy to sit back and say give the residents of Stanley Holmes a space heater,” Small said. “But as mayor of Atlantic City ... that’s not conducive to good government. The last thing that we want is to have everyone come to this room and give out 400 heaters and it sets all the apartments on fire. That’s not responsible.

“I get it,” he said. “I get people are upset that they’re living in these conditions. And quite frankly I’m pissed off too.”

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In October, the city imposed an emergency declaration, when trash was not being picked up, blaming the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for placing A.C.’s Housing Authority in a status that bars any spending.

A HUD spokesperson said Tuesday night via email, however, that HUD had not “frozen the A.C. Housing Authority’s ability to spend money or execute contracts,” and said the housing authority has access to its budget “for capital and operational needs,” and could also take action in an emergency.

“In July 2021, ACHA’s Financial Condition was determined as Substandard by HUD,” and a number of procurements had not been completed in line with statues and regulations, the spokesperson said.

Those factors led to “enhanced monitoring,” the spokesperson said.

But it was Atlantic City itself, not the housing authority, that made the emergency declaration, which gives the city jurisdiction to conduct the inspections of the federally owned public housing units, said Dale Finch, head of the department of Licensing and Inspections.

“We want an accurate count,” Finch said, “how many without heat, how many without hot water. We will inspect for mold infestation, heat, hot water, rodents, bed bugs, roaches. We will inspect the ovens to see if they work. We will inspect the smoke detectors.”

The 420-unit Stanley Holmes Village, located off North Dr. Martin Luther King Boulevard, was built in 1937 by the Works Progress Administration, and is the oldest public housing development in New Jersey. It is slated for a $200 million rebuild in 2023 by the Michaels Organization.

The Housing Authority has appointed John Clarke as a part-time executive director, working just two days a week. Small said a full-time position would be posted shortly. Clarke also serves in that capacity in New Brunswick.

Weekes said the biggest issue is “all of the ancient and unkept infrastructure beneath Stanley that disrupts the delivery of heat or hot water depending on the unit.”

“Their biggest solution right now will be issuing a certain amount of housing vouchers for the families who are able to move & want new housing,” he said. “Once there are less residents living there, then managing the heat & hot water distribution will be more manageable.”

A HUD spokesperson said the Housing Authority is offering families at Stanley Holmes vouchers to relocate if they desire while the issues are being addressed. In addition, the spokesperson said the state has agreed to provide help to families in finding a new residence and with rental deposits.

“HUD is concerned about the safety and well-being of the residents and has been in touch with the housing authority,” the spokesperson said.