The collapse of a building on 116th Street and Lexington Avenue, in East Harlem, on March 27 has placed residents on alert due to the poor state of older residential buildings in the area.

With a worried look on his face, Lucio Demetrio says that what happened to the building at 1863 Lexington Avenue should not be taken lightly. “Many Latinos live here and the buildings are in bad shape. The authorities should start an inspection campaign because this could happen again,” he said.

The area, where the building collapse occurred, has one with the largest Latino populations in the city, and it is these same families who are demanding that greater attention be given to the buildings they live in.

“The construction is very old, many buildings are in a bad state, and the landlords rarely do anything. What happened was in a building that was under construction, but the old buildings could also fall,” commented Maria Juarez, a Mexican woman living in the area or known as El Barrio.

Neighborhood organizations, such as the Barrio Movement for Justice, have undertaken campaigns for the past two years, asking landlords and building owners in the area to improve the building conditions. In many of the cases, they have taken the owners to court to assert their rights as renters.

“It’s dangerous that these building are in such a bad state because the families are constantly at risk,” said Juan Haro, organizer of the Barrio Movement for Justice, a non-profit organization that advocates for the rights of immigrant families and access to improvements for their homes.