Abraham Leiva, 45 and originally from El Salvador, has lived at 235 West 146th Street since 1985. Leiva says he raised five children among rats, cockroaches, and bedbugs. For years, the family watched its apartment, 9B, fell apart, ravaged by weather and neglect by the landlord.

"I had to use an umbrella inside the apartment because the water was coming through like a flood. It leaked through ceilings and floors, affecting the neighbors below us and the people living below them."

Leiva said his apartment's ceiling and the walls were falling to pieces. Mold spread throughout the apartment and pests, such as rodents and insects, infested the building.

"My children had to endure the cold because we didn't have heating. We were also impacted by lead contamination from the paint."

In September 2006, Leiva and 100 other tenants from nearby buildings in decrepit conditions, created a neighborhood committee lead by Elsia Vázquez, a Dominican who used to work on Wall Street.

"The tenants had rent stabilized housing. It was a very run-down building. A new landlord bought the property, but he didn't make the changes he was supposed to make," said Vázquez.

The committee made a call to People Against Landlord Abuse and Tenant Exploitation (PALANTE), a Harlem-based grass root organization whose sole mission is to reduce poverty and be an advocate for the safe housing conditions for the residents of Northern Manhattan.

After the new landlord repeatedly failed to make repairs, saying he didn't have the funds, PALANTE secured the protection of the Section 7A program in 2007.

"This section allows the city to acquire the property and make repairs when the landlord doesn't have the money for them. The landlord will have to pay for the cost of rehabilitating the building. It's similar to a loan," said Vázquez.

Vázquez said although Section 7A was founded with the vision of lasting for eight years, the NYC Housing Court revoked it in 2009. Since then, the landlord has been responsible for making improvements.

"Many tenants benefited from the first round of repairs, but others are still waiting," said Vázquez.

The building has 86 apartments and about 56 families. Majority of residents are Latinos and the elderly.

The Leiva family is one of those still waiting for their apartment to be renovated.

"The landlord asked me to move temporarily and said that it would only take 3 months to fix things. It's been a year and he still hasn't finished. We're a family of 7 people and we don't all fit in the room that we're living in now," said Leiva.

Leiva says his five children have been sleeping on the floor for the last year.

"We don't have space for furniture and beds. The apartment is almost ready. They painted the walls and fixed the ceiling, and the floors. But there are a lot of problems with the electricity and the kitchen drawers still aren't installed properly."

Despite the landlord's insistence, Leiva doesn't want to move until the apartment is completely restored.

Vázquez said that repairs have been made, but the work is shoddy.

Vázquez affirmed that the NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) is continuously monitoring the rehabilitation of the building.

"We're waiting for the deadline to pass in order to check that the repairs have been completed and that they are in good condition. To the contrary, we will keep fighting because many families are affected," said Vázquez.

Robert Rosenberg, the owner of the building, said that he is willing to work with the tenants and to finish restoring the building on time.