CBS 2 Investigates Non-Profit Housing Organization

In a segment that aired on June 23rd, CBS 2 News investigated the Lantern Group, a non-profit paid by the city to provide clean, safe and
affordable housing for vulnerable populations that is being accused of neglecting properties, leaving tenants to live in deplorable conditions despite charging them more than the federally-regulated rent limits. Manhattan Legal Services Staff Attorney Ime Imeh is representing one of the tenants in a lawsuit against the group.

"When you go inside and you see how they actually maintain these
buildings you realize they're not there to necessarily help this
vulnerable population, they're there to make a profit," said Ime Nsa
Imeh of Manhattan Legal Services.

On West 94th Street, in a
building named St. Louis Hall, managed for the past two years by The
Lantern Group, 73-year-old Rolande Cutner, who suffers from multiple
sclerosis, shares her tiny room with dozens of stuffed animals.

"Because I live alone so I want to make sure I'm not alone," Cutner said.

Unfortunately,
she and other residents also share their rooms with rats, mice,
roaches, bedbugs and, as this building inspection shows, dangerously
toxic black mold.

Rolande says it wasn't always so — just since The Lantern Group took over.

Watch the CBS 2 News report or read the transcript by clicking here.