Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - City of Buffalo crews converged on the Elmwood Heights Apartments on Elmwood at Lexington Thursday morning to secure and board-up the property.
An immediate order to vacate was issued for the property at 597 Elmwood Avenue June 1, according to Buffalo Commissioner of Permits and Inspection Services, Catherine Amdur. "Today, according to our postings and all our communications, we did our final inspection of the property and we started boarding and securing the property," Amdur said.
As crews began the inspection and securing the property, two residents were still in the process of moving out of the building, said Amdur. "We're doing everything we can to help them."
The building has no code-compliant emergency systems and alarms and the conditions at the property are untenable, Amdur said. Human feces were found in the hallway and rat feces was throughout the basement.
"The owner here is a bad actor," Amdur said. "They haven't shown any interest in doing the right thing.
Utilities will be cut to the building and Amdur says there are no plans to raze the structure. The goal, she says, is to return the building to a residential structure.
