The downfall of the Nob Hill apartments was well underway before a Feb. 28 fire in a ground-floor apartment killed one person and displaced 50 residents.
For years, the doors didn’t lock. Squatters invaded vacant apartments and common spaces. Raw sewage trickled down hallways. There was no heat or hot water. Emergency lights and elevators didn’t work. The same day as the fire, another tenant was found dead (not fire related). Police were called to a melee among 40 teens in the parking lot.
In hindsight, Syracuse city government missed several opportunities to intervene on behalf of beleaguered tenants…