EXCLUSIVE: Williamsbridge tenants terrorized by ‘neighbor from hell’ waving a hatchet
A neighbor is caught on video waving a hatchet and terrorizing neighbors inside 1191 E 214th St.
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Tenants inside a Williamsbridge building are frightened after their neighbor was caught on video waving a hatchet at their doorsteps.
Neighbors at 1191 E 214th St. showed a News 12 crew video on Tuesday of the neighbor knocking on doors with a knife in his hand. In another video, the man is touching himself inappropriately inside the building's hallway.
"Sometimes we are scared to go to the hallways...he be in the hallways, he bangs on people's door with poles," said one neighbor, Alexandra Reina.
The unsafe conditions escalated on April 4 when that violent tenant caused the gas to be shut off. Management confirmed to News 12 that the neighbor on the first floor, "was obviously high on some drug of some sort, turned on all 4 gas burners, without lighting them - which caused a massive amount of gas to fill the apartment."
"The fire department came out, cut off his gas, but he turned it back on after they told him not to turn it back on. Then he was walking around smoking a cigarette, like he was trying to blow us up," said a next-door neighbor, Leonia.
Neighbors have been forced to live without any gas for over a month.
Management told News 12 that the tenant has not paid rent since January 2025, and they have started a non-payment case with housing court. They have been waiting for over a year for the court to issue a warrant for an eviction.
"It's best to say, ‘OK, let's fix this now,’ versus people having to be hurt in this situation because of him," said another neighbor, Zahara Cardwell.
In an effort to get an update on the eviction notice from the housing court, an office representative responded, "I feel like this is case-level material that we’d do well not to wade into... let’s leave it alone."
