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Horrifying reason tenant forced out of home. Picture: TikTok/@bycarolynd
A US tenant was forced to evacuate her apartment and into temporary housing after a ceiling collapse in her bathroom unleashed water and live cockroaches into the unit.
Carolyn D, from New York, said the ceiling of her $US2,400 ($A3,700)-a-month studio apartment gave way late one night in July, shortly after she returned home from a trip.
She had noticed a large crack above the toilet and contacted her super, who told her he would inspect it the next day. Hours later, as she lay down to sleep, the ceiling broke apart.
The incident has since gone viral on TikTok and raised concerns about building safety and pest control in ageing New York City rentals.
“It all busts through — just like pieces everywhere,” she told the New York Post.
“Then water starts falling. And then I look at the ground and all the debris and I see, like … I saw at least five to 10 cockroaches come into the debris.”
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Carolyn D. pays $US2,400 a month for her studio apartment that she has lived in for the past three years. Picture: TikTok/@bycarolynd
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The crack started out a bit smaller, but noticeable. Picture: TikTok/@bycarolynd
Carolyn, who has lived in the apartment for three years, said she screamed, climbed onto her couch to avoid the insects, and called her super immediately.
She left the apartment and spent the night in a hotel, and avoided a return to stay overnight in the unit since, living with a friend in the days that followed.
“I’m way too scared to close my eyes in my apartment anytime soon,” she said. “I don’t know how I’m ever going to sleep there.”
The tenant said her landlords acted quickly the next day, co-ordinating with her renters insurance provider, hiring an exterminator and scheduling a deep cleaning.
“They helped me clean up. They were really respectful of everything,” she said.
“They’re paying me for a deep cleaning service … They’ve been really great working with my renters’ insurance and everything.”
Her TikTok clip has since garnered more than 320,000 views and hundreds of comments expressing sympathy and revulsion.
“THE ROACHES omg I would’ve passed away,” one commenter wrote.
Another added, “The roaches traumatised me and I wasn’t even there.”
Carolyn D. was jilted out bed to the bathroom to discover her ceiling had caved in, unleashing cockroaches. Picture: TikTok/@bycarolynd
Carolyn revealed that she does not plan renewing her lease following this experience. Picture: TikTok/@bycarolynd
The incident has renewed conversations online about the value of renters’ insurance in New York City.
Carolyn, who pays $US17 ($A26) a month for her policy, said, “Renters’ insurance is so important because you never know when stuff like this is going to happen.”
Although she credits her landlords with a responsive clean-up effort, she said the psychological toll has been significant — and that she doesn’t plan to renew her lease when it expires in May.
“I definitely don’t plan on renewing,” she said.
Some TikTok viewers have sent her money via PayPal to order takeout, a gesture she described as unexpected but emblematic of what she called a “nice New York thing.”
Still, she remains wary of re-entering the apartment.
“I told the deep cleaners everything. I want them to bleach and literally spend hours cleaning every inch,” she said. “But I don’t know.”
Parts of this story first appeared in the New York Post and was republished with permission.
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