Probe is sought of crime-plagued Camden high-rise

County and local officials yesterday called for a federal investigation into Camden's Northgate I apartment building, a troubled high-rise that authorities say has long been the scene of drug dealing and gang activity.

Gathered in a lot across from the 21-story building at the foot of the Ben Franklin Bridge in North Camden, city, county, and state government officials said the building's residents live in filth and squalor, and in fear for their lives.

"It's unfit to live in," said Rita Jones, who has been a resident at Northgate for five years and attended yesterday's news conference. "The mice, roaches, drugs, the trash in the stairwells. And then you got the kids in the hallway playing with guns. The older people are scared to come out of their homes."

The elevators in Northgate are often broken, said Anna Collins, a resident for three years, and the sewer system backs up frequently.

"The maintenance men try to do their job, but they're running around like crazy," she said.

Louis Cappelli Jr., director of the Camden County Board of Chosen Freeholders, sent a letter to the U.S. Attorney's Office in Newark yesterday, requesting an investigation into the fraudulent use of federal housing money and criminal activity at Northgate.

Much of the rent paid for the building's 321 apartments comes from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, which subsidizes low-income tenants.

Local and county law enforcement officials were not present at yesterday's news conference, nor was a representative from the state Attorney General's Office, which has overseen Camden's police department since 2003. Cappelli said those agencies were not involved in the appeal for a federal investigation.

The U.S. Attorney's Office does not comment on requests for investigations, a spokesman said.

Representatives of Northgate could not be reached for comment yesterday. The building's owners live out of state, and the management company is located in North Jersey.

According to Cappelli, tenants have reported that Northgate's managers allow known drug dealers and gang members to live and thrive in the building. Other tenants reported the managers sublet apartments illegally, without the consent of the renting tenants.

Police Chief Scott Thomson described the problems at Northgate as "egregious," but did not comment on whether he had heard the allegations reported by Cappelli. Cappelli said he and others encouraged residents to make reports to the police, but said many fear retribution from the management or other tenants.

The building is filthy and dilapidated to the point of being hazardous, said Iraida Afanador, Camden's director of code enforcement. A recent sweep found 249 of Northgate's units aren't up to code, she said, for reasons that include water damage, exposed wires, asbestos and crumbling ceilings.

Panic bars were found locked on some fire-exit doors, she said, and some balconies have such severe structural damage that bricks on the outside of the building have fallen many stories to the sidewalks below.

"It's deplorable," Afanador said.

Afanador said she has forbidden Northgate's managers from charging rent or bringing in new tenants until the apartments are up to code.

Problems at Northgate I, which was built in the 1960s as a luxury high-rise, are nothing new. The building's decline began almost immediately, and city leaders and law enforcement agencies have sought to improve conditions and safety there for decades.

Cappelli said reports from tenants have come to his office more frequently in recent months, adding the complaints about the living conditions have grown more dire.

"There's always been complaints about broken property and plumbing issues," Cappelli said. "The complaints now are more along the lines of, there's people with guns in the hallways."

The focus on Northgate comes at a time when city activists are wondering what will become of one of the building's neighbors: Riverfront State Prison, which will close this summer.

The prison was built on what has long been regarded as one of the city's prime pieces of real estate, with views of the Philadelphia skyline. When the prison closure was announced in January, activists said redeveloping the area could bring new life to Camden. Neighborhood groups have dreamed of building parks, a waterfront boardwalk, a miniature golf course and a fishing pier there.

Some North Camden residents see Northgate I as just as damaging to the neighborhood as the prison.

"Northgate has been a problem for the 30 years I've been here," said Rodney Sadler, president of the North Camden-based group Save Our Waterfront. "I don't know if it should be torn down or it should be restored, but something has to happen."

The Rev. Jeff Puthoff, director of the community youth group Hopeworks 'N Camden, said he wasn't surprised there is interest in the building.

"Northgate is a property that needs to be corrected and fixed if something's going to happen to the rest of Camden," he said.