Man In Stinky Apartment Wasn't Dead, Just Filthy

The conditions inside Ming Li Sung's Long Island City apartment were so squalid that police thought the stench was surely emanating from a decomposing corpse. But when an FDNY haz-mat team kicked in the door, they were shocked to find the apartment occupied by Sung, 69, who yelled at them to get out. Instead, police took him to Elmhurst Hospital for psychiatric evaluation. His neighbors at the Ravenswood Houses say they've begged the Housing Authority for years to take action on Sing, whose apartment was so wretched that dead flies would pile up on the hallway floor. One resident, Robin McNeil, tells the Daily News, "All Housing would do was come and sweep them up," and her husband thinks the sickening stench contributed to her miscarriage in May! Yesterday, police said the apartment resembled a landfill, with rotting garbage piled floor to ceiling. When they entered the place, an "army of cockroaches" poured out into the second-floor hallway, and McNeil's husband tells the News, "The police were throwing up." Unfortunately for Sung, the mess was discovered too late to be entered in this summer's Filthiest Apartment Contest; unfortunately for the rest of us, it's lunchtime.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By John Del Signore in News on September 8, 2009 12:27 PM

Comments [rss]

Think2wice

"His neighbors at the Ravenswood Houses say they've begged the Housing Authority for years to take action on Sing..."

Mental note: Just say you smell a dead body in the apartment.

Fucking hoarders.

Wza

lol @ the pic

Mr Mel

I think this is all a publicity stunt promoting E.L. Doctorow's new book.

nohateparade

"McNeil was pregnant with twins - the couple's first children - but she miscarried in May. West thinks the overwhelming stench and the stress may have played a role."

Is this true? Because if it is, I will not take the subway in NYC when I am pregnant. Or work for the Sanitation Department for that matter. Or speak to my parents or in-laws.

Dirk

Call me sick, but I want to see photos.

Westmetrics

Excellent picture! gotta love The Trashy!

protopop

Isn't it the Trash Heap?

corbindallas

This is not a problem if your in a CO-OP. Condo is another story.

r1b2

Darling, this is the Ravenswood Houses. Not a co-op, not a condo. The mother f**king PJs. You have no control over your neighbors. None.

NannyState

In the projects, He Who Controls The Roaches controls All.

Rocknrope

This is one truly horrible story. I don't know how his neighbors lasted as long as they did. Dead flies in the hallway? Army of roaches pouring out? Gahhhhhhhhh.

jibbly

Thanks for ruining lunch JDS. Excuse me while I go vomit for 2 hours instead.

Manitoba2



             .-. 

            o   \     .-. 

               .----.'   \ 

             .'o)  / `.   o 

            /         | 

            \_)       /-. 

              '_.`    \  \ 

               `.      |  \ 

                |       \ | 

            .--/`-.     / / 

          .'.-/`-. `.  .\| 

         /.' /`._ `-    '-. 

    ____(|__/`-..`-   '-._ \ 

   |`------.'-._ `      ||\ \ 

   || #   /-.   `   /   || \| 

   ||   #/   `--'  /  /_::_|)__ 

   `|____|-._.-`  /  ||`--------` 

         \-.___.` | / || #      | 

          \       | | ||   #  # | 

          /`.___.'\ |.`|________| 

          | /`.__.'|'.` 

        __/ \    __/ \ 

       /__.-.)  /__.-.)

WesleySnipesAlot

lol wut

JenChungsBaby

I used to live in a building with someone similar to this. The entire third floor (I lived on the sixth) reeked from this one father and son who never bathed or changed their clothes and probably rolled in their own feces daily. Seriously, you couldn't go in the elevator for hours if one of them had been in there. The city did nothing about it but thankfully after a few years they moved out.