Syracuse, NY — A niece of murdered 93-year-old Connie Tuori told Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard that conditions were so bad inside Syracuse’s Skyline apartments that she didn’t feel safe visiting her elderly relative.
Sue Leone, of Cicero, said she feared for her own life simply taking the rickety elevators to her aunt’s 12th floor apartment. But it was the abject squalor described in a Syracuse.com story Wednesday that ultimately kept her away, even before the pandemic started a year ago.
“How were they able to keep this going?” Leone wondered, her voice cracking in rage.
She noted that the building has been owned for years by management run by Syracuse University football legend-turned-lawyer Tim Green. And records show that the owners actually cut security in the past year, despite a history of problems spiraling out of control.
“Did they get away with this because who owns it?” Leone asked. “I don’t even know what else to say.”
Related article: Inside Tim Green’s Skyline Apartments: Murder, drugs and filth. Tenants, cops say enough is enough
Leone directed her ire at city officials and police, who insist that they’ve done everything they can under law to hold the owners accountable. But Leone doesn’t know how that can be true.
“Anyone who has an elderly relative there needs to get them out right now,” Leone said. “I’ll do whatever I have to do to make sure that some other family doesn’t have to suffer like this.”
After Tuori’s murder this week, Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh told Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard that he’s exploring options to either shut down or take over Skyline.
Leone described her aunt as an incredibly brave woman who worked her way through Syracuse University in the 1950s as the daughter of Italian immigrants before getting the travel bug and going off to some of the farthest corners of the world.
Then, at 93 years old, Tuori survived the Covid-19 pandemic, only to be “discarded like a piece of garbage” in her own home, Leone said.
Tuori’s family is “not done with this,” Leone said. “I know my five brothers and sisters feel the same way. Outraged is an understatement. If (bringing attention to) this is the last thing I do in my life, then it’ll be worth it.”
Read more
Walsh says he’s exploring legal action against Skyline owners: ‘It’s public nuisance No. 1′
Family IDs 93-year-old woman murdered in Skyline Apartments
Inside Tim Green’s Skyline Apartments: Murder, drugs and filth. Tenants, cops say enough is enough
Woman killed at Skyline Apartments on James Street
Police, tenants push football legend Tim Green’s firm to fix nightmare apartments
Staff writer Douglass Dowty can be reached at ddowty@syracuse.com or 315-470-6070.