Brooklyn teen seeks help with decrepit apartment

Mold covers the walls. There are flies, cockroaches (both dead and alive), and a water leak that just won't stop. This is life for a Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, family.

Kaourou Gary, 13, says it's become more and more difficult for his parents and six siblings to live inside the Tompkins Houses. So last week he took it upon himself to call community activist Karen Cherry to reach out to the media for help.

Assa Diaby, the mother of these seven kids, says she never envisioned this would be her life when she moved here from Africa a decade ago. 

The family says they've been calling NYCHA for several weeks now. They say workers did come to fix the leak they, but left a hole and said they'd come back soon. But the family says they never returned. Assa says two of her children have asthma and now she is very worried about the health of her other kids.

A NYCHA spokesperson told Fox 5 the conditions are unacceptable and that workers will close the hole Thursday night. "As soon as the plastering work is complete, the apartment will be painted. We will also inspect the apartment for mold and abate where necessary," the spokesperson said. "In addition, an exterminator is treating the apartment today. We deeply apologize for the impact this had on the family and are working to prevent this from happening again."