Staircases

There are many formerly beautiful staircases in Praga, but for many, getting up to your flat can be a bit of a horror.

Wooden staircases are to be found everywhere, many of them sagging terribly, often with holes or even missing steps. Sometimes the tenants themselves are forced to make makeshift repairs.

The entrances of buildings are often falling apart and haven't been painted since the Second World War. In the worst cases, the entrance become used by drunks as public toilets. Many entrances also have no light, and some residents thus are often afraid to go out in the evening.

This is my friend's staircase. There are a number of terrible fire hazards in this building.  When the TV station came and did a report on the state of the building, they went to visit the head of the local housing authority. Since much of the hazard related to stray electrical wires in the entrance, if there was a fire, the wooden stairs would likely burn, preventing residents from getting out. When asked if what the residents should do in case of a fire, the head of the housing authority said that people could always jump out the windows.

These stairs on Zabkowska 13 don't look as tragic as most in Praga. But that is because this house was renovated a couple of years ago as part of a very famous renovation program. Lots of public money was spent to renovate a number of houses on historic Zabkowska St. Recently, it turned out that there were a number of serious problems in the house and the city wanted to move out the tenants. But they refused fearing that the city would turn the buildings into luxury housing and they would wind up in much worse conditions, never to come back.

Unfortunately you can find racist graffiti. Maybe a crew needs to go out one night and deal with this.