Dozens of Portside Towers residents and tenant advocates addressed the Jersey City Municipal Council during public comment, recounting a multi‑year pattern of alleged code violations at the waterfront towers and asking the city to enforce its ordinances.

Speakers detailed what they say are ongoing problems — missing resident superintendents, the absence of required 24‑hour uniform security guards, repeated elevator failures, incomplete landlord disclosures and opaque utility billing (RUBS). They described incidents that affected safety and daily life: on‑site security gaps during incidents of public indecency, elevator entrapments and delayed emergency responses. Kevin Weller and other tenant leaders said they have filed thousands of service requests and reported hundreds of open violations to city departments without meaningful enforcement.

Residents urged the council to use existing legal tools: stronger code enforcement, collection of fines (including use of private collection tools authorized by state law), subpoenas for compliance information, and audits of utility billing and affordable‑unit occupancy. Several residents asked the municipal prosecutor to act and for department directors to be resourced to pursue enforcement.

City staff and council members acknowledged the concerns and said the administration has been coordinating responses across departments, preparing requests for information and working with legal to evaluate enforcement options; they also said litigation and court orders in some cases have limited immediate enforcement steps.

What residents asked for: immediate use of audit, subpoena and collection powers; independent verification of affordable unit compliance within abated properties; and a firm timeline for corrective action. Tenants said that after repeated, prolonged complaints they need concrete enforcement and remediation rather than more hearings.

Next steps: Council members said they would continue interdepartmental meetings, pursue RFIs and legal review, and monitor whether the municipal prosecutor will pursue enforcement actions where appropriate.