From the way you describe it, it sounds like it's a regular gate valve. You might be able to repair it as you describe by removing the packing nut and replacing whatever is broken or stripped out inside.
The only exception to that would be a ball type valve, but those will just have a handle that makes only a 1/4 turn. Those generally aren't repairable, but then again they almost never fail either.
Personally, I would just remove and replace the gate valve with a good ball valve. Gate valves have a tendency to rot out or seize up from lack of use. I actually had one once that disintegrated in my hand when I tried to turn it off (spraying water everywhere and making a nice mess). Ball valves are just much more reliable.
To get your landlady interested, point out that the radiators are filled with moist, warm air, and that the system is corroding from the inside, shortening the life of the radiators and clogging the boiler with rust. That means the boiler's life is being drastically shortened and may soon cause a massive expense. Fixing it now would be much cheaper than fixing it later. The question is, is she greedier than she is lazy?
As to what's actually the problem?
It seems to me that your apartment's system wasn't being replenished with water. Opening the radiator bleed valve wasn't doing anything because there was no additional water available to replace the air.
Central heating systems come in two flavours -- open vented and sealed -- and each refills with water in a different way. In an open-vented system, there is a tank at the highest point in the system, that uses a ballcock to fill up with water: see this diagram at diydata.com. The ballcock is in the feed and expansion tank. If the ballcock isn't operating correctly, the feed and expansion tank doesn't fill with water, and so no extra water will be available to fill your radiator. The ballcock could be stuck, or it could have been tied off so that some work could be done, and never untied. If you've got that kind of system, the fix would be to get the ballcock moving freely again. Is there some kind of maintenance area you could check out?
Alternatively, it may be a sealed system; there's another diagram showing that. These systems are filled up with a tap -- see the 'filling stop cock' in the other diagram. Normally, you'd check the pressure in the system every few months and use the filling stop cock to make sure the pressure is high enough -- say, 2 to 3 bar. Again, this will probably be very close to the boiler itself and so would need access to your building's maintenance area.
My guess is that it's a sealed system, and that the internal pressure has dropped right down to atmospheric pressure on the fifth floor. Lower apartments won't be suffering because gravity gives them more than their fair share of water, so most tenants won't suffer. However, any rust generated in your radiator will sink down into the system and clog it for everyone.
Best Answer
Yes, that is snapped off. You're OK until you need to bleed again. Then you will need to gain enough access to drill a small hole into the broken screw. Once a screw extractor is inserted into the hole, the rest of the screw should come out and you can place a new vent screw in it's place. These screws do not need to be super tight, firmly snugged should do it. At least now you know how much is too much.