Gas outages reportedly affect thousands of NYCHA tenants
Thousands of residents of NYCHA-run apartments are currently without gas, reports Gothamist—and tenants in some of the 46 affected buildings have been dealing with the outages for upwards of six weeks.
At the Grant Houses in Harlem, residents have been without gas since late August, when the gas lines were shut off without any notice. And according to the Daily News, they may have to wait an additional six weeks before service is restored.
“NYCHA is working with Con Edison to restore service as quickly as possible,” a NYCHA spokeswoman told the paper. “Repairs are underway and we expect gas to be restored by early November.” In the interim, they’ve provided residents with vouchers and hot plates. But, as one might expect of life without a vital resource, residents say that’s not cutting it.
Like the Grant Houses, the Grand Street Guild Apartments on the Lower East Side have been without gas for well over a month after a leak was detected in the laundry room in August. Three of the six lines have since been repaired. As for the rest? “It’s anyone’s guess how long it will take to restore service to the entire building,” The Lo-Down writes. Building management has said the issue in restoring service is that workers are having trouble accessing some of the apartments.
Until service is restored, residents are stuck with hot plates and takeout. “It’s costing them a lot of money,” Tenant Association President Daisy Paez told The Lo-Down. At her request, the building owner offered $200 rebates as compensation—an offer residents feel is barely adequate. Many of them are considering filing lawsuits.
And the list continues: Residents of the Gaylord White Houses in East Harlem have been without gas since September 25th. At the Marcy Houses in Bed-Stuy, only one gas line has been shut off, but the outage is hitting the six affected apartments hard.
“They only give you this little electric stove but the little burner doesn't even heat up,” Crusita Gomez told the Daily News. “I can’t afford to keep buying food out and I know housing isn’t going to reimburse us for that.”
- Report: More Than 1,700 NYCHA Apartments Currently Have No Gas [Gothamist]
- NYCHA Harlem housing complex has been without gas for six weeks, and tenants may have to wait longer; ‘People are in an uproar’ [NYDN]
- Grand Street Guild Residents Have Gone Without Cooking Gas For 39 Days [TLD]
from
http://ny.curbed.com/2016/10/10/13227902/nycha-gas-outages-nyc
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