Surge of heating complaints hit NYCHA

HOME IS where the heat is — but apparently not for a number New Yorkers in public housing.

As frigid temperatures continue to grip the city, the city Public Advocate’s office says it has received some 30 complaints from New York City Housing Authority residents saying they’re without heat.

The office says it’s logged complaints over the past week and a half from 11 complexes in the Bronx, Brooklyn and Manhattan.

The complaints came from buildings including the Sotomayor Houses in the Bronx, the Marcy Houses in Brooklyn and the Alfred E. Smith Houses in Manhattan.

Public Advocate Letitia James said “with below freezing temperatures, it is unacceptable and illegal for New Yorkers to be without heat in their homes.”

A NYCHA spokeswoman said, “Our staff is working 24/7 to resolve all outages as quickly as possible and provide residents with the safe, warm homes they deserve.”

Spokeswoman Jasmine Blake noted a $17 billion capital deficit means many of the boilers, which are “well past their life expectancy,” are not being replaced.

Still, NYCHA staff and technicians would be on site every day this weekend “to help manage the freezing temperatures,” she said.

James — who sued the Housing Authority over heating failures two years ago — noted many buildings are the homes of children and seniors, who have “been without heat for weeks, putting their health and well-being at risk.”

She said the housing authority must not only work to ensure these buildings have heat immediately, but open heating centers to provide a temporary refuge for residents.”

Other NYCHA residents say they’ve recently had to contend with no water.

Lisa Fret, a 17-year resident at the Red Hook houses, told the Daily News that water has periodically been off and on since Wednesday, including a long stretch from Thursday night into Friday morning.

Fret, 53, said she waited almost two hours on hold last night before getting disconnected.

And then she said she got the runaround Friday when trying to get to the right person to fix the issue.

It was back, as of Friday afternoon. But Fret said there are always issues at the house, like elevators that keep breaking down.

“It’s like the forgotten land down here,” Fret said.

The weather shows no signs of easing up. The temperature will hover in the teens and 20s well into next week.