Con Ed to give back rat fees

Con Edison reversed course Wednesday and decided to reimburse NYCHA tenants who’d been charged an extra fee because a rat army in the basement scared off the utility’s meter readers.

And they revealed that the rats in the basement of the Claremont Rehab apartments in the Bronx — and roaches — have been a safety concern for their meter readers for more than a year.

Con Ed spokesman Philip O’Brien said the firm’s meter readers first refused to enter the Claremont basement back in July 2017 “due to safety issues related to rats and roaches.” They continued to decline to go inside the basement through December.

Then conditions apparently improved enough for them to reenter and read the meters in January, but by June the vermin horde had apparently returned and the meter readers again balked at going in the basement.

In July, Con Ed then whacked tenants in 66 Claremont apartments with the $25 fee it charges when it’s forced to estimate a bill because meters are inaccessible. The fee is a standard charge and did not apply to every tenant in the complex.

On Tuesday after media reports about rats crawling all over Claremont apartments surfaced, the utility vowed to waive the fee going forward. On Wednesday Con Ed took it a step further, promising to reimburse all tenants who’d paid via a credit on their next bills, O’Brien said. “And if they didn’t pay it, don’t,” he added.

NYCHA officials could not say Wednesday whether they were aware that the basements at Claremont were so rat-infested back in July 2017 that Con Ed was refusing to enter them.

And tenants demanded compensation from more than Con Ed. One tenant had to throw away food because rats chewed through wires in his refrigerator, while another threw out dishes, pots and pans that the rats had crawled over while scampering about her apartment.

On Wednesday NYCHA struggled to reopen the basement, and the city Health Department sent inspectors to the site.