Heat of anger
22,000 calls to 311 from renters living in cold
THE CITY was slammed with close to 22,000 heat and hot water complaints from freezing renters after the mercury dropped about two weeks ago, records show.
Some of those calling in gripes to 311 live in New York City Housing Authority apartments.
“It’s ridiculous,” said Sandra Walden, who lives in the Taft Houses in East Harlem. The heat and hot water there has been on and off since Thanksgiving, the nurse at Mount Sinai West said.
The situation seems to get worse around the holiday, she added. “And there’s always an excuse as to what (causes it).”
Mayor de Blasio on Sunday defended the city’s response to multiple busted boilers at NYCHA.
“A lot of the buildings are 50 years old, 60 years old, 70 years old — they have not gotten the kind of upkeep they needed for decades,” de Blasio told John Catsimatidis on his Sunday AM 970 radio show.
“The federal government started moving away from support for public housing back in the ’80s,” he added. “So we’ve got a lot of buildings with really old boilers.”
City repair staff typically get the heat back up within several hours, he said. “But it’s a constant problem.”
Marin Pepe, 32, who lives in NYCHA’s Lower East Side II building, has been forced to use space heaters and multiple blankets at night to stay warm. “The heating is very sporadic,” she said. “It’s very low, and it doesn’t come through.”
Citywide, there were 21,984 heat complaints from Dec. 27 until last Wednesday. The tally for complaints filed since have not been finalized.
For some residing in privately owned buildings, the situation became so dire they were forced to move. That includes the 34 residents living at 1362 Gipson St. in Far Rockaway, Queens, where a small fire blew out a fuse on Dec. 30, according to tenants.
Fifteen of the renters, including one woman who is pregnant and another who requires an oxygen tank, have moved to the Kings Hotel in Sunset Park, Brooklyn.
“My legs hurt so bad, and I’m always so cold that I wake up crying,” said Catherine Barnes, 57, who uses an oxygen machine and a wheelchair. “I wouldn’t wish this on my worst enemy. I really wouldn’t.”
Justin Henderson, 29, who lives in the building with his 7-year-old son, said the heat shut off for “a long time” last winter as well.
“It’s disgusting that private landlords are getting away with this and people have to live in deplorable conditions,” said Marissa Bernowitz, a volunteer at WeCare New York who helped the stranded tenants.
The mercury is expected to rise to 34 degrees Monday. But snow and sleet are likely, possibly mixed with freezing rain, after 5 p.m., according to the National Weather Service.
The temperature will go up to 42 degrees Tuesday, according to the latest forecast.