Thousands of New York City public housing residents forced to cook with hotplates during months-long gas outages could see some speedier service fixes under a bill before state lawmakers.
The legislation would order the New York City Housing Authority to report specific timelines and progress updates for repairs and penalize utility companies with small daily fines if they don’t show “good faith” efforts to get the gas back up and running.
Gas outages are a common problem across NYCHA campuses, with the agency reporting cut-offs at 62 public housing complexes Tuesday, including one at the O’Dwyer Gardens campus in Brooklyn, dating back over a year. Tenants say they are often in the dark about when their service will be restored or why repairs take months.
State Sen. Zellnor Myrie, a Brooklyn Democrat sponsoring the bill, said long gas outages are unacceptable, especially when they make cooking hard and cause residents to spend more on prepared foods.
“Can you imagine your gas being out for months and not hearing from anyone — the utility company, the city or NYCHA about what the plan for restoration is?” Myrie said. “If you can’t cook on your stove … you don’t care who is responsible for it. You just want the service restored.”
He said his goal is to get NYCHA, city agencies and utility companies like Con Edison and National Grid to work together to quickly restore service. The legislation faces a second committee vote Tuesday, bringing it closer to the Senate floor for a full vote. Bronx Democrat Chantel Jackson is sponsoring the Assembly version.
NYCHA blames persistent outages and lengthy repairs on aging infrastructure, a result of decades of disinvestment in public housing by the state and federal government. NYCHA faces up to $68.6 billion in capital repair needs over the next decade, according to one agency estimate, with debts mounting, due in part to unpaid rent during the pandemic.
If this was the Upper East Side or Upper West Side, this wouldn’t happen.
NYCHA spokesperson Nekoro Gomes said the agency is already reporting gas outages on an online tracker that also shows heat, electricity and hot water cuts. Gomes said NYCHA would work with state lawmakers “to provide more details for residents who are experiencing gas outages.”
Con Edison spokesperson Anne Marie Corbalis said the company “restores service as quickly and safely as possible to customers that have met required safety standards for repairs or upgrades on their equipment or infrastructure.”
The utility company, which provides gas service in the Bronx, Manhattan and northern Queens, turns on service only after a building manager or landlord, in this case NYCHA, hires a contractor to repair the problem causing the outage. The contractor must receive approval from the city before Con Edison conducts its own inspection to test for leaks, according to a factsheet for customers.
National Grid, which provides gas to homes in southern Queens, Brooklyn and Staten Island, did not respond to requests for comment.
The chronic outages take a toll on families and individuals throughout the city, said Roxana Gonzalez-Martinez, a bridal stylist living in Harlem’s Grant Houses.
She said she and her neighbors were shocked to learn they faced a seven-month gas outage due to a dangerous leak discovered in January.
After an outcry by residents and local elected officials, NYCHA agreed to meet weekly with residents to discuss repair progress. The outage affects tenants in 226 apartments, NYCHA said last month.
Gonzalez-Martinez said her schedule prevents her from attending meetings and wishes there was more publicly available information.
“I don’t know if it’s getting fixed, I don’t know what’s happening and so we’re just sitting here,” she said.
New York City would not tolerate months-long outages affecting wealthier residents, she added.
“It just feels like poor people aren’t a priority,” she said. “If this was the Upper East Side or Upper West Side, this wouldn’t happen.”
