Many NYCHA residents have no heat, hot water on coldest day of the year

January 22, 2019 By Raanan Geberer Brooklyn Daily Eagle

The Bushwick Houses. Image courtesy of Google Maps

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More than 10,000 NYCHA residents across the city, including at several Brooklyn housing projects, spent Martin Luther King Jr. Day without any heat or hot water amid sub-freezing temperatures outside.

The tenants told the New York Post they were forced to warm their hands over ovens, heat up pots of water for bathing and wear jackets and sweaters inside just to keep from freezing.

Some 2,829 residents were affected in the Bushwick Houses in Brooklyn when the heat went out due to an electrical issue on Monday, the Post reported. Deloris Byrd, an elderly woman who lives in the development, said, “I’m going to be 78 and I got health issues … I pray they get [heat and hot water] back soon or I’ll be in big trouble.”

Heat began returning in the afternoon, but NYCHA then reported no heat or hot water at two other Brooklyn projects — Sumner Houses in Bedford-Stuyvesant and Kingsborough Houses in Crown Heights, the Post said. Similar problems were reported at NYCHA developments in the other boroughs.

“There’s absolutely no excuse for families to be without heat and hot water for days on end,” said Councilmember Alicka Ampry-Samuel (D-Bed-Stuy-Brownsville-Bushwick), the chair of the City Council’s Public Housing Committee.

NYCHA defended its actions Monday by saying it has cut the average outage to 10 hours from last winter’s 36 hours, the Post said.