24
COURIER LIFE, MARCH 25-31, 2022
Coney NYCHA residents without cooking gas fed up
BY JESSICA PARKS
Residents at NYCHA’s
Surfside Gardens in Coney
Island have been without
cooking gas and unable to
cook in their own homes for
seven months.
“It’s terrible,” said Marcy
Jackson, a resident leader
at the complex. “There has
been no gas since August.”
Area Councilmember
Ari Kagan told Brooklyn
Paper that he’s demanded
answers from NYCHA, the
state’s low-income housing
arm, on when cooking
gas would be returned, but
said he’s only heard excuses
from the agency.
“Every time another excuse,
another explanation,”
he said.
The first-term Coney Island
representative said the
issue has come to a boiling
point, and that he’s now asking
the agency to provide
rent rebates to residents of
the three buildings without
gas in the housing complex,
who he says are dealing
with a multitude of issues in
addition to the lack of cooking
gas.
“Now, I am demanding
a rent rebate,” Kagan said.
“NYCHA should not be
charging people the same
rent who do not have essentials
services.”
Jackson said the problem
isn’t new. The heat goes
out every year during winter,
she said, adding that residents
need new windows,
elevators, better maintenance,
and — if she had to
guess — a top-to-bottom renovation
of the building.
“The elevators, every
other day they break,
they’re not working. Then,
every year is the same thing
with the heat, when it’s the
wintertime they freeze us to
death,” she said. “They need
to do something with this
building. It’s ridiculous.”
Instead of offering a
timeline on when the cooking
gas will be restored,
Kagan said NYCHA claims
it has supported their residents
by providing restaurant
coupons and hot plates,
which the councilmember
said is not enough help to
get by.
“They give hotplates,”
he said. “Can you support
a family on a hot plate, can
you support your family
for seven months on a hot
plate?”
Jackson said the last she
heard, gas wasn’t expected
to return until next year.
“Somebody came
months ago, and said it
was going to be like 2023 or
something before we get the
gas back on,” she said. “Nobody
came back yet.”
Earlier this month, the
issues at the complex culminated
in a fire that ravaged
the lone building with cooking
gas on W. 31st Street—
leaving one dead and three
hospitalized with injuries.
The culprit? A space heater.
“For several days before
the fire, there was no heat,”
Kagan explained. “This elderly
couple had their space
heater on and fell asleep,
you know what happened
after that.”
Adding insult to injury,
Kagan told Brooklyn Paper
that NYCHA has also refused
to take responsibility
for the fire.
“Do you think NYCHA
sent an email to me or anybody
saying, ‘Oh, it’s our
fault?’” Kagan said. “Of
course not.”
A spokesperson for
NYCHA said the interruption
of gas for 376 apartments
in Surfside Gardens
was due to a leak on the
main line that is requiring
asbestos management
to resolve. The restoration
is currently in the asbestos
abatement stage, requiring
multiple partners and steps.
“This interruption is due
to a leak on the main line
and we are currently in the
asbestos abatement stage
of the restoration process,
which involves multiple
partners and steps, including
shutting off the gas service
and making necessary
repairs and inspections,”
the rep said in a statement
to Brooklyn Paper.
This story has been edited
for brevity. For more,
visit BrooklynPaper.com.
Odette Adamson, a resident of Surfside Gardens, has been using a crockpot and hot plate for seven
months instead of having cooking gas. Photo | by City Councilmember Ari Kagan
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