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BRONX TIMES REPORTER, APR. 15-21, 2022 BXR
Inflation hammering utilities for Bronx residents
BY JASON COHEN
With the largest inflation
spike in 40 years,
Bronx residents, particularly
seniors, are concerned
about skyrocketing costs.
The massive uptick in
water, electric and gas bills
have Bronxites’ pockets
hurting. Residents have
claimed their Con Ed bills
have increased as high as
80%. Some of the people affected
the most are seniors,
who often live on fixed incomes
relying on their pensions
and social security —
like Carmela Corrente of
Pelham Bay.
Corrente, a retired vice
president of a bank, has
owned a home for 50 years
and has never had issues
paying bills until recently.
Corrente, 75, lives with her
brother John, and they pay
$6,000 per year in property
taxes and $2,800 for homeowners’
insurance. However,
her monthly water
bill has gone up by $150,
her Con-Ed bill has increased
by $130 and her oil
bill has increased by $200.
“We manage to pay our
mortgage, and we don’t
have much left to pay for
food afterwards,” she told
the Bronx Times.
Corrente, who was in
the banking industry for
52 years, saved money in a
401(k) and a Roth IRA, but
she is still struggling today.
According to Corrente, living
on a fixed income is normally
fine, but with no one
predicting the rise in inflation
to end anytime soon,
things are getting scary.
“Now with this
(Ukraine) war going on,
prices are going to be outrageous,”
she said. “I’m not
looking for a handout.”
Corrente said she
reached out to Con Ed, and
they gave her lip service.
With a tight budget, she
is lucky if she goes out socially
once during the next
few months, she told the
Bronx Times.
Inflation has also impacted
her medical bills
and health care costs. Her
Medicare coverage went
up to $170 a month. She
now has to pay a co-pay
for doctors’ visits and also
co-insurance for tests, and
anything else the 80% insurance
doesn’t cover.
“Everybody is struggling
right now, don’t
get me wrong,” she said.
“Those of us who have
worked our whole lives and
lived off a pension and social
security, what’s going
to happen next?”
Fellow senior, Roseanne
Rosetta of Morris Park,
shares Corrente’s concerns.
Rosetta, 72, lost her job as a
dental hygienist during the
pandemic and since then,
life hasn’t been easy.
Things were OK at first
when she received unemployment,
but with government
assistance ending
and inflation rising, her
financial situation has become
a burden. Rosetta is
behind on mortgage payments
and several months
late on her utility bills.
Receiving $1,800 a
As inflation continues to impact residents in the Bronx, rental prices in Throggs Neck have also
spiked. Photo | Adrian Childress
month on social security is
not enough right now, she
said.
“I’m waiting for them
to hand me an eviction notice,”
she added.
According to Rosetta,
her utility bills began spiking
about six months ago
and since then, things have
really spiraled.
With the help of a few local
nonprofits, she began
hosting a food pantry every
Friday from her home a
few months ago. Each week
she feeds about 80 families,
many of which are seniors
hurting like herself.
“I’ve worked my whole
life, since I was 16, and I
never thought I would be at
this place,” she said. “You
have a lot of families that
aren’t doing well.”
Rosetta said she will
likely have to look into a
loan modification — typically
granted to a borrower
who can’t repay the loan
under its original terms —
in order to keep her home.
Unfortunately, she is not
optimistic about her future
and left wondering if, at
some point, she won’t have
a place to sleep.
“I have to pay it (her
mortgage) off this week or
next or they’re going to put
a notice on my door,” she
said.
Pelham Gardens resident
Phyllis Nastasio is a
small landlord of a fourfamily
home and has seen
her bills skyrocket as well.
Nastasio, a teacher in Morris
Park and a landlord for
seven years, said she has
never raised rent on her
tenants.
“This year, I’m afraid
I’m going to have to raise
the rent,” she admitted.
Her water bills have
ballooned from $591 in
September to $1,300 in November
to $1,800 in February.
When she called to ask
about the high bill, Nastasio
was told it was because
of wastewater — she
doesn’t buy it.
“In my opinion, I think
everybody needs to be audited,”
Nastasio said. “We
can’t have these ridiculous
increases.”
Her tenants pay the electric
bill, but her gas bills
totaled $1,300 last month.
The tenants pay $2,000 a
month for two-bedroom
units, which is barely covering
expenses right now,
Nastasio said.
“We’re paying them (the
bills), but there’s not extra
money at the end of the
month,” she said. “None
of our elected officials are
fighting for us.”
She said a Con Edison
representative attended
the Morris Park Community
Association meeting
earlier this month where
she felt they essentially
offered no viable explanation
as to why the prices
have increased. She told
the Bronx Times she is
worried about seniors in
the Pelham Gardens and
Morris Park sections of the
Bronx, many of which live
on fixed incomes.
“How is it possible the
rates went up so much?” she
asked. “It’s a good thing I
work because I could never
survive on what I get here.”
Read more about rising
utilities here, and how
inflation is impacting gas
and food costs here.
IT WILL BLOW ““““
“
YOUR MIND!
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MORE UNBUBBLIEVABLE
THAN EVER!
””””””
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