Queens lawmakers demand NYCHA not charge Arverne
Carleton Manor tenants rent amid hot water outage
BY CARLOTTA MOHAMED
Queens Borough President
Donovan Richards and state
Senator James Sanders Jr.
are demanding rent forgiveness
for tenants of the New
York City Housing Authority’s
(NYCHA) Carleton Manor development
in Arverne, as they
enter their fourth month without
hot water during frigid
temperatures.
Richards and Sanders were
joined by current and former
tenant association leadership
and building tenants for a
press conference on Monday,
Feb. 7, outside of Carleton
Manor, located at 74-15 Beach
Channel Dr., urging NYCHA
to resolve the issue as soon as
possible.
For 56 days, residents have
been boiling pots of water on a
stove in order to bathe, according
to Richards.
“It’s the city’s fault for
acting like a slumlord who
thinks they can get away with
dehumanizing our residents
in Carleton Manor House. We
don’t want to hear the progress
NYCHA is making or
that a certain percentage of
people have gotten their hot
water back,” Richards said.
“This problem has existed
since November and it’s February.
We’re in the middle
of winter. Why has it taken
four months to figure this
out? That tells me NYCHA is
completely incompetent or
they couldn’t bother to offer
basic services to its residents.
I think it’s both. It’s about
time NYCHA started treating
its residents with respect and
fairness.”
The borough president is
requesting that Carleton Manor
residents should not have to
pay rent until May as repairs
are ongoing, matching the
amount of time they’ve had
to pay rent this winter despite
not having hot water.
Dozens of tenants have
filed a petition in Housing
Court seeking to force NYCHA
to make repairs at the 174-unit
building. The Daily News
first reported the story that
NYCHA hired an unlicensed
plumber to oversee repair
work on the building, and the
plumber has yet to fix more
than 50 apartments.
According to Richards,
NYCHA officials said they’re
working to repair those units
by the end of this week.
Tenant Lawanda Johnson-
Gainey, president of the resident
council, says it has been a
struggle not having hot water.
“Most have hot water and
some don’t,” Johnson-Gainey
said. “We’re now dealing with
low water pressure — when
we turn on the shower, it trickles
down and you can’t take a
shower. We’ve been fighting
for this for a long time and
we’ve been on and off since
before November, but it’s just
been a lot.”
According to Alisha Robinson,
the situation has persisted
for more than four months and
tenants had no idea when they
would get hot water again.
Although a new boiler system
was installed, Robinson
says the water was still cold
at 40 degrees and was told that
her shower head needed to be
replaced.
“What does changing the
shower head have to do with
the water that’s coming from
the shower head?” Robinson
said. “Why aren’t you going
onto the inside where the water
is coming from, instead of
where it’s coming out of? That
makes no sense to me.”
According to Robinson, after
TIMESLEDGER | Q 2 NS.COM | FEB. 11 - FEB. 17, 2022
some work was completed
in her bathtub, she was relieved
to have some hot water
to wash dishes, take a shower
and bathe her dog, Snicker.
“When I got in the water I
said, ‘Oh my god.’ I got excited
and when it stayed that way,
I got even more excited,” Robinson
said. “It’s a necessity to
have hot water.”
As she entered the building
and walked down the hallway,
Robinson pointed out water
damage on the ceiling.
“At night, sometimes
there’s a big puddle on the
floor because water is leaking
from somewhere, but they
came in and fixed it a couple
of months ago and it looked
nice,” Robinson said. “They
had replastered it, but now it’s
back to how it was before.”
Sanders, who called out
NYCHA on its incomplete
lack of services, said Carleton
Manor has had problems in
the past, including providing
heat for tenants.
“For many, this has been
going on for so long. The latest
outrage is the hot water. When
are we going to get our act together?
NYCHA, you told me
that you needed more money,
and I stood with you on every
budget request. Now I need
you to stand with my bosses
here, and they have a simple
request. Today, it’s not just
simply hot water, but hot water
you can see and feel. I am
glad that my neighbors said
they will not suffer in silence,”
Sanders said.
In a statement, Councilwoman
Selvena Brooks-Powers,
who represents Arverne,
said her office will not rest until
residents in public housing
are treated with the dignity
and respect they deserve.
“NYCHA tenants deserve
basic housing services, and
the persistent interruptions
of those services are the unacceptable
result of decades
of divestment and neglect.
Rockaway is a coastal community,
and when it is cold in
New York City, it’s even colder
on the peninsula. Heat and
hot water outages throughout
the winter are particularly
dangerous for our residents,”
Brooks-Powers said.
Powers said her office has
been closely monitoring the
systemic issues at Carleton
Manor and other NYCHA residencies
in the district.
“We are working with
our government partners at
NYCHA to ensure that outages
are flagged and resolved
as quickly as possible and that
our residents remain warm
and safe,” Brooks-Powers said.
According to NYCHA, Carleton
Manor residents do have
hot water and the building
has been and remains a priority,
as numerous actions have
been taken since November
2021 and external partners,
including National Grid, have
been consulted to identify the
root cause of the problem.
“This problem stems from
decades of neglect due to disinvestment,
therefore any
diminution in funds will only
lead to further deterioration
of buildings and services.
NYCHA staff have been working
around the clock with outside
vendors and experts to
address the underlying water
temperature and pressure issues,”
a NYCHA spokesperson
told QNS.
This ongoing work has
been underway since November
2021 by NYCHA plumbing
teams, skilled trades and
development staff, as well as
external vendors to troubleshoot
the aging and severely
underfunded infrastructure,
according to NYCHA. This
was in addition to testing the
circulating pump and return
lines in the crawl spaces, as
well as checking for improperly
installed washing machines
and faulty shower heads.
NYCHA has replaced shower
bodies in 115 out of 170 units
and 15 units still need residents
to provide access. In 40
units, NYCHA said they cannot
do the replacements until
the shutoff valves are repaired
for the O, P, Q and R lines.
This was discovered when
the plumbers went to start the
work. The lines could not hold
the water.
NYCHA is scheduling repairs
for Thursday, Feb. 10,
and there will be no heat or
hot water on that day. Following
the valve repair work,
tenants will be contacted so
that NYCHA can access their
apartments. Without access,
NYCHA says the work cannot
be completed. When the entire
lines have been replaced,
residents can access their
apartments.
Reach reporter Carlotta
Mohamed by e-mail at
cmohamed@schnepsmedia.
com or by phone at (718) 260–
4526.
Queens Borough President Donovan Richards (l.) stands with Carleton Manor tenants Alisha Robinson
(c.) and LaWanda Gainey-Johnson at a news conference on Monday, Feb. 7, 2022, demanding NYCHA
return hot water to all units in the building. Photo by Paul Frangipane
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