No gas until July in public housing complex

Edilsa Ariza lives in one of the 250 apartments in the Grant Houses complex in Morningside Heights that has been completely without gas since January 9. According to NYCHA, there will be no service until July 31.

The situation is due, according to the New York housing authority, to an underground leak that forced them to turn off the gas in the entire building, which is located at 550 West with 125th Street.

“About 5 or 6 years ago we were without gas, but they were fixing the gas pipes, but this time I don’t know exactly what’s going on,” said Yesenia Pagan, a 22-year Grant Houses resident.

NYCHA communicated the following: “This outage was caused by a significant leak in an underground gas line in this building. We are currently working with the service provider and a third-party provider to determine the restoration schedule.”

We contacted Con Edison and in writing they confirmed the current situation of the arrangement and said:

“There is a ramp that prevents Con Edison crews from accessing the service area. Once the NYCHA work is complete, Con Edison will be able to install the new gas service.”

Not being able to prepare food on the stove, NYCHA has provided each resident of the building with either an electric hot plate or a small two-burner stove. But those affected confirm that the power goes out and thus it is impossible to cook.

“The light, as soon as you put two utensils or something that heats up, they go down immediately,” said Edilsa Ariza, a resident of Grant Houses for 15 years. “We have to buy food and no one gives us the money for that, it’s up to us out of pocket.”

One of the NYCHA notices posted on the building informs about a meeting with the residents of Grant Houses on January 25 where they will have updates on the current situation.