NYCHA Tenants in Coney Island Plan to Sue Over Ongoing Gas Outages

More than 50 residents of Coney Island’s O’Dwyer Gardens and Coney Island I Sites 4 and 5 are part of a lawsuit against the New York City Housing Authority for failing to fix their cooking gas in a timely manner.

“We are proud to stand with the tenants of Sites 4 and 5 and O’Dwyer Gardens and will fight with them in ensuring their basic rights to essential services,” said Kristie E. Ortiz-Lam, an attorney and director of the Preserving Affordable Housing Program at Brooklyn Legal Services Corporation A.

Coney Island Assembly Member Mathylde Frontus announced Thursday she has secured free representation for the public housing residents from Brooklyn Legal Services Corporation A, who plan to file a group action lawsuit in the next two or three weeks for the O’Dwyer residents and tenants of Sites 4 and 5 — some of who haven’t had cooking gas since August 2021 — and residents of other Coney Island public housing complexes who are enduring issues like brown water, mold and other maintenance problems as a result of long-term neglect by the city.

The agency does not comment on pending litigation, an agency spokesperson told Brooklyn Paper.

Holding NYCHA accountable

“Nobody should have to endure days, weeks, or in some cases a full year without basic services including cooking gas in their homes, no matter where they live. These residents pay their rent, are good tenants, and deserve respect and basic dignity from NYCHA,” Frontus said in a statement. “I have stood with them since these issues began over a year ago and I promised to do everything I can to rectify this untenable and unacceptable situation. I’m eternally thankful to the attorneys from Brooklyn Legal Services Corporation A for taking this case and helping us fight back which hopefully will compel the City to finally take action.”

Tenants of O’Dwyer Gardens’ Building 6 have been without cooking gas since February when contractors broke a gas line, and part of Building 5 and all of Building 1 has been without gas since June 24. At the time, tenants feared the whole complex was going to lose power before NYCHA would get around to fixing the issue.

“I want to thank our Assembly Member Frontus for her continued diligent support to hold NYCHA accountable for the impact the lack of gas and other services is constantly having on its residents,” Sheila Smalls, president of the tenants’ association at O’Dwyer Gardens, said in a statement. “This lawsuit is sadly the last alternative in order to push back on NYCHA for the lack of service and amenities we are receiving as rent-paying tenants. All we want is our gas restored.”

My office is proud to have secured free legal representation for Coney Island NYCHA residents who have been without cooking gas for as long as one year. Thank you to Brooklyn Legal Services Corporation A who will be filing a group action lawsuit for dozens of residents affected. pic.twitter.com/hOAcvFEwM6

— Mathylde Frontus (@FrontusforNY) August 12, 2022

At the end of June, the public housing authority told Brooklyn Paper they had begun work to restore gas to the two buildings affected by the June 24 outage and planned to begin work for Building 6 on July 5.

A NYCHA spokesperson reported to Brooklyn Paper that gas service was restored to Building 1 on July 21, and that as of August 15, 120 apartments in Building 6 and 16 apartments in Building 5 are without gas service.

Gas service for Building 6’s 120 apartments is in the process of being restored after the gas line was broken during the construction of a new central boiler and backup generator plant at the complex.

However, the gas outage at Building 5 – affecting 16 apartments– may take longer to fix. Crews are currently investigating and abating asbestos at the site, as the construction could release the hazardous substance into the air while workers repair a broken valve.

In the meantime, residents have only been provided meals on less than a dozen occasions, and otherwise are expected to cook for themselves using crockpots and hot plates NYCHA has issued while awaiting gas service to return, according to Smalls. The situation has pushed many residents to eat out for their meals.

“Some people have to go out and buy food two times a day,” Smalls told Brooklyn Paper at the time. “That little burner they got, you can’t sit and feed a family of five on two burners.”

Smalls said NYCHA was not keeping residents of Building 6 up to date on the service interruptions and that she hadn’t heard much from the agency at all until the other two buildings lost service. At that time, the housing authority apologized and dropped pizzas and burritos in the lobby of one of the buildings without notifying residents.

“They knew they were wrong, they apologized immediately. They said pizza and burritos which I do not consider a meal,” Smalls said back in June. “They sent that to the lobby and left it unattended so they just dropped off food.”

Her team ended up having to distribute the food, which the tenant association president said added insult to injury.

Gas outages continue as repairs progress slowly

At Coney Island Sites 4 and 5, one building — totaling 376 apartments — has been without gas service since August 2021 due to a leak in the building’s main gas pipe. A NYCHA spokesperson said the building’s gas restoration is in the construction phase, and new gas piping has been installed in Wing A and is currently being put in Wing B. After completing Wing B, workers will set the schedule for Wings C, D and E. Gas service cannot be restored until work is complete in each of the building’s five wings and inspected.

Since the outage has hit its one-year anniversary, Sites 4 and 5’s Tenant Association President Felicita Jackson said residents believe this is the only next step to improve their quality of life and receive what they are entitled to as tenants of the city agency.

“Our three buildings have all been without gas since last August 2021 and this has been a major inconvenience for the residents. Until the repairs are finally made, it’s difficult to cook in our apartments because they only gave us a single hot plate. So it’s a huge relief knowing that the Assembly member is helping connect us with the lawyers,” Jackson said.

Restoring gas service in NYCHA buildings is a long, complicated process requiring multiple partners and phases including shutting off the gas, conducting repairs, inspection and coordinating with service providers in order to safely restore service, according to a NYCHA rep.

The spokesperson added that the gas outage only affects cooking gas and not heat or hot water, and said the agency has been diligent in keeping tenants apprised of their progress in restoring the service.

The agency representative reminded residents to continue to use the MyNYCHA app or call the Customer Contact Center at 718-707-7771 to create a work order ticket for any maintenance needs, including service interruptions.

Editor’s note: A version of this story originally ran in Brooklyn Paper. Click here to see the original story.

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• NYCHA Residents in Coney Island Deal With Seven Months Without Gas and No Timeline for Its Return

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