BX tenants living without gas demand action from city

Tenants of a Bronx apartment building are pleading with city officials to turn their gas back on after spending the last three months without the utility. The gas was cut off to the entire housing complex

News 12 Staff

Sep 12, 2008, 5:46 PM

Updated 5,866 days ago

Share:

Tenants of a Bronx apartment building are pleading with city officials to turn their gas back on after spending the last three months without the utility.
The gas was cut off to the entire housing complex by fire officials in July after a leak was discovered at a restaurant on the ground floor of the building at 1 West 182nd St.
The leak has long since been fixed, but tenants say the gas has not been turned back on, leaving them without working stoves. In order to cook meals, some residents in the building, including Carol Diaz, resort to the use of a single hot plate.
?I have teenage children, and I?m trying to make a meal and it takes me half of the day to start a meal for them,? Diaz says.
However, the temporary arrangement is not suitable for Diaz?s sick son, who is on a strict diet.
?For the past month, I sent him to stay with my family so he?ll eat regular meals each and every day,? she says.
Tania Torres, a neighbor from the sixth floor, says that not having a working stove is not only inconvenient, but it also puts her children in danger.
?I?m too afraid when I cook with the hot plate because they could get burned,? she says.
The tenants of the building have repeatedly complained about the problem to their landlord, but he says it is up to the city now to turn the gas back on.
A spokesperson for the New York City Housing and Preservation Department was not immediately available for comment.