Tenants: Still no electricity at 400 Kerkimer St. 8 days after electrical fire

Residents say they’ve filed over 300 complaints with Housing Preservation and Development. According to Con Edison, the issue would likely not be fixed for another two months.

News 12 Staff

Dec 28, 2021, 10:30 PM

Updated 1,012 days ago

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A group of tenants in a Brooklyn building say they haven’t had electricity for over a week. 
They say Tuesday marked day eight of no electricity at 400 Kerkimer St. after losing power following an electrical fire in the meter room of their building last Monday. 
They say the issue prevented them from celebrating the holidays with their loved ones.
The FDNY tended to the flames in the basement of the 7-story building around 1 a.m. last Monday. According to the FDNY, two people were transported to NYC Health + Hospitals/Kings County with minor injuries and the other with serious but non-life-threatening injuries. 
Residents say they’ve filed over 300 complaints with Housing Preservation and Development. According to Con Edison, the issue would likely not be fixed for another two months. 
"I need power to send a signal to the hospital so that they can monitor my heart," said Malcolm Owens, a resident of the building who uses a defibrillator. Since the power went out, Owens has not been able to charge the machine that signals the hospital in the event that his heart begins acting up.
"If they don't have the signal or the power coming through, they're not going to know that I could have a heart attack and die right in my apartment and nobody would know," he added.
Tenants say their landlord is away on vacation. News 12 reached out to the landlord, whose phone isn’t accepting any calls.