Bed-Stuy Homes Among City's Coldest In Winter, Study Finds

BEDFORD-STUYVESANT, BROOKLYN — Bed-Stuy is one of the city's worst neighborhoods for unheated homes, according to a new data analysis.

Bedford-Stuyvesant was ranked the fourth worst city neighborhood for heat and hot water complaints and is home to two buildings among the worst 10 offenders, according to the real estate website Localize.city.

The central Brooklyn neighborhood has 988 buildings with heat and hot water complaints, ranking it one of the top five neighborhood in the city for frigid apartments during heat season, when landlords are legally required to heat New York homes, Localize.city found.

Bed-Stuy's southern neighbor Crown Heights won out for the highest number of buildings with heat complaints at 1,264 buildings, said Localize analysts. Harlem came in second with 1,024 complaint buildings, East New York third with 994 buildings and Washington Heights fifth with 953, Localize data show.

Half of the top 10 neighborhoods — Crown Heights, East New York, Bed-Stuy, Bushwick and East Flatbush — are in Brooklyn.

Bed-Stuy also appears twice on the Localize's list of 10 city buildings with the most complaints.

An apartment complex at 1711 Harriet Tubman Ave. racked up 863 complaints in the past 12 months, making it the third worst for cold complaints, and 381 Vernon Ave. ranks ninth with 583 complaints, Localize reports.

Brooklyn had the most buildings with complaints at 11,053 buildings and more than 67,500 complaints, according to Localize.

The Bronx had more than 73,000 complaints in 7,790 buildings, Manhattan had more than 48,500 complaints in 7,039 buildings, Queens had more than 29,000 complaints in 5,888 buildings and Staten Island had more than 2,300 in 666 buildings.

There were 221,858 heat-related 311 complaints from New Yorkers at 32,436 unique addresses in the past year and more than 8,400 of those buildings are at risk of having heat or hot water issues again, Localize.city reported.

“Not having heat or hot water is not only a hardship but also illegal,” said data scientist Nir Gonen. "Heat and hot water are basic needs, and not having heat and hot water is the single most frequent housing-related complaints made to 311."