After 1 Month, Cooking Gas Still Out at Red Hook Houses Building

RED HOOK, BROOKLYN — A gas leak has left 114 apartments in a Red Hook East Houses building without cooking gas for nearly a month, according to residents and reports.

“Safety is NYCHA’s top priority," an agency spokesman said in a statement Tuesday. "To protect residents when a gas leak is detected, service must be shut off until NYCHA, the utility company, and [the Department of Buildings] perform comprehensive investigations of all gas lines to make necessary repairs."

The affected building is located at the intersection of Hicks Street and Bush Street.

"We apologize for the impact this is having on our residents, particularly on the holiday, but we cannot rush this work and put residents at risk," the spokesperson continued. "We appreciate their patience as we work to restore service as quickly as possible.”

A report in the Red Hook Star-Revue said that NYCHA official Brian Honan told residents last week that new pipes have to be installed in the building, a process that can't happen until asbestos is removed. That means the gas won't be back on until February, Honan reportedly said.

The paper also stated that National Grid was the building's gas supplier. But in response to questions about the service outage, National Grid spokeswoman Wendy Ladd said that, "I believe this is a NYC housing issue," adding that, "we don't have any outages in Red Hook."

A NYCHA spokesperson did not immediately return a request for comment on the accuracy of the Star-Revue's report.

Residents of the building confirmed Tuesday that the gas has been off for approximately one month, adding that those without service received hot plates from the housing agency.

A NYCHA official also said the department has been keeping residents updated on its work, and is coordinating with city agencies and Meals on Wheels to get food to those who need it, such as seniors.

Outside the property on Tuesday, a resident named Anthony said he likes to cook rather than buy take-out food, but he's been limited in the kitchen over the last month.

He's had to use the "microwave, TV dinners, and keep it moving," he said, adding that for Christmas, "we had to break out and cook" at another apartment in the complex, "and then bring the food back" to his apartment.

Anthony, who said he's lived in the complex since 1999, added that he hasn't had many problems with services there, with the exception of outages during Hurricane Sandy.

However, he wasn't happy to hear that the gas might stay off for another month.

"It hurts," he said of the outage.

Pictured at top: 116 Bush St., the location of the impacted building. Photo by John V. Santore.