Hundreds Face Thanksgiving Without Gas At LES NYCHA Buildings

LOWER EAST SIDE, NY — Hundreds of families will spend Thanksgiving without gas at public housing buildings on the Lower East Side.

Jose Santiago, who lives in NYCHA's Gompers Houses where gas has been out since September, says he plans to pay someone to cook a turkey for his family.

"It's been hard because we need the stove," said Santiago, 48, who lives with his aunt and nephews.

His is among more than 540 apartments without gas across Gompers, Riis and Vladeck houses, with about 470 apartments suffering outages in Gompers alone, according to NYCHA official Brian Honan who spoke at a recent Community Board 3 meeting.

Citywide, about 53 buildings are without gas, some since April, NYCHA records show.

"We need our gas," Santiago said. "We've been spending more money because we can't cook."

Residents have said they’ve been given hot plates with a single burner, making it take much longer to cook basic meals that require more than one burner.

"It's very ridiculous," said Luis, 64, who declined to provide his last name for privacy reasons.

The 15-year Gompers resident has been told the gas might not be back on for six months to a year.

Now meals that once took 20 minutes take about an hour and a half, he said.

Another Gompers resident Ema Diaz added, "It's hard without gas. ... It's necessary."

The electric stoves take longer to cook; Diaz said it may take him 20 minutes just to fry an egg. He goes out to eat more often — but with meals about $12 a person, the money adds up, especially for big families, he said.

It is known to take months to turn the gas back on, like in the nearby Baruch Houses, where a gas main ruptured and cement truck flipped cutting gas at the building this year.

"Gas is frustrating because unlike heat, or other type of outages at NYCHA, it's not like a simple fix," Honan told a handful of board members and politicians' representatives at the Nov. 4 CB 3 committee meeting, particularly after the deadly gas explosion killed two in 2015 in the East Village, leading to three manslaughter convictions Friday.

NYCHA spokesperson Barbara Brancaccio added, "The health and safety of our residents is our number one priority."

"Gas outages are an unfortunate symptom of capital disinvestment and aging infrastructure," Brancaccio she said.

The lengthy process requires pipes to be replaced, a design plan and construction approvals to do so, extensive testing, and the green light from Con Edison once the work is completed, according to NYCHA officials. Most buildings require asbestos testing and abatement during the work as well, Honan said.

Reimbursements for food would help families during the lengthy outages, Community Board 3 chair Alysha Lewis-Coleman said.

"They have small children and they're having to have other people cook for them and bring them meals everyday, and that’s not always easy for family members," she said of families she knows at Gompers Houses on Pitt Street.

There are options for those already receiving public assistance to get vouchers from the Human Resources Administration or meals on wheels for seniors, said Honan, but those in between are left with hot plates.

"For folks that are in between, not there, hot plates are the best we can offer. We don't give reimbursements," Honan said, acknowledging it's a key frustration for residents.

There's no timeline for when gas will be restored for the Lower East Side buildings, NYCHA spokeswoman Brancaccio confirmed. For Thanksgiving, NYCHA has some plans to assist tenants during the holiday, with details to come.

But for NYCHA residents who deal with regular outages of heat, hot water and gas, "It's always something," said Santiago.