Gas Outage Might Mean Hot-Plate Thanksgiving In Sunset Park: Pols

SUNSET PARK, BROOKLYN — Dozens of Sunset Park tenants who have been without cooking gas for weeks might be faced with cooking for Thanksgiving on hot plates thanks to the inaction of their landlord, elected officials said this week.

Advocates and elected officials put the 545 46th St. landlords, Sharp Management Company, "on notice" with a rally outside the building Monday, demanding that they fix a gas outage that has left at least 50 tenants struggling to feed their families for weeks.

"While the landlords get to enjoy their Thanksgiving dinner this week, the tenants who pay rent have no cooking gas," state Sen. Zellnor Myrie said. "How dare you spend time with your family, eat with your family, enjoy time with your family, and leave the families who pay rent in the cold. This is unacceptable and we are calling for action this week."

A representative with Sharp told Patch that National Grid shut off the building's gas for 17 of its 50 apartments in late October because of a suspected gas leak. National Grid confirmed that they shut off gas at the building on Oct. 21.

The outage cut the cooking gas, not heat and hot water, and the landlords have given out hot plates and vouchers to local restaurants, the Sharp representative said.

But tenants have said they've been without gas for much longer, telling elected officials that the outage problems started in mid-September.

The outage has left them unable to make food for their children to bring to school and they have heard little from the landlords about when repairs might be made, tenants said Monday. Elected officials said they reached out to Sharp but got no response.

"Their actions capture a citywide trend of landlords thinking they can treat tenants in working class, immigrant, and minority communities with less respect than other neighborhoods," Council Member Carlos Menchaca said. "Not in Sunset Park. And not on my and State Senator Myrie’s watch. We will not stop fighting for the tenants until heat and gas is restored.”

The 545 46th St. building has three outstanding violations with the Department of Buildings, most recently for a Nov. 15 inspection where the city found Sharp had installed a new gas pipe in the cellar without a permit, according to DOB.

Sharp said the violation has held up repairs, since DOB requires a seven to 10 day waiting period before they can start work again.

But, according to DOB, the management company has not filed any applications to legalize the work or do further work as of Tuesday.

“Illegal gas work can have tragic results," DOB spokesperson Abigail Kunitz said. "Permits are required for gas plumbing work in New York City to protect the public, and ensure work is done safely and is code compliant.”

A hearing has been scheduled for the violation and it could result in a fine anywhere from $2,500 to $12,500, Kunitz said.

Tenants have also filed a request for rent reduction because of the outage, officials said.

When asked whether the repairs will be made in time for the holiday, Sharp told Patch they couldn't be sure whether that would happen.

"We are doing everything in our power to get the gas restored as quickly as possible, but I can’t make any guarantees as to when that will be," the representative said.