Source: Forgotten NY
Aug. 7, 2015 By Jackie Strawbridge
More than 100 residents of Acropolis Gardens have been without cooking gas and hot water for three months, despite protests and politicians advocating for them.
Con Edison shut the gas off in eight of the Acropolis’ 16 buildings at the end of April, citing problems with the piping system involving improper and unauthorized hook ups.
A Con Edison spokesperson told the Astoria Post this week that gas flow has been restored at four buildings. The Acropolis’ management company, Metropolitan Pacific Properties, confirmed this count.
At the four addresses that remain without any gas flow, Con Edison is waiting for equipment to be installed and documentation to be submitted, according to the spokesperson.
Since the gas lines were disconnected, Metropolitan Pacific Properties has insisted that Con Edison was in error, a position it maintains.
“This should have never happened in the first place. We’re just cleaning up their mess,” Brandon Osman, Metropolitan Pacific’s vice president of business development, said.
Osman went on to say that the process of scheduling inspections and filing paperwork to amend the violations is complicated and time-consuming.
“They shouldn’t have turned off the gas to begin with, because now we have to do all these procedures,” he said. “It’s a really unfortunate situation that they put us in.”
For his part, Councilman Costa Constantinides said, “as for right now, what needs to happen, that’s on Met Pac… They can’t continue to do this at the pace that they are.”
Resident Jennifer Kim described the months-long situation as “a terrible inconvenience,” noting that she and her husband have been showering at the gym, and eating food cooked in a microwave, toaster or portable grill.
“Not being able to [cook] has caused us to spend more than usual to meet our daily needs,” she added. “It has been an incredible headache.”
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3 Comments
Easier said than done Mr. Brandon Osman
If you are just renting there, I don’t understand why you would not just move?? they can’t hol;d you to your lease if you don’t have a basic service
Didn’t you hear about the NYC housing crunch? These people live in a nice location with what is probably a reasonable rent if they have lived there for a while. Plus moving is a real ordeal.
I’m sure the landlord would be very happy of some of the long time tenants moved out.