On a cold afternoon, residents who have been without cooking gas for four months gathered at a rally organized by their local Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz, Council Member Andrew Cohen, and District Leader Eric Dinowitz. Their demand was simple: restore this basic service without further delay.
Gas service was disrupted after Con Edison responded to a leak in September 2018. The landlord received a NYC Department of Buildings (DOB) work permit on October 19, 2018 as a result, but tenants reported that they have received no updates from the landlord on the necessary gas line repairs since. Tenants filed numerous complaints with NYC Housing Preservation and Development (HPD), resulting in the issuance of 16 separate violations for failure to provide an adequate supply of cooking gas. The property is managed by Park Drive Management, and HPD lists Jonathan Hoch and Joseph Hoch as the respective managing agent and head officer for the building.
For months, tenants patiently waited for their landlord to make necessary repairs before finally exhausting their patience and soliciting the assistance of their local elected officials. Tenants have been encouraged to file complaints with the NYS Division of Housing and Community Renewal (DHCR) seeking rent reductions for decreased services.
Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz said: “I understand that gas lines can be tricky and I don’t believe that any tenant realistically expected the service outage to be resolved overnight. However, it has been four months and it does not appear that we are any closer to a resolution than we were in September. This is unacceptable and tenants have every right to be outraged.”
Council Member Andrew Cohen said: “For a building to be without gas for over four months is not only unacceptable - it’s cruel! In this instance the permit to make repairs has been obtained, official complaints have been filed by the tenants, and more than a dozen violations have been issued by HPD- and yet nothing has been done.
District Leader Eric Dinowitz said: "He will be working with the other local elected officials to try to get the gas service restored as quick as possible."
Above and Below - Residents of 3804 Greystone Avenue tell what it has been like not having gas service in the building to cook with. Heat is being provided sparsely through an oil furnace as is the hot water. It does not appear to be a matter of trying to move rent controlled tenants out to convert to a coop like many surrounding buildings converted to coop buildings years ago.
