New strategy to reduce outages and restore heat faster by installing new boilers, hiring more heating staff and external contractors, as well as improving resident communication
The de Blasio Administration announced the result of heating improvements made across NYCHA this summer and fall to prepare for cold weather. In response to last year’s record cold temperatures, NYCHA’s new leadership has developed a comprehensive strategy to reduce outages and restore heating faster this winter. Systemwide, NYCHA residents now have more heating staff, more mobile boilers on hand for emergencies and better handling of their heat complaints. And 87,000 residents at developments that had chronic heating issues last year have received target improvements, ranging from new boilers to new third-party experts that will manage heating plants to reduce outages.
“Every NYCHA resident deserves heat in the winter. Our new leadership at NYCHA have delivered major improvements that will reduce outages and get the heat back on faster,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio. “This plan will benefit all 400,000 New Yorkers who call NYCHA home, and is the only the beginning of more improvements to come."
“In preparation for this winter season, we have been fully dedicated to ensuring real improvements to keep residents warmer,” said NYCHA Interim Chair and CEO Stanley Brezenoff. “While there is no magic wand, our operations team, under the leadership of our General Manager Vito Mustaciuolo, is tackling problems we have immediate control over while looking to the future when we can have more reliable heating throughout our portfolio for all New Yorkers who rely on us.”
“After joining NYCHA in the height of the heating problems last winter, I committed from day one to ensure that we were better prepared when this winter season came around,” said NYCHA General Manager Vito Mustaciuolo. “With unprecedented support from Mayor de Blasio, we have achieved operational improvements, streamlined capital timelines and better technology both internally and for resident communication, so when the winter freeze comes, we will be able to respond faster and get boilers up and running quicker.”
Last winter in New York City was one of the coldest on record, bringing NYCHA’s aging infrastructure to a brink. Approximately half of NYCHA developments experienced one or more heat service interruptions lasting longer than 24 hours last heat season. This winter, NYCHA is targeting investments towards the worst performing heating systems.
The citywide improvements for the 2018-19 heating season include:
- More Heating Staff: NYCHA has added 50 new heating technicians this heating season, and added more contracts with skilled laborers to provided additional expertise if needed. These staffing expansions will improve maintenance and speed response times.
- Better Customer Service: When NYCHA makes heating repairs, it will now robocall all affected residents before closing out work orders. Any resident that has not experienced heat restoration will be able to immediately respond through the call to keep staff on site to address their issue.
- New Mobile Boilers: 5 additional mobile boilers are ready to deploy during emergencies to keep heat running.
The targeted improvements affected 87,000 residents include:
- New Boilers: 12 developments have had boilers replaced since last winter with three more under repair now, improving heating service for 9,100 residents. Six developments, with 7,300 residents, have received dedicated mobile boilers.
- Outside Experts to Monitor and Manage Boilers: For 41 scattered sites or high-tech heating plants, third-party agencies will provide faster and better fixes, helping 70,000 residents experience better heat this season. Further developments will be transferred to third party managers over the course of the heating season.
- Better Windows: 7,600 senior apartments received new window balances, a key issue in last year’s struggles to keep the cold out. These repaired windows will lock in the heat more securely for NYCHA’s elderly residents.
Below is a list of sites that are receiving targeted improvements:
New Boilers
· 104-14 Tapscott Street
· Claremont Rehab (Group 2)
· Claremont Rehab (Group 4)
· Coney Island I (Site 1B)
· Coney Island (Sites 4&5)
· Fort Washington Avenue Rehab
· Hope Gardens
· Ingersoll
· International Tower
· Lower East Side I
· Manhattanville Rehab (Group 2)
· Manhattanville Rehab (Group 3) *
· Melrose*
· Ocean Hill-Brownsville
· Rehab Program (Wise Rehab)
· Robinson *
· Rutland Towers*
· Sutter Avenue-Union Street
· Taft*
· Washington Heights Rehab
· Wyckoff Gardens*
Note: The locations with an asterisk are receiving a mobile boiler.
Third Party Management
· 303 Vernon Avenue
· Albany
· Albany II
· Astoria
· Beach 41ST Street
· Brownsville
· Conlon Lihfe Towers
· Cooper Park
· Corsi Houses
· East River
· Elliot
· Fiorentino Plaza
· Glenmore Plaza
· Highbridge Gardens
· Howard
· Hughes Apartments
· International Tower
· Jefferson
· Kingsborough
· Kingsborough Extension
· Lexington
· Long Island Baptist Houses
· Low Houses
· Pink
· Queensbridge North
· Queensbridge South
· Rangel
· Roosevelt I
· Roosevelt II
· Shelton House
· Sumner
· Tilden
· Unity Plaza (Sites 17,24,25A)
· Unity Plaza (SITES 4-27)
· Van Dyke I
· Van Dyke II
· Vandalia Avenue
· Wagner
· Washington
· Williamsburg
· Woodson
Better Windows
· Armstrong I
· Baruch Houses Addition
· Betances I
· Bethune Gardens
· Borinquen Plaza I
· Boston Road Plaza
· Bronx River Addition
· Brown
· Cassidy-Lafayette
· Chelsea Addition
· Claremont Parkway- Franklin Avenue
· College Avenue – East 165th Street
· Conlon Lihfe Towers
· Corsi Houses
· Davidson
· East 152nd Street- Courtlandt Avenue
· Fort Washington Avenue Rehab
· Garvey (Group A)
· Glebe Avenue- Westchester Avenue
· Haber
· Harborview Terrace
· Hope Gardens
· International Tower
· Kingsborough Extension
· La Guardia Addition
· Leavitt Street- 34th Avenue
· Lower East Side I
· Marshall Plaza
· Meltzer Tower
· Middletown Plaza
· Mitchel
· Morris Park Senior Citizens Home
· Morrisania Air Rights
· Palmetto Gardens
· Public School 139 (Conversion)
· Randall Avenue-Balcom Avenue
· Rehab Program (College Point)
· Reid Apartments
· Robbins Plaza
· Roosevelt I
· Shelton House
· Stuyvesant Gardens II
· Surfside Gardens
· Twin Parks East (Site 9)
· Union Avenue – East 163rd Street
· Upaca (Site 5)
· Upaca (Site 6)
· Van Dyke II
· Vandalia Avenue
· West Brighton II
· West Tremont Avenue – Sedgewick Avenue
· White
· Woodson
The de Blasio Administration has made an unprecedented commitment to preserve and strengthen public housing. This investment is part of the Administration’s total commitment to $2.1 billion to support NYCHA’s capital infrastructure from Fiscal Year 2014 to Fiscal Year 2027 and $1.6 billion to support NYCHA’s operations from Fiscal Year 2014 to Fiscal Year 2022. This investment includes $1.3 billion to fix over 900 roofs, over $500 million to repair deteriorating exterior brickwork at nearly 400 buildings, and $140 million to improve security at 15 NYCHA developments.
The City waived NYCHA’s annual PILOT and NYPD payments to the City, relieving NYCHA of nearly $100 million in operating expenses a year. In January 2018, the Mayor announced $13 million to improve NYCHA’s response to heating emergencies this winter, followed by an additional $200 million for long-term heating improvements at 20 NYCHA developments.
