Frustration grows as some Manhattan residents stuck in third day without heat and hot water
Update: CBS New York has learned the heat was turned back on around 4:30 a.m. Tuesday.
NEW YORK -- It has been three days of no heat, no hot water and, some Manhattan residents say, minimal communication.
Crews have been working on Third Avenue at 37th Street in Murray Hill since Saturday, when it all started.
CBS New York was told a water main break caused issues underground, affecting several buildings in the area. And judging by the size of just one of the buildings, that's a lot of people impacted.
"You can't take a shower. The apartment is actually like the North Pole right now. It's better to be outside," Murray Hill resident Ali Shamoun said.
With that, Shamoun has been spending a lot of time outside and when he is inside, he stays bundled up.
"Jackets on when you're in the apartment. You go to bed the same way. There's no easy way to cope with it right now, but we have to wait for the experts to fix the problem," Shamoun said.
Residents said it has been a waiting game since Saturday, when they lost heat and hot water. A business even temporarily closed.
Con Edison said there was a Department of Environmental Protection water main break at Third Avenue and 37th Street and water leaked into a Con Ed steam system, adding it had to isolate the issue and turn off the steam pipe.
Five large buildings were affected, including Angela Dorry's.
"A lot of people in our building don't have any other place to go to, which is also not good. Like, we have a lot of elderly people in our building, as well as little kids," Dorry said. "Hard, not great, because we haven't been getting any sort of communication."
To add to that, she said they didn't have any water all day Monday.
The DEP said it located the possible source of the water leak on Monday and shut off water service to make the repair.
Water was temporarily restored for a building to refill its rooftop water tank, but was then turned off again for the fix.
A worker at one building expressed her frustration with the city.
"They're not giving any clear answers at all. It's unacceptable. You have to know what's going on," she said.
The DEP put up a temporary water fountain for residents to get water. A spokesperson said the agency is working to complete the repair as soon as possible on Monday night.