Residents of floor collapse-impacted Hawthorne, N.J. building explain what's it like without heat, hot water, and gas
HAWTHORNE, N.J. -- One week after the partial collapse of an apartment building in Bergen County, CBS New York heard from residents who are still dealing with no heat, hot water, or gas.
Daniela Perez said she has had to wear sweatpants, an overcoat and Uggs to bed for the past week. She said she has to put up a sheet to trap the heat from the space heater she shares with her dad.
"I have a thermometer in my room. It was 30 [degrees] yesterday," Perez said Sunday.
Perez is in one of at least 30 units without heat, gas, or hot water at Hawthorne Gardens Apartment Complex because of last Sunday's collapse of the first floor of a nearby building that crushed the nine boilers in the basement that control heat and gas for four buildings, including hers.
"We put Tupperware for five minutes in the microwave, put it in a pot, another one in the microwave, put it in a pot, so to take a shower it's probably like two hours," Perez said.
She had the option to shower at the nearby firehouse-turned shelter for displaced residents, but it's at capacity.
"Too messy, too full. People were waiting on line to take showers, so we were like ...," she said, shaking her head.
Impacted residents were compensated for the last few days of January's rent and are now rent-free through February until the boilers get repaired. Perez has also received cases of water and free food from neighboring restaurants.
"I'm sorry that it has taken so long, but, unfortunately, it's a complex project," Hawthorne Mayor John V. Lane said.
Lane has been meeting daily with the town's building department, which is still working closely with engineers in charge of trying to reroute the heat and gas to the buildings, which could take at least a month.
"Go to Home Depot and get us temporary boilers," Perez said.
"It's not just go out to the supply store and put a boiler and put it in. This is a complex and we have so many units in each building," Lane said.
The mayor said residents can expect a heat trailer or two to temporarily supply heat to the impacted buildings as soon as this week. There's no set date yet.
It's still too early to tell if the building should be demolished. CBS New York reached out to apartment complex management and received the following statement:
"We expect to restore heat and hot water to Building D-F and H within the next 24 to 48 hours using temporary onsite mobile heat and hot water systems while permanent boilers are installed in each building. Building E is currently under construction. Heat and hot water will be restored once Building E is safe for occupancy. We are working with local authorities to restore Building E as safely and as quickly as possibly. We cannot give a completion estimate at the time."