Thanksgiving Dinner In Jeopardy For Bronx Families Living Without Gas For Weeks
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- The smell of Thanksgiving dinner won't be coming from some homes in the Bronx this year.
Residents of one building haven't been able to cook because they've been living without gas for weeks.
Vicky Vasquez said the holiday season has always been huge for her family.
Their Christmas decorations are already up. She's been planning her Thanksgiving meal for months.
"We cook the turkey and we go with the family, but we can't this year," she said.
Mother of five Melissa Thomas has had her 22-lbs turkey in her freezer for three weeks.
"Last year I had a huge celebration, this year nothing," she said.
That's because their apartment building on Boynton Avenue in the Soundview section of the Bronx has been without cooking gas for weeks.
"More than six weeks, more than six weeks. That's not fair, everybody pays rent," Marisol Drun said.
Many residents in the building's 88 apartments are now using hot plates to make food since service to cooking gas was shut off for safety reasons.
A spokeswoman for Con Edison said the building had a gas leak on October 12. Someone inside the building smelled gas and alerted the company.
On Tuesday, workers the landlord hired were in the basement fixing the faulty pipes, but residents told CBS2's Jessica Borg the repair work is taking too long.
"I talked to the plumber yesterday and I say, 'how long he take to finish?' He said, he don't know," Simon Borgos said.
The building's landlord -- who works for D&G Property Management in Queens -- did not respond to numerous calls for comment.
It's unlikely that gas for some 80 families will be restored for Thanksgiving. Residents said they are thankful that gas lines are working for heat and hot water.