'Walking Into Antarctica'; NYCHA Tenant Says She Wears Coat, Gloves To Bed Because Apartment Is Without Heat, Hot Water
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- As the chilly weather returns, a Queens woman living in New York City public housing says she feels left out in the cold without heat in her apartment.
The tenant said it's forcing her to sleep in her coat and gloves after weeks of failed attempts to get heat inside her NYCHA apartment, CBS2's Jessica Moore reported Friday.
"This is my coat when I'm in the house - the apartment. This is my coat that I walk around with," said Linda Edwards, 69.
Cold nights have turned into nightmares for her.
"It's not right. It's wrong... I put two and three blankets on my bed and last night I had to put gloves on," Edwards said.
Edwards says her apartment inside NYCHA's Astoria Houses in Queens hasn't had heat or hot water for the last month.
"How do you take a bath?" Moore asked.
"I don't take a bath because I don't get in cold water. I take bird baths," Edwards said. "I don't take no showers. I haven't taken a shower in a month."
During some of the coldest nights of the year so far, her only sources of heat are her oven and a small space heater in her bedroom.
"When I open that door it's like I'm walking into Antarctica," she said.
Stacks of papers and numbers show Edwards' futile efforts to try to get help from NYCHA.
"No one's doing anything. They say it's something wrong with the boiler. I don't know what's wrong with the boiler. They say, 'Oh, you see the truck out there?' The truck don't do nothing. It's out there, but it's not doing anything. So I can't take it anymore. Someone has to do something or, like I said, they just don't, they're not going to get rent from me, and this'll be the first time, and I've been here a long time," said Edwards. "I'm done. No heat, no hot water, no rent. I've been here too long. I can't take this."
NYCHA told CBS2 the mobile boilers at Astoria Houses were down earlier this week, but have since been repaired. A spokesperson said Edwards' case has been referred to the agency's heat desk for further review.
New York City building owners must maintain an indoor temperature of at least 68 degrees during the day and 62 overnight. NYCHA said the temperature inside Edwards' apartment is within the guidelines.
UPDATE: NYCHA Tenant Says Heat Has Been Repaired After CBS2's Report On Weeks-Long Outage
