As NYCHA buildings have been known for mold and failing elevators, there is another glaring problem for those in Marble Hill.
For several months some residents in the Marble Hill Houses have not had hot water in their bathrooms.
Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz is angry and can’t understand why this taking place.
“It’s infuriating,” Dinowitz said. “We’re in a global health crisis. You would think they would take this more seriously.”
The lawmaker feels there simply are not enough maintenance people and there must be one assigned to each of the 11 Marble Hill buildings.
Now as the winter creeps on how can NYCHA expect people to not have hot water in the bathroom, he said. Dinowitz stressed people should not have to boil water and bring it into their bathroom.
While only about two dozen apartments have this issue, it still should not be happening, he stated.
“People should not have to live this way,” he exclaimed. “In a regular rental building this would not happen. It’s almost like the people in charge feel they can get away with doing nothing. Everybody must be treated the same way, whether they live in an expensive condo or a NYCHA building.”
According to Dinowitz, he has complaints from NYCHA residents all of the time. In fact, some people in the Marble Hill Houses did not have gas to cook on Thanksgiving in 2019.
One of the tenants dealing with the loss of hot water is Adelaida Marrero, who has lived there 29 years. Marrero, 75, lives there with her grandson and is quite upset with the situation.
Marrero told the Bronx Times she has not had hot water in the bathroom for four months. She has called NYCHA numerous times, yet nothing has changed.
“I try to take a bath, but it’s like you are living in 1800,” she commented. “All they [NYCHA[ say is they’re working on it, but they don’t fix the problem.”
The grandmother is tired of brining hot water from the kitchen to the bathroom and said she is not paying rent until it’s fixed.
A NYCHA spokesman said the building most affected by the hot water issues was Building 4 at 2811 Exterior St. Staff recently identified a couple of cross connections and addressed them.
According to the spokesman, when performing a walkthrough and taking water temperatures in building 4, they found sufficient hot water in all the lines except the f line bathroom.
Staff will continue to visit apartments until they have located the problem and made repairs.
When entering apartments, staff will take hot water temperatures in kitchens and bathrooms, check for improper washing machine hook ups and defective washing machine valves, check bathroom sinks and shower bodies for defective components and check bathtub shower heads for defective components.
“NYCHA staff began receiving complaints around the beginning of December and found multiple cross connection issues where cold water is mixing with hot water, causing temperature fluctuations in various apartment lines,” the spokesman said. “Our heating staff and management located part of the issue and addressed it, and are still working to identify further cross connections.”
