Community Corner

Halloran Calls On Con Ed to Restore Co-op's Gas

Councilman Says 20 Units at Manor House Still Do Not Have Service

Natural gas has been restored to 64 of the 84 units at Douglaston's Manor House, Councilman Dan Halloran, R-Whitestone, said Tuesday. The Northern Boulevard co-op lost service more than a month ago following a gas leak.

But Con Edison had not been able to restore service to 20 apartments as of Tuesday because it was not able to gain entry to the units. Halloran called on the utility to return to the co-op, which is located at 241-20 Northern Blvd., until every unit had natural gas.

The building had been without the service since Oc. 12.

Find out what's happening in Bayside-Douglastonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"It is unfortunate that hundreds of my constituents suffered without his basic amenity for more than a month," Halloran said. "The city's bureaucracy made the management company jump through countless hoops to get plumbing permits to fix the leak. My office had to intervene just to make sure the residents had gas service back for the Thanksgiving holiday. New Yorkers deserve better from our city government."

The city's Department of Buildings had not inspected the building until last weekend because the property had never obtained a certificate of occupancy, Halloran said. The agency originally planned to wait until the building received the certificate before inspecting the leak, he said.

Find out what's happening in Bayside-Douglastonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

For more than a month, residents at the 84-unit co-op were not able to use their stoves or dryers and many of them were forced to eat out every night.

"I've heard from the DOB that these facilities never had the permits from the beginning," said Gary Sangastiano, who was the co-op's first vice president 26 years ago, last week. "The city has really dragged its feet on this. It's absolutely insane and we're not over the hump yet."

Kelly Villella-Canton, a co-op resident, said she has been forced to travel to nearby laundromats for the past month.

"I have little children," she said. "I can't boil water or do the laundry. We pay tons of money to the management for maintenance to live here."

The councilman and state Sen. Frank Padavan, R-Bellerose, coordinated an effort between Con Edison, Five Star Plumbing and the DOB. They helped the building to acquire emergency permits as well as scheduled inspections at the site.

Plumbers repaired the leak at the co-op last week.

 


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

More from Bayside-Douglaston