"Dear Con Ed,
I am dying of thirst
Please... when you get a chance"
@evgrieve Hello. It might be a good idea to reach out to either the Parks Department or 311. ~RO
— Con Edison (@ConEdison) June 24, 2016
Fire in the (man) hole! @evgrieve pic.twitter.com/ezIP9xVpLH
— Ted Roden (@tedroden) April 9, 2016
A terrible smell has been lingering since the blizzard like a dead dog — or, not to be overly dramatic, a dead person.
This morning the area was surrounded by yellow tape. A police cruiser was blocking the street to traffic, and a Con Ed van was parked at the scene.
So, this is at least the fourth time since January that Con Ed has torn up East Sixth Street between Avenue A and B in front of our building. Jackhammers, heavy machinery, later tar and mechanical stompers. CRAZY NOISE! They obviously can’t find the problem.
My issue is they invariably show up at 6 p.m. on Friday to start the work. Start jackhammering about my son’s bedtime at 8. Now it’s a holiday weekend so its probably triple time. I think its a kind of boondoggle. There is no reason that this work always starts at 6 on Friday.
It makes the apartment uninhabitable. Of course, if there is a leak then they are simply incompetent. They were here two weeks ago and ripped the sidewalk in front of our building. I don’t know what’s worse, the noise or the fear they are incompetent.
Is there anything to do about it?
"Tenants have had issues from the get-go," Yonatan Tadele, a community organizer with the Cooper Square Committee, told us. He noted that since Icon took over in 2013, landlords had been taking rent-stabilized tenants to court, then terrorizing remaining tenants with lengthy renovations, frequent gas shutdowns and other quality-of-life issues.
Mitch Kossoff, a lawyer representing building owner Icon Realty, said the owners were "puzzled" and not aware of any gas work being done.
Please be assured that Smicon Realty is committed to providing safe and habitable housing to the tenants of New York City, and upon notification of any issues, promptly deals with them.
Unfortunately, and as a backlash of the recent and tragic circumstances that occurred across the street, Con Edison has shut off gas service to a number of buildings, our building included.
Please be assured that we are acting diligently to have the gas service restored as quickly as possible and in the interim, we are trying to make arrangements for a temporary boiler.
We are also going to provide all tenants with double burner hot plates so you can cook. We would like for all tenants who wish to relocate to a Hotel of your choice starting immediately.
For those tenants who are not otherwise in arrears, Management will cover up to $200 per day for your Hotel accommodations until the hot water has been restored building wide.
Management will not cover any expenses that exceed the $200 per diem. Please submit your Hotel receipts into our office for reimbursement.
Your reimbursement check will be processed within 30 business days of receipt.
Your rent will be adjusted accordingly for the days you are without heat and hot water.
We sincerely apologize for this inconvenience and hope to have this matter resolved in a timely manner.
Con Edison this morning shut off gas to 219 customers (187 residential; 32 commercial) in the East Village neighborhood of Manhattan while the Fire Department of New York continues recovery work at the site of yesterday’s explosion and buildings collapse on 2nd Avenue near 7th Street.
Meantime, we keep the missing and injured in our thoughts and prayers.
As we do in all cases when a customer is upgrading to a new gas service, we conducted careful inspections at 121 2nd Avenue. Our records show the work of the building’s plumber failed two inspections, including the inspection our personnel conducted yesterday afternoon. At no time was use of the new service line authorized by Con Edison. That service was locked to ensure that it would not be used. The ground-floor restaurant was being served by its current, smaller gas service line.
Con Edison continues to work with the FDNY and NYPD to restore service to customers as soon as it is deemed safe. We have contacted the customers shut off today and have also established an incident workgroup to focus 24/7 on the needs and concerns of all customers who live in the impacted zone.
Safety is always our priority, and we continue to urge people to call 9-1-1 or their gas utility immediately if they smell a gas odor.
Mr. Kim said he believed tenants had started moving into the building’s upstairs floors last summer, after the landlord, Maria Hrynenko, completed renovations. He said he suspected they were getting their gas from the neighboring building, 119 Second Avenue, which city records show is also owned by Ms. Hrynenko. She did not return calls for comment on Friday. Mayor Bill de Blasio suggested at a news conference on Friday that city officials had a similar suspicion.
Retweet to get the word out: Call 911 or @conedison immediately if you ever smell gas.
— NYC Mayor's Office (@NYCMayorsOffice) March 27, 2015
Con Edison is working with fire officials and other agencies at the scene of today’s explosion and building collapse on 2nd Avenue near 7th Street in the East Village. Earlier today, Con Edison personnel were at the location to evaluate work the building plumber was doing inside 121 2nd Ave. in connection with a gas service upgrade. The work failed our inspection for several reasons, including insufficient spacing for the installation of the meter in the basement.
We had no reports of gas odors in the area prior to the fire and explosion. A survey conducted yesterday of the gas mains on the block found no leaks. We continue to work with all agencies on the investigation into the cause, and we are praying for the recovery of all the injured.
