Update: NYCHA All Hands Response to Extreme Cold Weather - Press Release

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 14, 2016
Contact: media@nycha.nyc.gov, (212) 306-3322

Update: NYCHA All Hands Response to Extreme Cold Weather

In Anticipation of Record Cold Temperatures, NYCHA Readies Operations and Residents for Weekend Weather Conditions

NEW YORK— On Sunday, February 14, 2016, with extreme cold temperatures hitting record lows, NYCHA’s rapid response teams are deployed across the City responding to heating and hot water emergencies. After years of federal funding reductions and state disinvestment, nearly 950 boilers—or roughly half––of NYCHA’s boilers are past their useful life and in need of replacements. In order to ensure residents are receiving adequate heat and hot water, NYCHA crews are working throughout the day and night to respond.

With nearly 2,000 boilers working overtime to combat arctic blast temperatures, NYCHA has deployed its rapid response teams to more than 20 developments to address major and minor heating and hot water issues in the past 48 hours.

More than 100 heating technicians, plumbers, electricians, and welders – in addition to outside vendors – have been working or on stand-by each day, around the clock, as part of rapid response teams to manage emergency outages through Monday night.

NYCHA has been reaching out to vulnerable populations at Sandy-impacted developments.

The Sandy team connected with 24 of the Tenant Association leaders at the Sandy-impacted developments, who reported no issues with heating or hot water service.

More than 730 residents at Sandy-impacted developments were contacted between Friday and Saturday, reporting no issues.

24-hour watch teams are monitoring mobile boilers through the weekend.

On-site watch teams enable NYCHA to immediately respond to heating issues during the arctic blast and deploy rapid response teams as needed.

Contractors are on stand-by in case cold weather conditions cause a water main break in need of immediate response.

No water main breaks have been reported.

Residents are advised to keep warm and immediately alert NYCHA with any heating issues:

Residents without adequate heat or hot water should immediately report the problem using MyNYCHA or by calling the Customer Contact Center (CCC) at: (718) 707-7771.

Residents are also encouraged to sign up for alerts with MyNYCHA or access NYCHA’s Gas, Heat and Hot Water Outage webpage for real-time updates on outages impacting their development.

In order to maintain building heat, public space windows and building entrances should be closed. Residents should report any conditions that prevent public space doors or windows from closing.

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