NYCHA: Marble Hill will have heat

Winter comes around once a year but for some living in Marble Hill, it can be the longest season.

That’s because the housing complex has struggled to keep the heat on for tenants for several years.

It’s a poorly known secret that the New York City Housing Authority has been struggling to keep residents across the city warm.

It’s a problem the agency has been trying to address for years.

So, residents may have been delighted to hear some good news from their NYCHA manager, Paula Frye, that things will in fact be getting better for the complex.

“We’re getting new boilers,” Frye said during a Community Board 8 Housing committee meeting last month. “And they should be finished by the end of 2023.”

While the idea of having to go another year without adequate boilers may strike some tenants as problematic, Tenant Association President Tony Edwards is already on the job.

“We’re already working with NYCHA maintenance service workers to make sure that we still maintain heat during this time,” Edwards told The Riverdale Press. “There will also be some temporary boilers installed while the company Dynamic US removes some of the boilers, we intend on replacing.”

However, there are some minor issues to work out before the work goes any further.

One issue is the crawl space where heating engineers will be working out of happens to have a rodent infestation problem–making it difficult and unsafe for the engineers to work out of.

During the wintertime it’s a place where many stray cats take shelter in to keep warm.

Edwards is currently working to get an exterminator to clear those areas and possibly find homes for the stray cats.

The other issue the complex must address is the placement of the temporary boilers.

The plan is to have external boilers installed in one of the small parking lots owned by NYCHA. The problem is tenants who already pay for the spaces would be displaced with no where to park their vehicles.

Edwards hopes–with the assistance of councilwoman Carmen De La Rosa and other elected officials in the area–he could strike an agreement with the property manager who runs the parking lot at the nearby Target that would allow those tenants from the complex to temporarily park there.

It’s still a work in progress but Edwards remains confident that it can be done.

While Housing Committee Chair Tony Morris stressed wanting to set money aside for new security cameras during the meeting, he remained committed to keeping the new boiler project a top priority during a discussion of the capital budget requests for 2024.

“That will be my number one priority for this fiscal year 2024, that the boiler work stays on track,” Morris said. “And that by the ending of 2023 the funds are there and that the work can be completed in a timely fashion. It’s lingered long enough so its time to get it done.”

Edwards said the plan for the boiler originally began in October of 2019 but because of the pandemic – the plans were put on hold and redrawn. Edwards,

Morris and Frye had met with representatives from Dynamic US early last month where they have already gone over specifics.

“Some of the actual work has already begun,” Edwards said. “It seems like they are moving right along schedule now.”

The money is being allocated from the city and state, which set $450 million aside for NYCHA developments to help repair elevators and boilers.

The repairs for Marble Hill’s boilers alone, the complex was given $13.7 million, which was earmarked through a grant disbursement agreement.

The designing phase of the project had been completed back in 2020. The construction portion is projected to be completed in December, according to Morris.

However, Edwards said the overall anticipated completion of the work will come to an end in November of next year.

“They are looking at approximately 44 months of time with this project,” Edwards said.

The current heating system at Marble Hill relies on six boilers that distribute both heat and hot water for the entire 11 building complex.

The new plans will have every building in the complex get its own heating system that will distribute heat to tenants. It will also include separate mechanisms for the heating component from the hot water component.

“They are working in two separate phases,” Morris said. “They are in the process of separating the hot water system from the boiler system. So, they’re not tied in together and it’s not a situation where you don’t have hot water (if the boiler goes out.)”

Residents like Beverly Fleming-Camejo have previously complained to the Press about the heating issues at the complex.

Despite having maintenance work multiple times within the several months apart rom each other last year–Fleming-Camejo for was still experiencing heating related issues.

“This is an annual problem,” Fleming-Camejo said.

The heating problem persists for her even today. Fleming-Camejo said while she’s happy that work is now in motion to fix the heating situation, she feels like most tenants about the new developments -- skeptical.

The news isn’t nearly enough to deal with the sleepless frigid nights, she had to deal with over the winter.