Co-op City residents at Donizetti Place without gas for 108 days
Toni Burrus-Kinnes, a tenant in one of the affected buildings, said she's had to purchase a hot plate, an air fryer and a Crockpot just to get by.
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It has been 108 days since gas service was shut off in three high-rise buildings on Donizetti Place, leaving hundreds of Co-op City residents without the ability to cook or do laundry in their homes.
Toni Burrus-Kinnes, a tenant in one of the affected buildings, said she's had to purchase a hot plate, an air fryer and a Crockpot just to get by. But she said it’s not the same as having a working stove.
“I can't use the hot plate and the air fryer at the same time because I'll blow a fuse,” Burrus-Kinnes said.
She said she hasn’t been able to prepare a proper meal since the gas was turned off in April.
“Cook the first thing, then I have to take that off, cook something else but by the time I cook that, whatever I cooked first is cold,” she said.
Tenants say they’ve received monthly updates from management, but none have included a clear timeline for when service will be restored. As summer comes to a close, residents are starting to worry about how they’ll host the upcoming holidays.
“I already made plans not to have people over because I’m pretty sure, at the rate things are happening, this may just linger on into Thanksgiving,” said Marta Longiaru, another tenant.
The outage isn’t just affecting kitchens. Longiaru said tenants are also unable to use the laundry room dryers.
“You are going to take your wet clothing out into the street to another building just to use their dryers,” she said.
Riverbay Corporation, the management company for Co-op City, issued a one-time $100 rebate to residents in April. But Longiaru said that’s not enough.
She has collected over 200 letters from tenants demanding more compensation.
“We would like $100 a month, retroactive since it started, to at least compensate us for all the inconvenience,” she said.
In a statement, Riverbay told News 12 that tenants will not get any additional financial help. And, it is working to get the gas back on for tenants. It did not provide an exact date for when the service will be restored.
