The power went out at all 46 buildings of Starrett City while temperatures were freezing Saturday morning.
Vanessa Johnson says her 98-year-old mother lives in a seniors-only building at the Spring Creek housing development. She says the power went out at her apartment in the early morning and and then again at around 8:30 a.m.
The central heating system is connected to the electricity, so no power means no heat, no water and no space heaters.
Johnson says that turning on the stove was the only way to warm up the apartment.
Many senior residents were stranded in their apartments all morning because the elevators were out too.
Johnson says she's already complained several times to management about the temperature inside the apartments because even when the heat does work, the outdated windows let in a lot of cold air.
Management told News 12 they started working on the issue immediately, but did not specify what caused the outage.
Johnson says power outages during the coldest days of the year are unacceptable.
Management said power was restored in most of the buildings after 12 p.m., but the water was still not working for some.