PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Karen Blondel, NYCHA Resident Leader from Red Oak Houses Tenant Association
2:30:18
·
4 min
Karen Blondel, a NYCHA resident leader, testified about ongoing heating issues at Red Hook Houses, emphasizing the need for better oversight and management of heating systems. She shared personal experiences and concerns about excessive heat, weekend outages, and the challenges faced by vulnerable residents.
- Highlighted the problem of steam leaks and inconsistent heating, particularly affecting a disabled neighbor
- Stressed the need for a "watcher" to monitor heating systems 24/7, especially during weekends
- Explained issues with rooftop gardens and solar panels, citing structural concerns and lack of oversight for contractors
Karen Blondel
2:30:18
Good morning.
2:30:20
Well, afternoon.
2:30:21
How are you, Chair?
2:30:23
This is Karen.
2:30:24
I am on the sustainability council with, Siobhan Watson.
2:30:30
I am on the preservation trust board.
2:30:34
I am a resident of the Red Oak houses as well as the president of Red Oak West.
2:30:39
And, first and foremost, I'm requesting a meeting with the chair of public housing.
2:30:44
That would be you, Chris Banks.
2:30:47
I don't have an email, but I'll send something over.
2:30:50
I think that this conversation needs to be longer than the 2, 3 minutes that I'll be afforded today.
2:30:56
I wanna start off with a personal story about heat.
2:31:00
About 5 years ago or more, when our congressperson was still Nydia Velasquez, I reported a steam leak in the pedestrian walkway right behind my building.
2:31:11
And as you know, no good deed goes unpunished.
2:31:15
That leak was fixed, but it popped up behind my neighbor's apartment.
2:31:20
My neighbor is a paraplegic.
2:31:21
He has no legs.
2:31:22
He waits for home attendance and service in the daytime.
2:31:27
I had since went over to his house, and so I'm sitting in there pouring sweat, sitting in a wheelchair because of this steam leak.
2:31:38
So what I see is happening this year is that his home attendants come in the daytime.
2:31:44
They still all his heat in the apartment.
2:31:46
They open the windows, and they leave around 4 or 5 o'clock in the afternoon.
2:31:51
If the heat goes off, which it normally does on a Saturday, he around 5 PM, this man is stuck with those windows open until the next day when a new home attendant for the weekend shows up.
2:32:07
We experienced this every single heating season for the last several years.
2:32:14
I remember Jamani Williams coming here 3 years ago when I first became the president, and he was like, I wanna do a press conference
Chris Banks
2:32:22
Thank you.
Karen Blondel
2:32:22
About no heat in Redhook.
Chris Banks
2:32:24
30 seconds to wrap it up.
Karen Blondel
2:32:27
I said our problem is not no heat.
2:32:29
We get too much heat.
2:32:30
Since that time, we are now between the new system, which is the central heating plant, and these new steam pipes that are underneath the red hook, pathways versus the old steam, which is the mobile trailer.
2:32:46
No one is here on the weekend to oversee these processes, and we're in the cold every single weekend.
2:32:54
We need some oversight.
2:32:57
We need a watcher.
2:32:58
A watcher is one person who has to stay in the development 247 in case of a heat outage.
2:33:05
Because the weather's fluctuating right now, we need the the watch it in.
2:33:09
I just wanna answer one question quickly about why there's no, gardens on the roof.
2:33:15
Soil waste has a lot of weight.
2:33:18
For them to put the, farms or the gardens on the roof, they would have to fortify these roofs.
2:33:26
Now the roofs that have, like, the generators and stuff, they may have they may have added some protection to keep those generators wait okay up there.
2:33:36
But when it comes to soil, it's laid out across the whole surface and the weight of water, plants, and that is one reason why Nitro said it doesn't use its roofs for, farming.
2:33:49
The other thing is we push back on solar panels on our roofs, not because we don't believe in renewable energy.
2:33:57
We don't believe in NYCHA watching its vendors and its contractors who have to come in and service these roofs.
2:34:03
And that is the reason why you have punctures in the roof membrane is because people come in and out of here with no oversight, going to the roofs, doing work.
2:34:14
Oops.
2:34:14
I made a mistake, and they walk away from it.
2:34:17
No one is held accountable, and that is the reason for that.
2:34:20
I hope to talk to you soon, mister Banks.
2:34:23
But I will keep doing the work that I'm doing for Red Hook houses no matter what.
2:34:27
Thank you.
Chris Banks
2:34:28
Thank you for your advocacy and your testimony.
