SHEEPSHEAD BAY'S ONLY INDEPENDENT NEWS BLOG

Last week we wrote about an elderly Brighton Beach couple whose heating still wasn’t repaired months after the events of Superstorm Sandy. Given a free electric space heater by the city, the Gertsmans of 601 Brightwater Court, saw their electricity bill soar, a cost they were unable to cover themselves. Having heard their plight on 1010 WINS, a listener stepped up and covered the Gertsmans’ electric bill, according to a report by CBS NY.

The radio listener who donated the money to the Gertsmans was New Jersey resident Diane Edwards.

“It feels great to meet him, it really is a pleasure,” Edwards told 1010 WINS reporter Carol D’Auria.

The Gertsmans also expressed gratitude for Edwards’s generous gift.

“Americans are accustomed to do good, and in the future Russians will know about charity as well as Americans,” he told 1010 WINS through an interpreter.

While the Gertsmans found some relief, their neighbors, unfortunately, did not.

According to Yelena Makhnin, executive director of the Brighton Beach Business Improvement District, the local relief center at the Shorefront Y distributed 3,500 electric heaters to Sandy victims. Even more were distributed in Coney Island, Sheepshead Bay, Gerritsen Beach and others. Many residents, desperate to fend off the winter chill while their boilers awaited replacement, turned to the devices despite the high price tag, and that fueled higher bills across the neighborhood.

“It’s a problem for thousands of people,” Makhnin told Sheepshead Bites. “There are many people on fixed incomes, and whose houses and apartments got damaged and they have to pay a lot of money to fix them, and in this situation, each and every penny counts.

Chaim Deutsch, an aide to Councilman Michael Nelson, led the charge to bring attention to the issue using the Gertsmans as a prime illustration. But now that the Gertsmans’ needs have been filled, they hope that others remain aware of the high costs of electric heating.

“It’s a community issue that people used the electric heaters, so it was something to bring out that when you use electric as opposed to gas, the price goes up,” said Deutsch. “It was a game of survival during Hurricane Sandy, and you had to make sure that everyone’s safe and you stay warm.”

With additional reporting by Ned Berke.

Photo By Erica Sherman

Brighton Beach was hit as hard as any other coastal community ravaged by Superstorm Sandy and local residents are still feeling the effects of its destruction in the form of expensive electric bills, according to a report by CBS NY.

Since Sandy came ashore late last October, amazingly, many residents of Brighton Beach, Sheepshead Bay and elsewhere are still without heat. To stay warm in these harsh winter months, people have substituted working heat with electric space heaters, many of which were given out by Red Cross, FEMA and other disaster support groups.

As a consequence, their electric bills have skyrocketed, punishing the pocket books of people just trying to stay warm.

CBS NY tracked the plight of the residents of 601 Brightwater Court. After Sandy, the heat was knocked out of the building and the city distributed electric space heaters to keep elderly couples like Pavel Gertsman and his wife warm.

While the heaters were welcome, the increased electric bills topping out at an extra $150 a month, were not. Their plight was relayed through Brighton Beach Business Improvement District Executive Director Yelena Makhnin:

“They’re on a fixed income with $1,100 family, and the difference in $150, it makes those people choose between food and Con Edison bills,” Makhnin said.

She said the Gertsmans have health problems and cannot afford the huge bill.

Con Ed spokesman Bob McGee said the utility is forbidden by law from reducing the Gertsman’s bill.

For his part, McGee suggested that people unable to pay their bills as a result of Sandy could try reaching out to non-profit organizations like the Red Cross.

Other options include contacting the city’s Human Resources Administration, which has federally funded home energy assistance programs. You can visit their website by clicking the link above or call them at (800) 692-0557.

Oh, yeah, 'das hot, yo. (Source: Wikipedia)

If your family is worried about your ability to pay your heating bills as temperatures drop, you may be eligible for the Home Energy Assistance Program (HEAP), a federally-funded program that issues heating benefits to supplement a household’s annual energy cost.

HEAP offers two tiers of benefits to New York’s working families: a regular stipend for lower-income folks in need of assistance, or an emergency benefit for those stuck in specific, short-term circumstances.

Check out the types of benefits and the eligibility requirements.

With the weather getting a bit nippy, it’s time to remind landlords and their tenants that “Heat Season” began on Friday, October 1. That means if you’re a tenant, you’re entitled to a warm, well-heated dwelling – and if you’re landlord ain’t shelling out for it, you better take some steps to secure your rights.

Heat Season runs between October 1 and May 31, and building owners are required to provide tenants with heat under the following conditions:

• Between the hours of 6:00 AM and 10:00 PM, if the outside temperature falls below 55 degrees, the inside temperature is required to be at least 68 degrees Fahrenheit; and,
• Between the hours of 10:00 PM and 6:00 AM, if the temperature outside falls below 40 degrees, the inside temperature is required to be at least 55 degrees Fahrenheit.

Tenants who are cold in their apartments should first attempt to notify the building owner, managing agent or superintendent. If heat is not restored, the tenant should call the City’s Citizen Service Center at 311 (311 can be accessed outside of New York City by dialing (212) NEW YORK). For the hearing impaired, the TTY number is (212) 504-4115. The Center is open 24-hours a day, seven-days a week.

If a building owner fails to provide heat and hot water during the winter or has a serious history of flagrantly disregarding obligations to provide service to tenants, Housing Preservation and Development’s Housing Litigation Division (HLD) may sue the building owner in Housing Court.

For more information, visit the Department of Housing Preservation and Development’s website.