E. Harlem NYCHA Development Lost Heat For 9 Hours On New Year's

EAST HARLEM, NY — The new year didn't get off to a great start for more than 4,000 residents at an East Harlem public housing development who went without heat or hot water for nine hours on New Year's Day.

Heat and hot water outages were reported at all 14 buildings that make up the Wagner Houses starting around 6:45 a.m. on Jan. 1, according to New York City Housing Authority maintenance records. The development — located east of First Avenue between East 120th Street and Paladino Avenue — contains 2,162 households with 4,799 residents, according to NYCHA records.

Crews had the outages fixed after nine hours of work, according to NYCHA records.

The New Year's outages at the Wagner Houses were the second time an East Harlem public housing development went without heat and hot water for the holidays. Outages struck the Jefferson Houses on Christmas, leaving 3,311 people to celebrate in the cold.

NYCHA officials pledged to fix heating problems within a day earlier this year, following a disastrous 2017-2018 season which left 80 percent of public housing residents without heat or hot water for an average of two days.

Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images News/Getty Images