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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: December 21, 2018
CONTACT: media@nycha.nyc.gov

NYCHA HEAT TEAM PREPARES FOR HOLIDAY SEASON WITH ROBUST STAFFING TO SERVE RESIDENTS

New staffing schedules will have heat teams on site until 10 p.m. on every day with roving teams working through the night to address interruptions as quickly as possible.

NEW YORK — In the lead up to this year's holiday season, the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) has increased its heat staff and expanded service hours to minimize any interruptions and rapidly respond to any outages.

“Our staff are working around the clock to ensure that we can respond to residents this holiday season,” said NYCHA General Manager Vito Mustaciuolo. “We encourage any residents who experience heat or hot water service interruptions to report these issues to NYCHA immediately so we can resolve them as quickly as possible.”

Following its successful Thanksgiving heat service improvements, NYCHA has taken additional steps to secure resident apartments ahead of the holiday season. NYCHA has:

  • Overhauled its heating schedule to have staff on site, citywide, from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. every day;
  • Increased heating response teams to 18, with two shifts operating from 8 a.m. to midnight, and one shift from midnight to 8 a.m. The teams will be stationed in every borough and will be dispatched across the City as needed;
  • Increased coverage by third-party vendors that now manage several of NYCHA’s heating plants across the City;
  • Skilled trades staff — including plumbers and electricians — will be available to respond to more advanced or technical needs for service restoration; and
  • Increased staff at the Customer Contact Center from 6 a.m. to midnight to accommodate a higher call volume.

NYCHA and the de Blasio Administration have also announced new measures this heat season to improve and respond to heat service interruptions, including: 

  • Robocalls to every resident affected by an outage to alert them about NYCHA’s response and to verify when heat is restored;
  • 63 mobile boilers deployed across the City to support heating services to developments with unreliable equipment;
  • Improved data analysis for identifying and responding to concerns; and
  • Increased staffing for the Heating Management Services Department.

As a result of NYCHA’s efforts to improve heating this year, outages are being restored in 11 hours on average, as compared to 35 hours at this time last year. NYCHA is committed to reducing the number of outages overall and rapidly restoring those that do occur.

While Mayor de Blasio has invested an unprecedented $3.7 billion in NYCHA, decades of federal disinvestment have contributed to increased breakdowns in the Authority’s aging infrastructure, including critical heat related equipment.

NYCHA staff will be working diligently around the clock to resolve issues as quickly as possible. It is important for residents to report any concerns or problems with their heat or hot water services immediately. These requests are the best way for NYCHA to quickly identify developments that may be experiencing broader issues that require immediate response.

Both the MyNYCHA app and the Customer Contact Center at 718-707-7771 are available 24 hours a day for residents to issue a complaint about issues in their homes.


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About the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA)
NYCHA’s mission is to increase opportunities for low- and moderate-income New Yorkers by providing safe, affordable housing and facilitating access to social and community services. Almost 400,000 New Yorkers reside in NYCHA’s 325 public housing developments around the five boroughs, and another 202,000 receive subsidized rental assistance in private homes through the NYCHA-administered Section 8 Leased Housing Program. For more information, visit www.nyc.gov/nycha, and for regular updates on NYCHA news and services, connect with us via www.facebook.com/NYCHA and www.twitter.com/NYCHA.