Still Suffering in Sandy's Aftermath

When Jamaica Bay surged into Carleton Manor during Superstorm Sandy, Vernell Robinson said her neighbors crowded into her apartment on the top floor of a New York City Housing Authority development in Arverne.

Being on the top floor, however, has since become a burden for Robinson, who says that since the October 2012 storm, leaks have sprung from the roof, mold has sprouted due to the moisture, and the temporary boilers are inconsistently able to pump heat and hot water up to her Rockaway home.

“What happened with Sandy was an eye-opener,” said Robinson, who is on the development’s resident council and is a member of Community Voices Heard, which advocates for low-income New Yorkers. “They put up scaffolding because bricks were falling out. … That’s how badly damaged the building is.”

Carlton Manor is among seven NYCHA developments in Queens slated for Sandy damage repair and resilience work, based on a $3 billion agreement with the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer described the anticipated allocation as the largest grant in the agency’s history.

The projects are expected to be underway at all the developments by next spring, according to NYCHA documents obtained by City & State.

The six Rockaway developments and the Astoria Houses are expected to receive long-sought fixes including playground and grounds renovations, new roofing, repairs to mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems, standby generators and flood-proofing.

NYCHA documents say Carlton Manor, the Hammel Houses, the Ocean Bay Apartments (Bayside) and Redfern will have their boiler rooms lifted above flood planes, heating systems revamped and their first-floor apartments renovated.

Despite the expected scope of the work, tenant advocates said they are worried mold remediation won’t get the attention it needs, especially on the upper floors.

“They are going to do the grass; they are going to do the gates; they said they’re going to do the playground; they are going to put new boilers in … but they never discussed apartments,” said Ciro Timmons, treasurer of the Carlton Manor Resident Council. “We had mold, so some people had gotten sick.”

Timmons and Robinson said NYCHA sent crews to scrape off mold and use a mixture of water and bleach to cleanse apartment surfaces shortly after Sandy. Timmons, a professional mold remediator, said the tactic wasn’t sufficient, and that leaks continue to concern the community.

Claudia Coger, the Astoria Houses Tenants Association president, said she would like to see NYCHA conduct tests to ensure Sandy did not nurture mold growth or asbestos exposure, particularly because asthma rates are high in the community.

NYCHA, which settled a lawsuit over its handling of mold claims in 2013 and agreed to provide plaintiffs’ attorneys with quarterly statistical reports on the matter, said it understands mold is a major concern for residents.

The agency recently developed new guidelines and training to ensure staff members are finding and fixing the cause of mold, rather than making routine repairs that may not address the underlying problem.

“When NYCHA responds to mold or mildew, we work to identify and repair the root cause and eliminate it from apartment surfaces with a detergent,” a NYCHA spokesperson said. “At Carleton Manor, the roof was determined to be the root cause and was previously scheduled for repairs. The development has been identified for a new roof as part of the agreements currently being finalized with FEMA.”

Exterior electrical and plumbing work outlined by NYCHA was welcomed by tenant leaders, particularly plans for stronger permanent boiler systems. Carleton Manor, the Hammel Houses, Ocean Bay Apartments (Bayside) and the Redfern Houses are using temporary oil boilers because Sandy incapacitated their gas boiler systems, NYCHA said. The authority never intended to rely on oil boilers in the long term, and plans to replace them with dual fuel systems, which use gas as a primary energy source and oil as a secondary one.

“We very rarely get hot water,” Robinson said of the top-floor Carleton Manor apartments, an issue she blames on the temporary boilers. “I work a long day, and I come home, and I can’t wash.”

The four developments’ annual collective heat work orders grew from 4,417 the year before Sandy to 4,685 the year after, then 5,808 the following year and 3,372 the third year, NYCHA reports show. Hot water work orders increased from 2,729 before the storm to 4,873 after, 6,998 the following year and 2,009 the third year. NYCHA pointed out, however, that hot water issues can stem from more than just boiler problems. For instance, Redfern Houses had a defective part that introduced cold water into the hot water stream.

“These upgrades are intended to be cost effective, efficient and resilient,” NYCHA said in a statement.

Before Sandy, NYCHA said it spent $2.36 million operating the natural gas boilers in the four developments. An increase in the cost of oil drove the cost of operating the temporary replacements up to $9.64 million in 2013, NYCHA said.

Despite residents’ worries, Monique George, the New York City director of organizing at Community Voices Heard, said many were looking forward to the permanent boilers.

“That’s big,” she said. “You want (a boiler) that’s reliable, that’s going to be there, that’s permanent and not in a trailer … that can weather the next Sandy. I think the FEMA money really helps build that resilience.”