Hello, everyone in the Tenant Community. I hope you are warm this winter. Actually, my issue is a “most people” issue, for both 196 & 214 Rockaway Parkway; but it should NOT be. I think this issue stems from an ongoing problem most tenants face with their landlord, the fact that many landlords take extreme shortcuts to fix certain problems.

One issue I have comes from the windows not being fixed properly. Arguably, my windows are obsolete. Therefore, I live in the cold. Drafts come in, especially when there are high winds. The building manager visited last summer and fixed one of two windows. He did address the issue partially, but only partially. I stated to the building manager numerous times that the high winds situations are dangerous, but I have not seen the manager again (and probably never will, not until the weather gets warmer, possibly in the spring…).

One day I figured, “Might as well use this windowsill as a mini fridge.” Low and behold, my beverages iced up on a recent cold winter night.

Thanks to the kindness of tenants, I obtained a heated blanket that uses old tech because nowadays, the current tech of electric blankets breaks too easily.

Recently, an HPD representative visited me to inspect the drafty windows. He checked the windows but what he told me was concerning, “Use painter’s tape to seal up the windows.” I did clarify to him that I used that method and in the end it didn’t work, but my testimony fell on deaf ears.

I did not notice him write anything down. Now, weeks later, this issue remains merely an open complaint and not a violation.

Now here is another issue, and this is an issue that all of 196 & 214 Rockaway Parkway faces, though many are not aware: the electrical infrastructure is outdated and extremely dangerous. I would say, all it takes for a huge fire in either building is that one person (or few) turn on a space heater, and depending how cold it is, when people max the settings (basically, “set it and forget it”), the system will short out and result in an electrical fire.

This issue became even more concerning when I learned my neighbors’ flat panel TV’s are malfunctioning due to faulty wiring. There seems to be some sort of overcurrent through the walls, and sometimes a power surge is all we need to short out our appliances. In other words, a power surge can ruin an electrical appliance. One neighbor said that they had to get rid of their TV due to a power surge, another neighbor stated that their TV kept powering off.

In my opinion, as a person who repairs computer servers for a living, “automatic powering off” is probably due to a safety feature, the kind of design that protects appliances from power surges. This particular problem, “automatic powering off,” hasn’t happened to me because I’m partially off-grid.

Why am I partially off-grid? For this very reason: after investigating my breaker box, circuit numbers 1-4 and 6 do NOTHING. Let me repeat, circuit numbers 1-4 and 6 are totally 100% defective. That means I get ZERO power from circuits 1-4 and 6. Only circuit number 5 works. If I use too many appliances involving heat, everything shuts down.

I just hope more tenants report issues to our building manager. I hope we get these issues resolved. Finally, I hope more neighbors call 311 when management fails to fix things.

Written by Andres