Roosevelt Island Electricity Bills - Submetering at Eastwood Fears and Manhattan Park Complaints
With winter coming, keeping warm means increased energy usage together with higher Con Ed electricity charges. Assembly Member Micah Kellner reports in his newsletter on the situation confronting residents of Eastwood, now known as Roosevelt Landings:
Recently, residents of the Eastwood complex on Roosevelt Island were informed by their management company, Urban American, that the building would be converting to sub-metered electricity. This means that tenants would be billed individually for their household’s electricity usage. Urban American intends for this transition to take place early next year.Saving Mitchell-Lama explains how submetering impacts residents in Mitchell-Lama housing:
I have serious concerns about this process, and how it will affect tenants.
On October 16th, I participated in a town hall meeting, along with Eastwood tenants, at the Good Shepherd Community Center. The meeting was an opportunity to ask building management questions about the sub-metering proposal, as well as to hear from the state agencies involved. As a result of this meeting, and the numerous comments I have heard from residents there, I do not believe that the building is ready to go forward with sub-metering.
Too many tenants still have energy-inefficient appliances and faulty electric heaters, these are not personal items, rather these are items that come with the apartment and the management company is responsible for them. Urban American has promised to replace inefficient appliances and to fix heaters and thermostats for any residents who make a request to them. If you are an Eastwood tenant and you have made a request like this to management but they have not responded, please call me.
It is imperative that we have a clear picture of overall energy use in the building. The building’s heat is electric, so it is essential to ensure that tenants do not face unreasonably high utility bills just to stay warm in the winter. It concerns me that so many apartments are poorly insulated and Urban American needs to address this. I have asked the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority to conduct a full survey of energy use and efficiency in Eastwood, so that residents are not penalized by faulty design or maintenance.
I am also concerned that we do not have a real sense about how billing will work under this new system, given the complicated system of affordable housing programs that are integrated into the Mitchell-Lama’s accounting already. Will the utility allowance calculated by state and federal agencies be enough to compensate tenants for a reasonable amount of electricity usage? I have asked New York City Comptroller Bill Thompson as well as the New York State Division of Housing and Community Renewal to work with Urban American to ensure that residents are protected.
... Your rent is reduced by a fixed amount established by the State's Division of Housing and Community Renewal. (Click on the blue lettering to see DHCR's fact sheet and the exact rent reduction numbers.)Residents of Manhattan Park have some complaints about their electric bills too and The NY Times explains how to read your Con Ed electricity bill
The landlord buys electricity at the bulk (cheaper) rate from the provider (like Con Ed or some other Energy Service Company provider - or "ESCO"), and then is supposed to charge the tenants the same rate plus a $4 administrative fee -- but there is currently no way to check how much the landlord actually paid. The landlord is allowed to charge up to the amount you could be charged if you were billed directly by Con Edison at the full residential rate. (If the landlord buys electricity from two or more providers, there may be two or more bills for him to pass along to you.)
The amount you spend each month on electricity is listed as a separate part of your rent bill, and you pay it with your rent. In some cases, you get a bill directly from the company administering the submetering bill, and you would pay that company directly....
UPDATE:12/1 - Assembly Member Kellner, State Senator Serrano, Congresswoman Maloney and Council Member Lappin sent this letter to Urban America's CEO Phillip Eisenberg expressing concern regarding the electrical submetering at Eastwook (Roosevelt Landings).
9 comments :
We at Manhattan Park will encounter this problem again in the next few days. In my particular case, we try to save energy at home in all means possible because the bills are so high. I have found that residents complain but we do not get in contact with each other. Therefore our complains are not heard. I won a seat to represent Manhattan Park in the last RIRA election and have just been at the M.Park Management Office asking for permission to get my contact information posted. They denied the permit. I want to make my contact info available here: roosevelt.island.ny@gmail.com
Please get in contact with me for this and other issues affecting you, Manhattan Park resident.
Isabel Perez-Cruz
Dear Ms. Perez-Cruz:
Best of luck in getting your contact information posted.
You may wish to consider circulating a flyer under each of the apt doors, saying that the residents should contact each other to share their complaints about the submetering bill, and bring the discrepancies or overcharges to the attn of the elected officials, as well as to the attn of the news media.
As we know, the best way to for ordinary people to obtain justice, is to bring the injustice into the light of day either in the court system, in the press, in blogs, or in a street demonstration. Injustice thrives in fear & secrecy, but the light of fairness and democracy vanquishes it.
It sounds like Manhattan Park residents are being overcharged for their electric bills, which would explain why the management wishes to prevent the tenants from contacting each other to "compare notes" that is, their bills, as they could then confirm that the injustice is bldg-wide etc. Tenants could then either go thru their elected officials to initially request correction of the submetering overcharges with refunds paid to tenants who have been overcharged. If the request is denied, then the elected officials have additional levers of power at their disposal, up to an including referral to the appropriate judicial authority.
If mgt's overriding interest is greed and simply maximizing their revenue any way they can, then it isn't in the mgt's interest to charge the fair amt for electricity -- moreover, if they can get away with breaking the law easily and gaining so much with no effort on a monthly basis, they will always overcharge.
If questioned, they can always then say it is their business how the submetering system is administered as it is their bldg etc.
But breaking the law is not something a bldg owner or a corporate entity, can or should get away with, and the maximum pressure including lawsuits or even a criminal indictment of the owner of Manhattan Park, should be considered by the tenants/tenants organization/the elected official who may take up their cause, as a way to ensure fairness and transparency.
You have an ideal problem to bring to the attn of RIRA at the next Board meeting. You may wish to ask Frank as soon as possible to add the problem of Manhattan Park submetering overcharges, and how RIRA can help to add organization and logistical muscle to empower the tenants, to the agenda for the Bd Mtg.
As well, you may wish to circulate a flyer under all the apt doors in Manhattan Park saying that many tenants have concerns re submetering overcharges, which will be brought to the attn of the elected officials, as well as RIRA at the next Board meeting, and invite Manhattan Park residents to join you at the RIRA Bd mtg to comment/complain before the regular Bd meeting starts, when there is an opportunity for the public to speak. The more Manhattan Park residents appear and speak, especially vociferously, the better it is, as their concerns will appear in the press (at least in the Wire) which will bring additional pressure to bear on bldg mgt. As the issue is a particularly pressing one, such that, with winter approaching, Manhattan Park residents will face the "Devil's Dilemma" of either staying warm, and then not having enough money left to buy food, or not staying warm and being able to "afford" the artificially inflated electric bill but then possibly dying of pneumonia/bronchitis etc. because of inadequate heat, you will wish to put the flyer in appropriately urgent terms, as graphically powerful as possible.
Because not all tenants may have internet access, you may wish to list a mailbox, a cell ph # etc, as additional contact details.
It is possible some tenants fear commenting because of the threat of retaliation by mgt. If so, this too should be brought to the attention of the elected officials, and all other agencies that society entrusts with enforcing the law, as the law prohibits retaliation for lawfully speaking or complaining.
The management of Manhattan Park must know that all their details have been shared with the appropriate agencies as well as examples of electric bills with fraudulent overcharges, so that if a single tenant who speaks out is harassed or in any way interfered with, once the agencies receive the complaint, knowing the background of the situation, that is, that the bldg owner is methodically robbing the tenants through submetering overcharges and wishes to keep the practice quiet, the agencies will know exactly who to detain for questioning and if necessary arrest -- the building mgt & owners. The owners of Manhattan Park may try to hide behind the numerous shell corporations and businesses that real estate concerns often use, especially if they are engaged in illegal overcharges; however, the threads of corporate ownership and responsibility can be untangled, and the damage to tenants reversed, once a jury convicts the owners of the illegality of wholesale fraud by means of submetering overcharges. The penalty: At the very least, repayment of the overcharges, as well as penalty payments. It will remain up to the Court to decide if, in addition to the repayments, the owner should be stripped of his business licenses, and perhaps the bldg be sold, in which case, the tenants might have a chance to purchase their bldg within a non-profit coop framework that the State could assist in administering.
Dear Anonymous,
Thanks a lot for all the info and for your opinion. I am trying to get people know my contact info in different ways. First I need to get in contact with the other bld representatives. Luckily we have the RIRA meeting coming next week.
Please keep in touch, it seems that you have a lot of valuable advise.
Sincerely,
isabel Perez-Cruz
I am a resident at Manhattan Park and have been reading about the electricity issues with interest. Why is Manhattan Park Mgmt suspected to bill us incorrectly for electricity? Don't we as tenants have the right to see the meter if requested? I haven't tried that, yet, but I sure will. I also assume the price that ConEd is charging Manhattan Park per kWh should also be available somehow, no? Did anybody ever try to do the math and see if the accusations are correct?
I forgot to add that there are gadgets available to end consumers that allow you to measure the power intake of an appliance. Some come with power strips for multiple appliances. Using meters like that will give you a ballpark figure how much electricity you really use. Do this during a month when no heat is needed (or you use a space heater instead of those power sucking things they put into our apartments) and compare with what Manhattan Park is charging you. Don't forget that the billing cycle for electricity is from the 15th to the 15th or so).
I do not know how many people (if any) have requested to see their meter readings on electricity. But so far, all people I have contacted find their winter bills excessive. To request measurements of electricity would be a good start. The beginning of this is the high bill we get evidenced by their winter-sky rocketing. Is there anyone out there that have numbers to share with the rest of us?
We need information how to contact you guys because we are having the same problem with the electricity bills and we need help.
I DO NOT find consistency in the price per KW and can change more than 10 cents in a few month plus the last month we recieved a $466 and the cost per KW was lower than ever,
I need to meet someone that already pass this situation
My Cell Phone 917 214-2736
We need information how to contact you guys because we are having the same problem with the electricity bills and we need help.
I DO NOT find consistency in the price per KW and can change more than 10 cents in a few month plus the last month we recieved a $466 and the cost per KW was lower than ever,
I need to meet someone that already pass this situation
My Cell Phone 917 214-2736
Could you please send me an e-mail to roosevelt.island.ny@gmail.com
Thanks
Isabel
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