Still No Stovetop Cooking For Roosevelt Island Westview Residents Due To Gas Service Disruption, Expect Another 6 Weeks of Hot Plate Cooking - No Word On Rent Abatement But At Least Trellis Diner Is Offering A 20% Discount

Image of Dual Burner Hot Plates  From GE Housewares

As reported in this May 9 post:

An outage of gas service for residents of Roosevelt Island's Westview Mitchell Lama building is scheduled to begin May 18 and may last as long as two months according to the Notice below sent by Westview's RY Mangement Co last week. The Notice states that there will be no cooking gas available during this time but RY Management will provide residents with dual burner hot plates....

It's been about 2 weeks without gas service for Westview residents. The Trellis Diner has kindly offered a 20% discount to Westview residents during the gas outage to their building but I am sure that residents would just like to start using their own kitchens again.

I asked Roosevelt Island Residents Association (RIRA) President and Westview resident Matt Katz about the no gas situation:

As Westview residents, do you wish to make any statement regarding Westview Gas outage situation.

I have been told by residents that the Hot Plates provided by RY Management are less than satisfactory and they are not sure what is going on with any possible rent abatement.

Mr. Katz replied:

Speaking only as a Westview resident, I am disappointed in the lack of communication from both R-Y Management and especially from the Westview Task Force. R-Y gave us two weeks notice regarding the gas outage, but has yet to explain why this extraordinary work was necessary. The WTI stated (but only in a flyer posted in the lobby) that they would ask management for a 4% rent rebate to compensate tenants for the “inconvenience.” That was almost two weeks ago, and we have heard nothing from them since. The work is being done by an outside contractor, the Maxwell Plumb Mechanical Corp., and has been run like a military campaign.

We made due with the hot plate (what choice do we have?) and our microwave, although we’ve been asked not to use them simultaneously. How a family with children is expected to provide meals using these devices one-at-a-time eludes me. We did some cooking prior to the outage and are finding strategies to feed ourselves. However, the problem is not limited to cooking alone. Our gas-powered dryers in the laundry rooms were replaced by electric ones, and I am told they are less than satisfactory.

Originally, we were told to expect the gas to be off for two months. However, this is dependent upon the level of cooperation from the tenants in allowing work people to enter their apartment both to replace gas conduits and to test each line of apartments for gas pressure. I hope this difficult period may be shortened by virtue of this cooperation.

The minutes to the Westview Task Force May 17 Meeting Minutes report this about the gas service disruption:

FS) reported on Gas Outage Meeting with RY Management on Tuesday May 10 :

• The Taskforce got an overview of what the actual effort is, it is not an emergency fix but a critical repair and gas infrastructure upgrade for both buildings and all apartment 

• Requested 4% rent reduction, RY said this would be address following the completion of the repair 

• Requested Bi-weekly status reports from RY management

and:

Gas Outage Update:
A distributed tenant flyer expressing anger and frustration with the Taskforce management of Gas Outage issues (4% rent reduction insufficient) was discussed and agreed to that it would be ignored due to the fact that it was anonymous. Tenant communication will be through the Monthly Newsletter and Tenant Updates.

The full Westview Task Force May 17 meeting minutes are below.
Westview Task Force May 17 Minutes

What should be a fair rent rebate for losing the use of a stove for two months? Here are some opinions from readers of the previous post on Westview's loss of gas service:

Twenty per cent is the normal and expected rent reduction for a loss of services of this magnitude, according to highly regarded Queens-based landlord tenant lawyer -- on the LANDLORD'S SIDE. Four per cent is not serious compensation.

Another:

I hope you are actively involved in the negotiations with WV management on this. Could you back up your claim that 20% is normal? The magnitude of this service reduction is the loss of two burners and an oven. Who is that highly regarded Queens-based landlord? Could you provide a reference?

Let's do an experiment. How much would it cost you to buy a brand-new electric stove? You can get one from Sears for around $350. With delivery and taxes you'll end up paying arounf $450. A quick look at eBay and Craigslist shows me that you could sell a barely used electric range for at least $200. Subtract the cost of a two burner hot plate (let's say $60) that brings us to $140. Add the value of your time and we'll be at something like $200. What's the average rent of a, say, 2BR apartment? $2000? 2 months of rent, $200 out of pocket cost for you, that comes out to be 5% on a monthly basis.

I don't see how you could justify a 20% reduction.

Another:

 4% is fair for both sides. That's the amount management pays for gas and that's approximately the economic value or losing two burners and the oven. Anything above that would be ridiculous.

One more:

You are losing four burners and either one or two ovens, depending on your stove. A hot plate is not equivalent to a gas burner.What management pays for gas is not the issue. The issue is the loss of services to tenants.

Four percent may be satisfactory for someone who doesn't cook, but for the rest of us it is a pathetic joke. I have lived here for 34 years. In the early days, there were often uncalled-for calls for rent strikes. Now, when there is really a reason for one, tenants are just rolling over. Good luck to all of us during the negotiations on privatization. We are bound to get royally screwed with this attitude.

After this is all over, you realize that management will apply for a rent increase on the basis of a "capital improvement," don't you? I'd like to know why this gas problem is suddenly so urgent.

Here's another thought experiment. There are two apartments, each equal in all respects except one has gas service with a working stove and the other does not. The apartment with the working stove rents for One Thousand Dollars a month ($1,000). How much should the other apartment without the working stove rent for? Closer to $800 per month (20% discount for no gas) or $960 (4% discount for no gas)?