Roosevelt Landings Owner Renews Petition Seeking Approval From NY State Public Service Commission To Submeter Electricity In Buildings 1000 Rental Apartments - Residents Say Don't Submeter Until Landlord Fixes Broken Heating And Insulation System

In March 2024, the owners of Roosevelt Island's Roosevelt Landings complex

at 510-580 Main Street petitioned the NY State Public Service Commission to sub-meter electricity in the buildings approximately 1000 rental apartment units.

Previous Roosevelt Landings owners have sought approval of electricity sub-metering going back as far as 2008 and 2011, each time meeting strong opposition from building residents and local elected officials.

Several weeks ago, Roosevelt Landings managing agent C+C Management hosted an information session for building residents about their proposed renewed electricity sub-metering plan. I asked Roosevelt Landings Residents Association President Joyce Short and Vice President Romano Reid:

I'm preparing a story on the Roosevelt Landings sub-metering issue and recent meeting.

Do either of you wish to send a comment to be included in the article?

Ms Short and Mr Reid replied:

Our building has changed hands since 2014 when the Public Service Commission stayed our previous landlord's attempt to submeter. But little has changed to cure the critical issues raised by the stay. The new owners, L&M, and their Managing Agent C&C, seem to take our residents for fools. They held an "education" meeting in which they told residents they could change their light bulbs to LEDs and watch less TV, as if that would offset the absurd bills they'll receive to keep their families warm through the cold winter months. The landlord claims to have removed the burden of heat from our residents' shoulders, but residents know this claim is simply "lipstick on a pig."

Because our building is poorly insulated and has a porous skin that fails to retain heat, residents turn to plug-in space heaters that they will be charged for. In the summer, our building is equally poor at retaining air conditioning. Our a/c units are plug-ins and have to work overtime because of the insulation defects. Residents will be charged the entire expense for running their air conditioners.

Our residents have repeatedly experienced the dire consequences of their aging heaters that ignited fires in several homes. And because the last landlord failed to replace the summer/winter switches that enabled our air conditioners to run on a separate circuit, a/c fires have also become a common occurrence.

The landlord knows that the building's heating and insulation system is deficient. That's why they're investing millions of dollars into their current repair project. Their efforts are projected to take two years or more, but December of this year is their target date for submetering. Until they repair the building's problems, they'd like residents to bury their heads in the sand and pretend they're just trying to "green" our building. Our residents know that the only green in their submetering plan, however, is the financial, plug-in burden the landlord will dump on their shoulders.

Particularly for the building's subsidized, elderly, and disabled residents who will be charged for necessary medical devices, plug-ins as "added rent" could lead to their eviction. Protecting the homes of our vulnerable residents is a priority.

You can watch the insulation work taking place on the east promenade behind building 510. You can learn more about the building's submetering problems by linking to our webpage. And if you are a building resident, please sign the petition to stay submetering and write your comment to the PSC. You'll find the information you'll need on our webpage.

We're not saying don't submeter. We're saying don't submeter until you fix the problems with the building.

I spoke with Ms Short on August 4 in front of the exterior renovation work being done on the buildings.

I asked C+C Management about the sub-metering concerns raised by the Roosevelt Landings Residents Association:

A spokesperson for C+C Management replied:

“We have been communicating closely with residents about the plan to submeter non-heat electric usage at The Landings. This includes providing four educational sessions and residents have been notified that when submetering goes into effect, there will be a monthly rent reduction. We will continue to keep residents informed as this process moves forward and we are always available to answer any questions or concerns.”

C+C Management provided the following background on their submetering proposal.

• The plan to submeter non-heat electric usage at The Landings was approved under previous ownership in 2014. On June 26, 2024, a letter was issued by the New York State Public Service Commission to begin the submetering process.
• All residents will receive a monthly rent reduction when submetering goes into effect depending on the size of the apartment and calculated by the New York City Department of Housing Preservation & Development. A letter was distributed to residents on June 26, 2024 with this information.
• Four educational sessions will be provided to residents prior to the start of submetering, with additional sessions available after submetering begins. The first educational session was held on July 8, 2024.
• We have heard residents’ concerns about plug-in medical devices. The project team is working on developing a solution to address the matter.
• Most New York City residents pay for their own electric usage through submetering. Submetering reduces pollution, combats climate change, and awareness of personal energy use can lead to energy conservation and utility savings.
• The plan to submeter non-heat electric usage at The Landings was not contingent on the Exterior Insulation and Finish Systems (EIFS) work.
• The EIFS work will go above and beyond in providing benefits to residents. The façade improvements will further reduce energy consumption and increase indoor comfort.
• There were no heat violations in the 2023/2024 heating season at The Landings.
• Residents should contact the management office at 212-838-4747 to report any maintenance issues.

Roosevelt Island's NY State Senator Liz Krueger's spokesperson adds:

Our office has been in contact with the Public Service Commission and we did receive this (hopeful) notification from PSC last week: 

 “We are discussing the sub-metering issue internally. My presumption is that the process will slow down and provide time for us to carefully check the compliance stuff....

Roosevelt Island's NY State Assembly Member Rebecca Seawright, Congressman Jerry Nadler, Ms Krueger and City Council Member Julie Menin sent this letter on behalf of Roosevelt Landings residents to building owner L&M Fund Management.

I also asked C+C Management:

According to the Carter Burden Senior Center, they have been told their outdoor patio garden will be closed very soon during renovations to the building's exterior wall and that the doors leading from the Senior Center to the outdoor patio will be sealed with no exit into the area possible. I'm told that the doors to the outdoor patio are "fire doors" which need to be accessible to the Senior Center in the event of an emergency. Is this true?

C+C Management replied:

The Senior Center patio doors are not fire doors and in the event of an emergency, there is an exit path on the DOB-approved Site Safety Plan. However, we understand residents’ concerns regarding access and will install a temporary bridge off the deck to Main Street. This temporary bridge will provide a path for residents to exit the patio.

Will update on the Roosevelt Landings electricity submetering issue when more info becomes available.

RIRA Rep Seeks Answers To Manhattan Park Electricity Submetering - As A Result, Building Management Invites Rep To End Leasehold, They Don't Want Unhappy Tenants

Understanding Your Con Ed Electricity Bill from NY Times

Roosevelt Island Residents Association (RIRA) Manhattan Park Common Council Member Mark Lyon reports:

Manhattan Park and several other Roosevelt Island housing developments submeter electricity instead of allowing residents to purchase their electrical service directly from Con Edison.  While controversial, the NY Public Service Commission has strongly pushed submetering as an environmentally friendly measure that provides incentives for conservation and which also has the potential to offer electrical service at a lower rate than direct metering.

Unfortunately, efforts at submetering have neglected to consider a number of issues including the loss of incentives for landlords to provide energy efficient structures and appliances and the risk that some landlords may not be well suited to also performing the duties of a utility provider.  Coupled with the regrettable decisions of RIOC and its predecessor organizations in failing to require developers to make use of the existing island steam plant for effective, low-cost district heating, Roosevelt Islanders find themselves, in many cases, paying significant sums for electric heat to keep their apartments at a comfortable temperature during cold weather.

In December, the PSC adopted new rules for submetering. After reviewing these new rules, I thought it prudent, as a member of RIRA, to evaluate the impact of these changes on my electrical service and at similar submetered buildings on the Island. To legally submeter electrical service, individual PSC orders granting such authority to each development are required. As an initial step, I sought out the approved orders for all Roosevelt Island buildings.  I was able to easily locate the orders for The Octagon and Roosevelt Landings, but not for Manhattan Park.  When I submitted a records request, the PSC indicated that no such order could be found.

I reached out to the Manhattan Park management office, but received no response to my request for evidence of their approved submetering order.  As a result, I registered a complaint with the Secretary of the PSC, expressing my concern over the lack of an accessible copy of the order and also pointed out several issues with the way submetering is handled at the complex.  Many of the concerns I outlined have been shared with me by numerous other residents and affect everyone.  Fearing retaliation, however, few are willing to approach the management office with their concerns.

Manhattan Park responded by sending documents they claim indicate their approval to submeter and ignoring the other complaints.  In their response, they note that I am a “market rate tenant” with “market rate electrical consuming devices, the use of which [I] should pay for.” My complaints, however, are not about receiving free electricity. Instead, they are about ensuring management operates in accordance with the rules, laws and protections afforded to utility customers. Manhattan Park then invited me to end my tenancy (even though I have a year remaining in my lease) because they “prefer to have tenants who are not unhappy with their leasehold.”  I visited the management office and requested the attachments (which they intentionally omitted from my copy of the response), but the request was refused; I was instructed to contact the PSC for copies.

Finding this response more than a bit odd, I contacted the PSC to request copies of the attachments and to reiterate my concerns with the handling of submetering at Manhattan Park.  Those attachments have not yet been provided.  Even if the attachments to the letter demonstrated proper authority to provide submetering, there are still concerns to be addressed.  These include:

* Potentially charging more for electrical service than would otherwise be charged if tenants received directly metered service (violating the PSC's "rate cap" applied to most submetered service).

* Requiring a utility deposit before providing service (generally, utility deposits are allowed only in circumstances where a customer has a track record of missing payments).

* Failing to provide utility bills in a clear and understandable form.  Currently, the utility charges are added as a line item on our rent statements, showing a total kWh usage only.  PSC rules require additional information, including present and previous meter readings, on bills.

* Requiring excessive late fees.

* Delivering combined rent and utility bills on or after the due date.

* Failing to provide yearly Home Energy Fair Practices Act notices.

Two of the most critical issues with utility billing at Manhattan Park are the late distribution of bills and the lack of information about the service provided. Without access to the meters, historical readings or to the rates that will be charged, residents have no way to measure their electrical usage and anticipate the charges that might appear on their next bill.  Giving residents precious little time to pay before imposing late charges, while simultaneously providing almost no transparency creates a situation in which tenants can be easily abused.

The Public Service Commission is currently investigating these complaints.  Other complaints regarding overcharging, cross-wiring (where the power that you pay for is used for things outside your apartment like hallway lights or ventilation fans), billing practices (including threats of eviction or excessive late fees) or any other issues can be reported to the PSC online, by phone or by mail.  If others are experiencing issues with their submetered electrical service, I urge them to contact the PSC.

I asked Manhattan Park management if they wish to comment on the matter. They have not replied but will update if they do comment.

$1000 Monthly Electricity Charges No Longer Feared By Roosevelt Island Eastwood Residents As Public Service Commission Halts Submetering Attempt

Image of Eastwood (Roosevelt Landings) from Bridge and Tunnel Club

Some good news for residents of Roosevelt Island's former Mitchell Lama Eastwood buildings, recently renamed Roosevelt Landings by Urban American (the new owners). The residents will not have to pay submetered electricity charges which some feared could reach as high as $1,000 per month.

The New York State Public Service Commission (PSC) handed these residents a tremendous victory in the ongoing battle to stop Urban American from imposing unfair electricity submetering charges. According to Assembly Member Micah Kellner, who has been leading the fight against the unjust imposition of electricity submetering:

"I cannot thank Chairman Brown and the Commissioners and staff of the Public Service Commission enough for today’s groundbreaking decision to permanently stay the submetering orders for Roosevelt Landings, Frawley Plaza, Metro North, and the Alpacas I&II.

“Initially when I challenged the PSC’s approval of submetering at Roosevelt Landings, the PSC issued a temporary stay. Now that the Commission has made that stay permanent, tenants can rest assured that they will not be subjected to any submetering scheme without their full consultation and basic tenant protections to ensure they are not unduly burdened.

“The PSC’s decision today promises a brighter future that doesn’t pit tenant rights against environmental goals—it proves that we can do both. The protections won are meaningful acknowledgements of what has been a deeply flawed process from a tenants’ rights perspective—and while more needs to be done, there is no question that we are moving in the right direction.

“The Commission’s order addresses the need for tenants to be protected from illegal eviction proceedings that are too often brought over unpaid utility bills. It also acknowledges that asking tenants to use energy more efficiently means requiring landlords to give tenants the tools that make this possible, such as installing thermostats in electrically-heated buildings.

“While I am pleased with the victories won today, more work needs to be done to ensure that tenants are treated fairly. Some of the requirements do not go far enough—for instance, I do not believe that submetering should ever be allowed in the minority of buildings left in New York City that use electic heat. At a minimum, I will continue to push for the metering of electric heating to be separated out from other electrical uses.

“Also, while this order relates to four specific buildings—creating tremendous precedent for future cases—the reality is that these basic tenant protections should be clearly written into law so that all New Yorkers share the same rights and are governed by the same rules".

The 9/18/09 Daily News reported on this decision by the PSC:

... When they received mock bills last year many were shocked to discover their monthly power bills could be up to $1,000....

"Our goal has always been to provide greater efficiency ... in order to reduce our environmental impact," said Douglas Eisenberg, Urban American's chief operating officer.

But Assemblyman Micah Kellner (D-Manhattan)"You can't ask someone to freeze to death because the heating system in the building is old and inefficient," said Kellner.

Under Thursday's ruling, Urban American could still sub-meter the complex if it installs thermostats in every unit, makes the complex more energy efficient and can prove tenants will not get unreasonably high bills.

"We need to ensure that low-income residents are not unduly harmed by electricity bills when buildings are submetered," PSC spokeswoman Anne Dalton said....

The full text of the PSC decision is here.

More information from earlier posts available here on Urban American's attempt to impose submetering electricity charges on Roosevelt Island's Eastwood/Roosevelt Landings residents.

UPDATE - 9/22/09 - The Main Street WIRE has more coverage on Eastwood/Roosevelt Landings electricity submetering issue here.

Roosevelt Island Dogs has statement by Eastwood/Roosevelt Landings tenant leader Joyce Mincheff.

Thanks for the credit but there are so many unsung heroes that they're just too numerous to mention!

There's all those folks who took action and placed the pink piglets in their windows, provided the board with data and helped keep the building informed by posting information and placing flyers under each apartment door on multiple occassions!...

NY Public Service Commission Grants Emergency Stay of Urban America's Eastwood/Roosevelt Landings Electricity Submetering Charge Increases

Whew image from Affordable Housing Institute

The immediate worries of the Eastwood/Roosevelt Landings residents that their monthly electricity bills could shoot up to as much as $1, 000 was temporarily alleviated yesterday by the granting of an emergency stay by the NY State Public Service Commission prohibiting Urban America from charging for electricity based upon submetering of electricity usage.

Assembly Member Micah Kellner speaking before Eastwood/Roosevelt Landings residents

According to the decision, which was in response to a petition brought by Roosevelt Island elected representatives (Assembly Member Kellner, State Senator Serrano, Congresswomen Maloney, City Councilmember Lappin and Borough President Stringer) the Public Service Commission ruled:

... To ensure that vulnerable tenants are not harmed by submetering and to ensure that the Owner does not undermine the tenants’ HEFPA protections, the Submetering Order granting authority to submeter must be and is stayed pursuant to PSL §22 and this Order. Specifically, pursuant to this stay, the Owner shall not utilize the submetering system to measure electric service and
shall not charge tenants for submetered electricity unless and until authorized to do
so by a further Commission order....

As reported by the Public Utility Law Project (PULP):

... the Commission may have been unaware, when it issued an order waiving its regulations against submetering in November 2008 that

• heating bills are being shifted to tenants
• the tenants have low incomes
• the charges for electricity are not offset by commensurate reductions in rent
• the premises and fixtures are not energy efficient
• charges for electricity are deemed to be "additional rent," subjecting tenants to eviction for nonpayment of electricity charges
• the landlord's grievance procedure may subtly evade the requirements of the Home Energy Fair Practices Act (HEFPA) by channeling disputes over electricity charges to eviction proceedings instead of to the PSC for decision.

Assembly Member Kellner adds:

The Stay is good until the rehearing of the application is complete. The notice of the rehearing must be posted for 10 days & then there is 45 day comment period. Hopefully by the end of that process the PSC will be convinced that submetering is inappropriate for Eastwood and deny the application.

Below is the decision by the Public Service Commission temporarily stopping the electricity submetering of Eastwood/Roosevelt Landings residents and billing them for charges based upon the submetered readings.
Roosevelt Landings Psc Decision

UPDATE - 2/15 - The 2/14 NY Times, following up on this article, reports:

...“Until management takes responsibility for the building repairs, it’s unconscionable for them to dump their responsibility onto the backs of their tenants,” said Joyce S. Mincheff, president of the residents’ association at the complex.

Joe DePlasco, a spokesman for Urban American, said the company intended to work with tenants, government agencies and elected officials to make the plan a success. “The submetering program is intended to help conserve energy, which is something that we remain committed to,” he said....

The 2/7 Main Street WIRE provides some additional background on Eastwood/Roosevelt Landings electricity submetering controversy as well.

Urban American had originally hoped to be at this sample billing stage much earlier, according to sources familiar with the progress toward submetering. Because it has begun in cold months, tenants have seen what could be the worst possible cost figures. In theory, lower summertime costs might go some way toward balancing out high winter-season heating costs, making annual cost somewhat closer to the rent-reduction number for the year.

But tenant leaders in the building are taking no chances. They're looking for every possible way to reduce the electricity charges they'll soon see on rent bills.

UPDATE - 2/17 - The Public Utility Law Project has more information on what tenants need to know about residential electricity submetering.