This week, in the context of the 2,193 “heat/hot water complaints” logged in Bronx Community District 7 since Jan. 1, we asked readers if they feel their apartments are sufficiently heated this winter.

“They don’t give enough heat; it comes up for a little while and then it cuts off and then it comes back on, and there’s a lot of senior citizens here. The super doesn’t even speak English; he’s Albanian. His wife speaks English, but everyone comes to me to complain. No one calls 311; I don’t know why. This has been going on for many years.”

Ray Smith,
Bedford Park

“Not really… I mean they just choose when they want to put the heat on and it’s just not on the correct days to be honest. Yeah, it’s kind of funny because it’ll be really, really [expletive] cold, and then nothing at all. But then, when it’s not that cold, then they turn it on, but it doesn’t stay on very long so you can’t even really feel it. We’ve called 311, but they don’t do anything, obviously. You call them repeatedly and nothing happens.”

Chance Marquez,
Parkchester

“The building gets heat, but some people in the building don’t get heat. When my mom turns her heat on, it lasts for like seven minutes and then it starts blowing cold air for no reason. That’s been for the past 14 years, and then the super comes upstairs and fixes whatever. I think something’s wrong with the thermostat. The thermostat always reads between 75 and 80 degrees and it’s not true; the apartment is still cold. My mom called 311 about three times; nothing happened.”

Carlito Paz,
Parkchester

“I’m not getting enough heat because every time when it’s below zero degrees, they don’t turn on the heat. They only turn on the heat when it’s like forty degrees outside. That’s when the supper of my building turns on the heat. The heat only comes on if they turn it on and sometimes, they don’t. I think they’re trying to save money on gas because they don’t want to spend the money. No, we haven’t called 311. I use a space heater to keep me warm, and that’s dangerous.”

Raven Chestnut,
Norwood

“I’m a resident here in The Bronx and I’ve been seeing a lot of reports with people complaining about the lack of heat, even though they pay rent. These people need heat, and landlords need to update their boilers. And they should limit the heat in each apartment, because a lot of people like to abuse and use more heat than a regular tenant. And sometimes, the landlords want to be cheap and they don’t want to fix things, and they act like it comes out of their pocket, but everybody is paying rent.”

Carlos Veras,
Kingsbridge