Hot Water

This winter I realized its is a common thing for many New Yorkers to experience no heat or not hot water during our cold winter months. If you own / rent your house... mostly likely your family and you will come into a quick understanding of how heat will be provided. As a child one night our boiler broke. It was such a big deal then. I remember waking up in the middle of the night cold but excited. My mom frantically calling around, my siblings and I playing in a mountian of covers - until this strange boisterous man entered our house at like 10 PM.

But now I live in a building and when a landlord controls the heat its different. They apparently just post a sign... if your lucky. Or you wake up/ come home and there is no hot water nor heat. According to 2000 Census 50% of New Yorkers lived in Apartments and most experience no heat or hot water during the winter. Over the winter I spoke with people who lived in both public or private housing, seniors, disable folk, me even. We all went with out heat or hot water at least twice.

I always thought its was because someone lived in an old building. A few years ago another reason could be high oil prices... now I think its lack or regulation and enforcement. So, if you have no hot water think about putting your landlord in hot water...