NYCHA’s Frederick Douglass Houses on the Upper West Side faced major outages early last week, including elevator and water issues, which forced four teams of staff to assist wheelchair-bound residents with a “stairclimber” assistance device so they could reach their upstairs units.
Tenant association head Carmen Quinones says she cannot recall a more significant outage during her time representing her neighbors.
“Mother nature really screwed us this time,” Quinones told the Amsterdam News. “This has not happened like that. I stay on top of everything…this was a horror show.”
As of press time, most repairs had been made, but Quinones, who has become a prominent public housing advocate in the greater Harlem area and even ran for public office, pointed to specific issues with 830 Columbus Avenue, a building within the development.
Quinones has long pointed to underfunding and overworked staff, which many public housing developments currently face. Earlier this month, the AmNews reported on how residents are balancing these concerns with ongoing pseudo-privatization efforts through RAD/PACT, which allow private organizations to fill the gap in exchange for shifting away from the traditional Section 9 model used to keep public housing public.
NYCHA spokesperson Andrew Sklar responded to AmNews requests to comment for the housing authority.
“This past weekend, due to an emergency repair by the utility company, elevator and water service at Douglass were temporarily interrupted,” said Sklar. “These services were restored as quickly and safely as possible, and stair climber service was available to residents throughout the duration of the outage.”
Residents in need of assistance should call the customer contact system at 718-707-7771 or reach out through the MyNYCHA application.
