East Village tenants left without gas since March

EAST VILLAGE (WABC) -- Kim Stentz is one of 18 tenants in an East Village building who is stuck and steaming. When tenants turn on their cooking gas they hear the burner, but nothing happens - and that is the way things have been since March.

Stentz hasn't been able to use her stove or cook her meals in 67 days. This has left the part-time cook and full-time yoga instructor off-center.

To just boil water, Stentz bought a hot pad, but when the hot plate gets plugged in, her electricity blows, then she is left without power. Whenever Stentz uses the hot pad, she cooks in the darkness or decides to eat out, but says it gets expensive.

The problem started in late March, when a gas leak led to ConEd shutting down the building's service. The building management hired a plumber to fix the leak, but on the first of May they told tenants they were "waiting on ConEd" to turn it back on. ConEd, on the other hand, said the opposite.

"They're pointing fingers, but the tenants here - you're caught in the middle," says Stentz, "we're caught in the middle without gas."

Actually, management only recently asked ConEd to turn on the gas - but there was another problem. ConEd's rep was on vacation. Their request went nowhere until 7 on Your Side called two days later. Stentz and all the residents were finally cooking with gas.