Con Edison restores heat, hot water in Murray Hill apartment buildings after 5 days
MURRAY HILL, Manhattan (WABC) -- Heat and hot water have been restored to the residents who suffered for five days in their Murray Hill apartment buildings.
At around 4 a.m. Tuesday, water began flowing to those those five buildings. Officials say Con Edison turned on the steam at around 4:30 a.m. which meant residents would get access to heat and hot water.
Authorities say a leak started on Saturday that forced the city to shut off water and steam that the buildings use for heat.
Water and heat were temporarily restored in the buildings Monday afternoon after residents said they had been freezing inside their apartments. A half-hour later, heat and water were shut off again so workers could find and fix the leak in the water main that caused this mess.
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"Con Edison has isolated a section of the steam main, affecting service to five customers, due to water from a water main leak entering our underground steam vault and creating a potentially dangerous condition," Con Edison said in a statement earlier this week. "We are on the scene and will restore steam service once the water leak is repaired and it is safe to do so."
Con Edison clarified that each of the affected buildings represents one customer.
The city hasn't said what the exact problem was, but it closed at least one restaurant and left a lot of people who live in the high rises along Third Avenue, in the cold.
"I went to the gym this morning to shower, I was hoping it would be fixed by now, but we'll see," one resident said.
While some of the people Eyewitness News reporter Jim Dolan met out on the street had some options for a shower and heat, others were worried about the older residents in the building that may not have had access to alternatives.
"I don't want to get out of bed, my hair is filthy. So far, it's like 'It's coming on in an hour,' ' It's coming on in another hour,'" another resident said.
Con Edison says they hope to have heat restored later Tuesday morning.
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