City to install new heating system at Queens NYCHA complex amid cold snap
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A steam leak at the Beach 41th Street Houses in Far Rockaway is currently affecting heat in the building. Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced the installment of a new heating system for the Far Rockaway NYCHA complex on Wednesday. Eagle photo by Ryan Schwach
By Ryan Schwach
Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced the installment of a new heating system for a Queens NYCHA complex on Wednesday as a historic cold snap continues to freeze the city.
Heating pumps will be installed at the Beach 41st Street Houses in Far Rockaway, as the city plans to implement the system across New York’s public housing.
The $38 million investment will bring the heating pumps to 712 homes in the complex, with the hopes of expanding them to 10,000 NYCHA apartments by 2030.
The pumps are greener and more reliable than the outdated infrastructure currently operating in the city's public housing.
“The need for this infrastructure is urgent,” said Mamdani. “Residents here at the Beach 41st Street Houses know the pain of a heat outage all too well. They deserve a heating and a cooling system they can depend on during the months of extreme weather.”
The complex is currently dealing with a steam leak, caused, in part, by the old system.
“The outdated infrastructure in these buildings has outlived its useful life, and we are committed to fixing the seam leak as soon as possible, while also delivering a more reliable system to the entirety of this campus,” Mamdani said.
The heating pump system has been implemented at another Queens NYCHA development — the Woodside Houses — for nearly three years to favorable results. Similarly, the system was installed after an outage to the old system during the cold weather months left residents without hot water.
“Everybody talked about Woodside houses,” the mayor told the Eagle after the press conference. “I was asking NYCHA about how we could scale this up. It’s very exciting.”
The steam leak and generally outdated infrastructure has pained the residents of Beach 41st during the ongoing cold snap, but many of Rockaways’ housing developments experience heating and infrastructure issues.
“For too long, too many NYCHA residents in Far Rockaway have lived with aging systems that don't meet the basic needs when heat fails in the winter or coolant isn't there in the summer,” said Councilmember Selvena Brooks-Powers. “It's not a minor inconvenience. It affects health, stability and peace of mind. Families shouldn't have to plan their lives around broken infrastructure.”
“These upgrades mean fewer breakdowns, fewer emergencies and homes that function the way they should, consistently and reliably,” she added.
Mamdani, who spoke alongside Brooks-Powers and Borough President Donovan Richards in Far Rockaway on Wednesday, talked about climate related issues that have long plagued the isolated peninsula.
“The Rockaways tend to be out of sight, out of mind too often when it comes to the corridors of power,” Mamdani said. “For a community that is still recovering from Hurricane Sandy, they should be seeing these kinds of investments prioritized here.”
The entire city is currently dealing with weather-related difficulties amid the intense cold snap. On Wednesday, Mamdani said that 17 New Yorkers have passed away outside during the cold, 13 of which appear to have suffered from hypothermia.
“These are dangerous life threatening conditions, and as long as temperatures remain this low, the risk of fatal exposure endures,” the mayor said. “These are also some of the coldest conditions that the city has faced in its recorded history. So we want to encourage everyone to take this seriously, to respond accordingly.”
