NYC apartment building has been without heat, water for days: 'It's incredibly frustrating'

HARLEM, Manhattan (PIX11) -- There isn’t even a drip coming from Kenny Doyle's kitchen faucet.

"That's on. You don't hear anything," said Doyle.

In fact, Doyle and every other tenant living at 500 West 146th St. in Harlem have been without water service and heat for the last nine days.

"I've been recording on my phone every time I drop into the apartment. It's incredibly frustrating," said Doyle.

Yumika Parsley’s first-floor Japanese restaurant in the same building is also incredibly chilly inside.

"They're not forthcoming with the situation, so we have to call 311," said Parsley.

In a search for answers, Doyle called the Brighton Management Company. A manager offered a brief explanation, blamed the city for the outage, and then hung up.

"We're frustrated as well. Unfortunately DEP had other plans for us. The repairs are underway. I've already sent numerous emails giving everyone the updated information," the manager said.

PIX11 News tracked down Mariel Yehuda, the building’s owner. He blamed the New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) for his tenants spending the last week and a half with no heat or water.

"It was a DEP issue. The line broke in the street, and they want us to do the repair, which we are doing," said Yehuda.

A New York City DEP spokesperson told PIX11 News, “The issue here is a broken private pipe owned by the building…All city infrastructure is operating properly. DEP investigated a week ago and issued an Order for the building to repair their pipe – on November 21st.”

The building owner and management company say they plan to file a complaint against DEP for turning off the water service last week without giving them a chance to repair the broken line.

Ultimately though, for the tenants, the presence of a work crew breaking up the street is hopefully a good sign of an eventual return to hot showers and warm nights.