NEWS: Status of Ruptured Gas Line at 122, and Management's Access to Apartments

As most of you probably know by now, TimeWarner ruptured the gas line to 122 Thursday morning (remember the jackhammers at 8:30am?). Coincidentally, the water had been shut off for the notorious Tank Cleaning (see previous post), so we didn't notice that our hot water disappeared because there was no gas to heat the water in the boiler room.

To fix this situation, all stoves in the building needed to be turned off -- regardless of whether the resident was present.

This aspect of the situation is what bothers me most: I have allowed Management to retain my apartment keys since I moved here, for the sake of convenience and necessity -- in case I locked myself out (which I did once), or in the case of an emergency.

Now, anything involving gas certainly qualifies as an emergency, and I don't mind that they had to go into my apartment without my being there (well, I do really, really mind that because I had done laundry the night before, so my living room was decorated with my line-dry underwear!). But the thing that bothers me is that they didn't leave any kind of notice that this had been done!!

I think Management should have some kind of form notifying residents of any apartment access. It should include the reason for the access, the name(s) of the repair person(s), the time and duration of the visit, and possibly the rooms accessed. This form should be filled out and left in in the apartment.

Please let me know your opinion about this -- if you think it's a good idea, and/or whether more or less information should be requested. Or do you recommend not leaving your key with Management at all (I have since retrieved mine).

I spoke to Mike Urena early this afternoon and he explained the situation regarding how and why the gas had to be turned off and the procedure for turning it back on. (He prefaced it, as one might expect, with, "Well, you might not understand this, but I'll explain it anyway since you asked." (?!?!?!)).

First of all, every stove in the building had to be turned off before any work could be done. And since each apartment line has its own gas feed, all units in that line had to be treated as a whole before each step of the work could progress.

Once the gas was off, all of the fixtures leading to the stove had to replaced with new ones. (The plumber explained that to me). This was to ensure that, once the gas was turned back on, the fixtures could handle the pressure of the restored flow. With the fixtures in place, the gas can be turned back on.

Now, since each apartment line is treated as a whole, everyone in a given line must be turned off and have the fixtures replaced before gas for the entire line can be restored.

So this would be a good reason to let Management have your key, as many of us may wait a long time for our stoves to work if others in our line don't cooperate.

On the other hand, I still say they should let us know what they're doing and when they're doing it.

That being said, and for the sake of record keeping, here is the most recent sign posted in 122 (with spelling/grammar corrections -- sorry I couldn't help myself):

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9/28/07
Gas Service Interruption Update

Plumbers were able to access all apartments to prepare for testing Saturday 9/29.

Once the main line is tested and passed by KeySpan hot water and dryer service will be available. This could occur by midday.

122 Residents' swipe cards will allow access to 191 for laundry service. After the main line is prepared for KeySpan's inspection, individual apartment lines will subsequently be prepared as well. KeySpan is prepared to come several times throughout the weekend to inspect apartment lines.

Once apartment lines are approved by KeySpan, the plumbers will provide a notice under doors advising you to call security to arrange to have plumbers re-enter your apartment to reconnect your stove in the proper manner.

You will again have the option to leave the key by calling security to arrange the super to pick up your keys.

Thank you for your cooperation and your forbearance in this matter.

The property manager will be available in the morning to assure that all proceeds as planned.
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