East Orange building residents angry after no heat or hot water for weeks

EAST ORANGE, N.J. (PIX11) -- The wind chill temperatures outside were in the single digits on Tuesday, while inside the apartments at 168 South Clinton Ave. in East Orange, many of the rooms were nowhere close to room temperature.

Royal Williams lives in an apartment on the first floor. He and his neighbors have received space heaters from their landlord, after having had no heat since the beginning of the year.

“We have three of them here,” Williams said, but added, “space heaters still aren't keeping the apartment warm.”

His family’s apartment was very tidy and orderly, but that was slightly challenging to see because it was dark. Williams said that they’re reluctant to turn on the lights, with good reason.  

“The building can't even take the power of all three space heaters,” he said. “When you cut them on, all together in unison, the power goes off.”

“On top of that,” Williams continued, “the water isn't even hot.”

He opened the tap on the hot water spigot in his bathroom sink to show that the building, which relies on a boiler to both heat the apartments and provide hot water to them, had neither heat nor hot water. The water did indeed come out cold from the hot water tap. 

He was among a variety of tenants of the East Orange building who said that conditions are dire. Amber Peachtree is also among their number. 

"We have two space heaters for the three-bedroom" apartment she lives in on the fourth floor of the building, she said. "And we kind of have to all stay in one room for that heat to even have some effect."

Supporting that description was the Williamses' apartment. They keep the bathroom door closed in an effort to reduce square footage that they have to heat with space heaters. So in the bathroom, in which they'd hung a sign -- in less stressful times -- extolling the pleasures of a hot bubble bath, PIX11 News measured an air temperature of 58 degrees.

Also, since there's no hot water, the family has to heat water in pots and mostly take sponge baths in the sink. 

Another neighbor, who did not want to be identified, talked about how she'd become concerned for her children's health when the temperatures first plummeted earlier this month. 

"It was just getting too cold, and I had to report them," she said about her landlord, West of Hudson Properties. 

She said that she called the City of East Orange, which sent a code enforcement officer to her home. 

"She checked the temperature of the water, and said there wasn't much she could do about it," the resident said, but added that the code inspector told her that she'd write tickets against the landlord because of the conditions she'd observed. 

After that, the resident said, the landlord "came up with the space heaters." 

It's been three weeks without proper heat, leaving tenants with a basic message for the property owner. 

"Do better," said Peachtree, the fourth-floor tenant. "Take care of [your] residents accordingly, just so it could be habitable here."

According to a statement from the City of East Orange, "This landlord has been issued in excess of 30 summons with maximum fines of $2,000 each regarding the lack of heat and other health and safety concerns. Management has purchased a new boiler which is being installed today."

Late on Tuesday afternoon, a crew of about a half dozen workers were on scene receiving equipment and working to install it. One of the workers told PIX11 News that there is "a lot of work to do." It was not clear when they might finish the necessary boiler work. 

The East Orange City Hall statement went on to say, "Our code inspectors will continue to closely monitor this situation, as well as address any ongoing violations, until the heat at 168 S. Clinton Street is properly restored." 

PIX11 News contacted the landlord West of Hudson Properties. There has been no response from the company.