They’re not pumped.
Long-suffering NYCHA residents called for the city to focus on bread-and-butter fixes for their crumbling, stinky homes — as Mayor Zohran Mamdani touted a $2.5 billion plan to provide heat pumps and other green tweaks to public housing.
The eco initiative that Mamdani highlighted in a splashy Earth Day announcement Wednesday would put energy-efficient water and lighting systems in 45,000 apartments, add new heating pumps into 20,000 homes, install 10,000 induction stoves and provide 150 public electric vehicle charging stations in NYCHA parking lots.
But many residents at the Woodside Houses, where Mamdani rhapsodized about protecting the planet, said they wanted the city to deal with other nagging — and gagging — issues.
“I have a smell in my apartment from the trash compactor — it smells so bad, I throw up every day,” said Jennifer Lambert, 50.
The NYCHA “Sustainability Agenda” released by Mamdani’s administration quietly slips in that the five-year plan is projected to cost nearly $2.5 billion, of which $1.2 billion has yet to be found.
The agenda, which aims to fulfill its green goals by 2031, is a continuation of green energy policies and benchmarks set under Mamdani’s predecessor, Mayor Eric Adams, for the city’s largest landlord.
Mamdani in February also promised to spend $38 million to bring heat pumps — an all-electric, efficient appliance that provides both heat and air conditioning — to the Beach 41st Street houses.
The pledge followed a pilot program that brought 150 heat pumps into the Woodside Houses last year.
Maria Lopez, 73, was one of the residents who received the fancy heating and cooling units — and she hasn’t looked back.
“I don’t suffer like I used to, when it got so cold in my apartment that I had to have to plug in a heater and sleep next to it,” she said. “Once they installed this unit, forget it — it was amazing to me.”
But many of Lopez’s neighbors — including Lambert, the resident who said she pukes daily from the garbage stench — complained that the heat pumps and Mamdani’s other green fixes won’t help the actual problems they deal with day-to-day.
“They don’t fix things here,” Lambert said. “I appreciate getting better heat and air conditioning, but it’s the small things.
“My heating works. My air conditioning work. That’s not the issue here. I care about the environment. I’m for energy-efficient lights and EV stations. Green is everything, but I’m sorry to say it’s beside the point right now.”
Likewise, Maritza Lopez, 44, said she’s happy for the upgrades — but she’d prefer the money be spent on better security and exterminators to kill roaches and rats.
“If you’re gonna give me a new unit that heats and cools, I’ll take it,” she said, “but then fix the broken pipes. Fix the boilers.”
Lopez was among several residents who were baffled by the move to add electric vehicle charging stations to NYCHA parking lots, pointing out most residents couldn’t afford even afford gas-guzzling cars.
“Fancy appliances are nice, but the city’s priorities are off,” said Gloria Carter, 61.
“I’ve got mold. I’ve got tiles falling off the bathroom walls. My windows don’t open properly. My walls need painting. I can’t get anybody to fix these things,” she continued.
“That’s the root of the problem — not efficient lightbulbs, not chargers for electric cars.”
Installing the EV charging stations at NYCHA’s more than 100 housing developments is an apparent bid by the agency to generate revenue, including from taxis and for-hire vehicles.
“Our needs are fundamental, basic needs,” Carter said. “I’m OK with heat and air conditioning. What I’m not OK with is mold, cracks in the walls, hinges that don’t open. Those are the kinds of things I need the mayor to invest in.
“Don’t be spending all this money on stuff I don’t need. Spend it on stuff that we need to feel human.”
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