They’ve been left out in the cold too long.
Tenants in six Bronx neighborhoods lodged the most heating complaints in New York City this year, making those areas the city’s “coldest” neighborhoods in 2019, according to a newly-released study.
Renthop.com released data on the parts of NYC that have the most ongoing issues with heating in residential buildings during the cold months of the year, at the very top of that list was a large portion of the West Bronx starting with: Mount Hope, Fordham South, Norwood, Williamsbridge-Olinville, Bedford Park-Fordham North, and Pelham Parkway.
The neighborhoods had a combined total of 3,255 heat complaints throughout 2019, according to the data.
That data comes from each 311 heat/hot water complaints that was released by the NYC OpenData Portal, according to Renthop.
“To fairly rank the neighborhoods, we further normalize the data by dividing the number of heat complaints by the number of renter-occupied units in a neighborhood,” the study indicated.
Historically, the Bronx has always been at or near the top of the heat complaint list every year, according to the study. In 2019 alone, The Bronx had 72% more normalized complaints than those filed in Brooklyn. Since at least 2015, the Bronx has led the city in tenant-related heating issues.
Mount Hope, the “coldest” neighborhood of the city this year, had 751 heat complaints alone in 2019, and it was that landlord neglect which pushed the West Bronx neighborhood past 2018’s coldest area, Erasmus in Brooklyn.
The data also indicated that 44% of the most reported buildings with heat deficiencies are in The Bronx while only 28% are in Brooklyn, and 16% in Manhattan. Queens has only six frequently reported buildings, the study showed.
As far as other Bronx areas to watch, the northeast neighborhood of Baychester saw a high rise in heat related complaints as well, Renthop reported.
On Thanksgiving Day, the study noted, one Bronx building — 2167 Tiebout Ave. in Fordham — had the most filed heat complaints in the entire city, with 53 cold residents left steaming mad.
Some other areas around the city that saw high numbers in heat complaints were Annadale on Staten Island, College Point in Queens, Dyker Heights in Brooklyn, and Stuyvesant Town in Manhattan along with many other areas throughout the five boroughs.
