No water in our building- Sterling btwn Classon and Franklin

jr5597

I'm currently out of town, but my roommate called me tonight and informed me we have no running water. 311 determined there was no shutoff in our area, and our landlord fumbled with a few explanations about pipes that lead in and out of the building and something or other about the "DEP's fault." He promised plumbers would be there tomorrow morning. This isn't the first account of maintenance issues we've had with him. Aside from filing a complaint with 311, what else can we do? Is anyone else's water out on this block?

eastbloc

We're on the south side of the street and we have water.

The DEP has been on the block working below street level all day. They may have shut off your water without planning to, or maybe their work dislodged something that blocked off your main.

Or maybe your landlord is just full of it, but I can corroborate his story at least somewhat. I'd give him a chance to get it sorted before calling 311.

xlizellx

this used to happen to me all the time in my old building. call 311 and report it and stay on your landlord's ass. But I have no other suggestions than that. good luck!

eastbloc

If it just happened, why should he call 311 and "stay on his landlord's ass"? Give the guy a chance to fix the issue. These are old buildings and things do break.

Plus, if he knows that you're immediately going to call 311 when anything goes wrong, it takes the bite out of the threat of doing it when he doesn't address the issue in a timely fashion, because he's still going to have a complaint on the record.

311 is supposed to be an escalation for when you're not getting traction reasoning with your landlord directly. It's not meant to be a personal help desk for every housing issue.

jr5597

I called 311 because we weren't getting a straight answer from our landlord and he got really defensive right away. We had no idea what else to do, and they offered followup. Thanks for the notice about the construction happening!

xlizellx

I agree -- but if you speak to the landlord (Which jr did) and the response makes it sound like he doesn't care too much or doesn't know why, then yes - stay on his ass. Landlords don't usually live in your building - meaning no water for you is not inconveniencing him. And no water doesn't just mean no shower and no washing dishes -- no water means no toilet flushing either. No hot water sucks a lot but can be lived through for a day or so. This is a big deal and should be handled immediately.