Smoke billows from the Emergency Heating Unit parked outside 329 W. 22nd St. between Eighth and Ninth Aves. in Chelsea on Tuesday, which has been spewing oil onto the street and perturbing nearby residents. Sanitation Department supervisor Joseph Didonato (left) issued a summons to the building that employed the unit, which has been parked at the scene since late last year.
Squeaky 22nd St. residents get greased over oil leak
By Patrick Hedlund
Pedestrians passing along the bucolic brownstone block of 22nd St. between Eighth and Ninth Aves. have borne the stench and stain of spewing oil for months after an unmanned mobile unit began leaking the toxic substance onto the street.
Residents complained that the excess oil emanating from an “Emergency Heating Unit” parked in front of 329 W. 22nd St. has blighted their landmark stretch after the unit was brought it to heat adjacent buildings on the block late last year.
“It just makes no sense to me,” said Barry Berkowitz, 64, a resident of 327 W. 22nd St., who’s building is being warmed by the unit. “It’s a nuisance for everyone in the neighborhood.”
Berkowitz, a 30-year resident of the address, said the vehicle containing the unit parked there in December after the heat and hot water went out in both buildings—and has remained there ever since. “It’s for a temporary situation,” he said. “I’ve seen [mobile units] for a day, two days—never like this before.”
The heating unit, which operates out of a truck surrounded by chain-link fencing, provides hosing that runs above the sidewalk and connects to the basement of 329 W. 22nd St., acting as a substitute for the non-functioning boiler.
Bob Shaughnessy, who lives at 313 W. 22nd St. and passes by the unit daily, said he began crossing to the other side of the street after his dog’s paws got covered in oil during a walk.
The leaked oil mixes with rainwater on the street and near the curb, posing a risk to passing pedestrians and cars.
“I don’t even no how people next to the building can withstand the odor, because some days it’s really strong,” he said, adding he called 311 to report the problem. “I don’t know how they get a way with it.”
A passerby on Tuesday, who lives at 347 W. 22nd St. and is a member of his building’s board, said the “eyesore” has only exacerbated ongoing construction work at the addresses over the past few years.
“It’s really annoying,” said the resident, who didn’t provide his name, noting in addition to the odor and oil stains, the unit also contributes undue noise. “It’s a very charming street.” About two-thirds of the block sits in the Chelsea Historic District, confirmed Lisi de Bourbon, a spokesperson for Landmarks Preservation Commission.
Hilda Regier, who’s owned her brownstone at 325 W. 22nd St. since 1977, said she called 311 twice about the nuisance, but to no avail.
“It’s toxic, I’m choking,” she said of the mobile unit’s persistent presence. “It’s really endangering people’s health.”
After Chelsea Now inquired about the issue with the Department of Sanitation, a DSNY employee responded to the scene on Tuesday to cover the oil in a sawdust-like absorbent and summons the building owner. Additional summonses for “noxious liquid in the street causing a hazardous condition” would continue to be issued until the oil is cleaned, said Sanitation supervisor Joseph Didonato, adding that a pedestrian or car risks injury or damage by slipping in the substance.
“It’s unfortunately how fast they’re working to fix the boiler,” he said of the unit’s lengthy presence in the neighborhood.
George Arzt, a spokesperson for Newcastle Realty Service, LLC, which owns the properties in question, said the unit was installed the day after Christmas and had to remain at the site until the boiler could be fixed.
An employee at Approved Oil, which supplied the oil to the heating unit, said the building owners planned to have the unit removed on Thursday after complaints had mounted. He added the boiler was to receive the necessary repair work after languishing for months.
“It’s unfortunate it’s an inconvenience to the neighbors,” said Vincent Pheurer, vice president of Approved Oil. “[The building owners] called us, and we have the boiler working now.”
