Residue from a steam leak on the exterior wall of 502/504 Marcy Avenue in Brooklyn has tested positive for asbestos, prompting NYCHA to launch environmental testing and air monitoring while nine buildings at the Marcy Houses complex were expected to go without heat Wednesday night.
NYCHA responded to the buildup after a steam leak sent residue down the exterior wall of the building, and officials confirmed the residue tested positive for asbestos, according to News12 Brooklyn. The city's Department of Environmental Protection restricted access to the area near the affected wall, and required asbestos notifications were posted on the building's exterior inside the DEP zone, per the same report.
One resident told the outlet that a boiler had been spewing steam and hot water for some time before the leak was addressed, and that hot water from the boiler was landing on cars parked nearby. Residue from the steam leak was found on the building's exterior wall.
Residents Offered Hotels While Apartments Are Cleaned
Tenants near the affected wall were offered temporary complimentary hotel stays along with Uber gift cards and meal gift cards while their apartments undergo inspection and cleaning, the station reported. No return date has been established for the residents who were moved out, and nine Marcy Houses buildings were without heat as of Wednesday night because of the incident.
The scramble to house displaced tenants echoes a similar scene on the Upper East Side, where a steam leak at Park Avenue and East 69th Street scattered debris containing asbestos and led officials to advise nearby residents to close their windows, according to News12 New York. In that case, cleanup wrapped up by around 2 p.m. and all air monitoring tests came back clear of harmful asbestos levels, with residents of 709 through 715 Park Avenue able to safely return to their apartments by the following afternoon.
A Larger Pattern of Outages Heading Into Winter
The Marcy Houses incident lands amid a broader stretch of heating trouble across NYCHA's portfolio as the city enters colder months. About 10,000 NYCHA tenants across six complexes experienced heat or hot-water outages in a recent week, and roughly 23,000 residents citywide went without heat or hot water at some point the week before that, per 6sqft.com. Over the course of a full heating season, the authority logged more than 291,500 residents affected by heat issues between October 1 and May 31, the outlet reported.
Those outages have hit other complexes too. Gothamist reported that five NYCHA buildings housing nearly 1,500 tenants were coping with unplanned heat or hot-water outages as of one recent Tuesday morning, even as eight other buildings had service restored within the prior 24 hours. The same outlet described heat and hot-water failures as a recurring problem in NYCHA buildings each winter, noting the authority logged 564 unplanned heat outages during the 2021–2022 season, a jump of 100 from the season before.
Much of the trouble traces back to aging equipment: more than half of NYCHA's 1,713 boilers are over 20 years old, and most need repairs or replacement, according to 6sqft.com. City rules require building owners to maintain indoor temperatures of at least 68 degrees between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. when it's below 55 degrees outside, and at least 62 degrees overnight regardless of the temperature outdoors, per the NYC Housing Authority's own heating guidelines.
For now, Marcy Houses residents near the contaminated wall are left waiting on test results and a timeline for going home, while the rest of the complex faces at least one cold night without heat. News12 reported it had reached out to the city's Department of Buildings for comment and was awaiting a response.
