Hits keep on coming for NYCHA residents in East Village — arsenic snafu followed by scheduled power shutoff

NEW YORK — On Tuesday morning, residents at a NYCHA complex in the East Village were still being told not to drink the water, days after elevated levels of arsenic were detected.

New test results showed no contamination, but the city is waiting for more tests to come back, CBS2’s Elijah Westbrook reported.

Residents at the Jacob Riis Houses say if it’s not one thing, it’s another. After days of dealing with cloudy and arsenic tap water, there are now more problems.

NYCHA posted flyers for tenants saying the power will be turned off for a couple of hours Tuesday amid work by Con Edison. The agency said it’s switching power lines to a new electrical box.

“I didn’t know nothing about no power until you just said that,” tenant Carmella Little said.

Just like for thousands of other tenants, the last few days have been rough for Little, who said residents at the Jacob Riis Houses are often not notified about certain issues pertaining to the buildings.

“That’s what I’m saying. We live here, and they don’t tell us nothing,” Little said. “It’s crazy. Housing should’ve let us know early.”

On what was a dreary and rainy Tuesday, patience was wearing thin and trust in the city was at an all-time low for some residents as mixed messages continued to be given.

“I don’t think I’m ever going to trust the water after that because that’s scary. We’re not talking about little stuff here. We’re talking about poison,” tenant Stacey Hemby told CBS2’s Astrid Martinez on Monday night.

While additional tests are being done to see if the water contains arsenic, NYCHA has told residents to not drink or cook with it until the results come back. When that will happen is unclear.

“There are people who pay their rents, taxes and do the right thing. They give us the bare minimum and then they take it away. Now, we have no power,” one tenant said.

The city’s federal monitor, Bart Schwartz, is looking into how long it took NYCHA to test for the poisonous metal and why it didn’t immediately notify residents. His findings are still pending.