Philly apartment complex for senior citizens ‘freezing’ due to heating issues

Senior citizens living in an apartment complex in the Bustleton neighborhood of Philadelphia told NBC10 that they have been dealing with heating issues for several days.

Some seniors living in the building, FOP Senior Citizens, said the freezing temperatures outside have been waking them up at night because the building’s heating issues have made indoor temperatures unbearable.

“I woke up this morning with a terrible throat,” a longtime resident who did not want to be identified said. “At 2:00 in the morning, I woke up and put another blanket on my bed. It was freezing.”

The woman said there is some heat in his unit, but temperatures are typically much warmer than they have been for the past several days.

“In my unit, there is a little heat coming out. But it’s not enough,” the woman said. “Normally, it is warmer, but I don’t know what they’re doing to the heat.”

NBC10 reached out to the property manager group that runs the building and shared the concerns residents raised, and the company said in a statement, in part, “The comfort, safety, and wellbeing of our residents is our top priority amid extreme temperatures throughout the Philadelphia area.”

The company also said that five maintenance supers were immediately dispatched to complete inspections of heating systems in the building’s units after they learned of heating issues.

Several issues have been identified and are in the process of being resolved, the company said.

“I would like us to have warmth,” the woman said. “And I know tomorrow it’s going to start to be warmer, but that doesn’t make up for the two weeks that we didn’t have heat.”