After residents of four buildings located at Botanical Square in the Bedford Park section of The Bronx were left without gas for over a year, as reported, when a water main break on nearby Webster Avenue flooded the block and basements of the buildings in December 2024, the property manager and Con Edison both said the required repair work has now been completed at the affected buildings, and gas was due to be turned back on for at least some of the residents on Thursday, Feb. 19. The flooding had destroyed the electrical wiring and Con Edison’s gas meters they said.

 

On Wednesday, Feb. 18, the building’s property manager, “Manny,” said 95 of the 188 apartments now have new gas lines installed, adding, “The first batch is getting turned on tomorrow morning. They’re doing it in batches of I think 23 apartments, which is about 30% of the building. It was a long journey. We see the light at the end of the tunnel, thank God.”

 

Meanwhile, Alfonso Quiroz of Con Edison told Norwood News, “2985 [Botanical Square] passed their inspection and the turn-on has been scheduled for tomorrow, Thursday, Feb 19.”

 

We asked Manny if the City and Con Edison had worked as quickly and as efficiently as possible to resolve the issue. He replied, “Absolutely not. They should have got me these inspections with Con Ed and the DOB [NYC Department of Buildings] much quicker. This was a waiting game. The work was all done.” Manny added, “Con Ed and the City is backed up,” alleging that after every inspection, tenants / supers / property managers have to wait six or seven weeks before a new inspection can be arranged.

 

“We begged them,” Manny continued, adding, “It’s not a priority and they’re backed up. If they’re backed up, hire more people. What can I tell you? When it comes to violations, they have plenty of staff.”

 

According to public records, General Management, LLC is the owner of the building. However, inside the building, a sign lists the owner as G.I. Botanical, LLC. Manny said “the owner,” not specifying who he meant, has spent over $4 million in repairs on the building and that they are currently fighting with their insurance company for restitution of the repair costs. Meanwhile, he alleged the insurance company is telling the owner to sue the City.

Multiple residents alleged that since a new boiler was installed in December 2025, the apartments are cold and the heat goes off during the night or stays at minimum temperature. When asked about this, Manny alleged the boiler was timed and set via a computerized system at a constant 71 degrees.

 

“There’s no such thing as turning a boiler off at night,” he said. “If we turned the boilers off at night, we’d have pipes frozen.” Meanwhile, after the recent front-page story by Norwood News on the gas situation at Botanical Square, a meeting was held at the housing complex on Monday, Feb. 9. In attendance were West Bronx Housing and Neighborhood Resource Center, Council Member Eric Dinowitz (C.D. 11), and attorneys from The Legal Aid Society, as well as around 20 residents.

 

On Tuesday, Feb. 10, Natalia, a Botanical Gardens resident, told Norwood News, “They started working on my apartment, and some of my neighbors. They installed some gas lines but some lines were unable to be completed because of absent tenants [meaning the affected tenants were possibly at work or out at that time].

 

Referring to Con Edison’s scheduled inspection on Friday, Feb. 13, Natalia said, “Our apartment is not on the list for this Friday’s inspection. Also, some or maybe all of the front apartments haven’t even started [the work].” On the outcome of the Feb 9 meeting, she added, “[They] provided a lot of information about our rights as tenants.”

 

When Norwood News visited 2985 Botanical Square on Friday, Feb. 13, we found a first-floor hallway window open, and the apartment building was very cold. While there, we spoke with resident Mikell Green Grand, who recalled stepping outside 2995 Botanical Square on Jan. 31 just as a slab of concrete from the front of the building came crashing down on the sidewalk. Read more on the incident here.

 

Green Grand said he called fire department officials and then pulled out his phone and showed Norwood News a video of the building and a firefighter climbing a tower ladder as a piece of concrete falls to the ground. We asked Green Grand if he knew when his gas service would be restored. “I have no idea when I will get gas again,” he said. “Not the faintest idea when I will get gas again.”

 

He concluded, “It seems like they’re doing something. They’re putting pipes in. In reference to a construction worker, he said, “This guy is working. You know it’s really kind of harsh. They’re trying to put the pipes in the elevator but it wasn’t working.” He said workers were forced to carry the pipes up the stairs as a result.

 

Norwood News reached out to NYC Department of Buildings (DOB) for comment on Manny’s allegations that the City and Con Ed did not apparently work quickly to resolve the issue and that Manny had to wait “six or seven weeks before a new inspection” could be arranged

 

In response, Andrew Rudansky, press secretary with DOB, asked if the property manager could provide any proof / specific examples where they had to wait six to seven weeks for the DOB gas plumbing inspection. He added, “Our latest service level report from February 9, 2026 puts the average wait time for a plumbing inspection in The Bronx at 3 days.” See screenshot further below.

Rudansky added, “I took a look at some of the inspection and filing requests for the plumbing job at 2985 Botanical Square to restore cooking gas service, and the wait times I have reviewed seem to be in that range. For example, on November 26th, 2025, DOB received a Gas Authorization Request to restore residential cooking gas for 23 of the apartments. DOB reviewed the request and approved the gas authorization on November 28, 2025 – two days later.”

Rudansky shared screenshots of email communication on the matter as back-up. He later added, “As of today, wait times for gas plumbing inspection times citywide are currently approximately 4 to 5 days. Maybe there was some miscommunication between the plumber and the property manager. I do not know why the property manager is blaming DOB for a gas restoration project that has taken them 15 months.”

Rudansky asked if Norwood News could ask the building’s property manager for a specific inspection request where they had to wait on DOB for a month and a half, adding that DOB would be happy to look into it. He added again that he had yet to find proof in DOB’s records of the long wait times described by Manny.

Rudansky also noted that DOB would not be dealing directly with the property manager to schedule inspections and that inspection requests come from the Licensed Master Plumber (LMP). In this case, he said the LMP was Alan Bomzer of G.B. & SON, INC (License # 000964).

 

Norwood News followed up with Manny on Feb. 26 and asked for clarification on who the owner was General Management, LLC or  G.I. Botanical, LLC. He replied, “Yes, correct. That’s what it is, G.L. Botanical, LLC.” We mentioned that Manny had previously said that it took weeks to get an inspection from DOB but that, when contacted, DOB said it took 3 days.

 

“Con Ed, not DOB. Con Ed,” he said in part. “You need a Con Ed inspection and a DOB inspection. DOB comes once, yes. DOB comes but Con Ed, I told you then it was Con Ed. I’m pretty sure I didn’t tell you it was the DOB. It was Con Ed. Con Ed is backed up, especially in a snowstorm, throws them off and they’re behind.”

 

Norwood News asked Manny if it was true that residents had even reached out to contact him through What’s App in order to follow up with him. “Ahh, a handful, not too many,” Manny said. “Usually, they call the office.” Norwood News mentioned that “Peter,” Manny’s colleague, had informed us that Manny would call us back on Sunday [Feb. 22]. When no call was received, Norwood News told Manny that we had called his office Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday [Feb. 26], and couldn’t reach anyone, that the voicemail box was full, and that the email address provided for Manny was not spelled out so we couldn’t follow-up.

“You called the office number?” Manny asked. We said we called (347) 452-4594. “No, no, no, that’s not the office number,” Manny replied.  The office number is (718) 627-0600.” We reiterated that we had also tried to email him but that the email address spelling had not been provided.

 

Manny added, “So, we had the plumbers there all week this week. I hope to have some turn-ons soon on the gas. Actually, they are there as we speak.” The website, resimgt.com, provided by the property manager does not appear to be a working website.

 

On March 13, Norwood News spoke to Alan Bowzer of G.B. & Son, Inc., the master plumber for Botanical Square, and asked what caused the delay in restoring gas service. “Okay, so here’s the problem,” he said. “The problem is that we have had massive problems getting into the apartments. We have to run gas lines from the top floor, down to the basement on some of the apartments. We have had massive problems getting into the apartments to a point where we’ve finally, finally got into the last bit of apartments today, so I have about three or four guys working there because one of the tenants that’s in the middle (of the line) of seven tenants, wouldn’t let us in.”

 

He continued, “So, they finally gave permission, after three months, to let us in. So, I have three or four guys there trying to get all the lines, that entire eight apartments, done. We are all the way into the basement already. We have had DOB [Department of Buildings] inspections of the stuff that has been completed, and we have had Con Edison turn-ons. Now, even when we have had Con Edison turn-ons, the tenants did not stay home so we turned around and spoke to Con Edison directly and as a favor, they gave us another day.”

 

Bowzer said that an appointment was made, and one tenant said they weren’t given enough notice. “The second time we gave them like three or four days’ notice that we were coming and posted it in the building, and only half of the tenants stayed home. So, if the tenants are not going to stay home to get the meters turned on, and the meters are there, they’re just in the off position, some of the apartments we couldn’t get into and some of the apartments we could.”

 

He continued, “So, the first building [2995 Botanical Square] didn’t take as long because the tenants allowed us in easier. The second building now has been a massive problem getting tenants to let us in. So, if you have to run [a gas line] from the sixth floor down to the basement, and the third-floor tenant doesn’t want to stay home, you get stuck on the third floor. You can’t do four, five and six.” Bowzer added that the issue was with 2985 Botanical Square, and that 2995, except for maybe one apartment, was done.

 

Norwood News asked, “They can’t turn on the [gas] line until the entire line is connected?” Bowzer replied, “That’s correct. Now, there are apartments in the 2985 building where the gas meters stayed in the apartment and we did not have to run gas all the way down into the basement. We were able to just run individual gas lines in the apartment because the main riser was holding. We were able to run gas in the apartments only, and not have to go all the way down.”

 

Bowzer continued, “We put the meter bars in and we ran the gas lines in the apartments, and we had DOB there two or three times to give us our authorization for these 20 or 30 apartments, but when we had Con Edison come, the tenants didn’t stay home. So, if you don’t have tenants who are cooperating and staying home, what’s the plumber or the owner supposed to do? We’re there seven days a week. You can go there. We have our men there seven days a week. I had my men sitting there doing nothing, just hoping the tenants would come home.”

 

Bowzer continued, “As of today, if you want to call me on Monday, I can give you a better report, but if I’m not mistaken, 90% of the apartments have the gas lines down into the basement and tested. Now, we only have to do the basement and we will have a piping inspection by the City, hopefully in the next few days. By doing a piping inspection separate from a gas test, we can get into the apartments even if the tenant doesn’t want to stay home later. I don’t care about them because then, at that point, all the gas lines are in the basement and whoever stays home stays home, but the rest of the people don’t get gas even if it takes them six months to get gas. I really don’t care at that point.”

 

Norwood News asked if the building was 90% completed and the entire line to the basement was completed, could they not turn on the gas.  “No, because once we’re in the basement, now this week, we have to do the basement itself,” Bowzer said. “We have to put in the new overhead gas meter. Now, once we’re in the basement, I don’t have to worry about tenants, you understand?”

 

Norwood News asked, “But if you did the basement first, six families could have already had gas, no?” Bowzer answered, “Well, we already have tenants that do have gas because we were let in [to the apartments].” Asked how many tenants were left that don’t have service, Bowzer said to call on Monday after 1 p.m. “But I’ll be honest with you, there are buildings that take a long time because the tenants don’t give you access. The buildings that go faster [are] when the tenants give access.”

 

Norwood News mentioned that we heard from one source that the master plumber also had problems with accessing the meters because they had cabinets around them and had to take down the cabinets to access the meters. “Right, that’s correct, so when we went for our inspection, Con Edison said, ‘Okay, now you have to take down the cabinets.’ So, we went and we took down those cabinets. That was the first phase of apartments that were supposed to have been turned on, but not all the tenants stayed home.”

 

He added, “So, the first phase that we got turned on is where the actual gas line meter is staying in the apartment. So, you’re working with only one apartment but at the same time, when you go for a gas turn-on, if all the tenants on the “J” line, the “H” line, or the “C” line, whatever it is, if all the tenants that are supposed to be turned on on that line don’t stay home, Con Edison can’t turn on the apartments, because once you turn the gas valve in the basement on, everybody has to be home at the same time. If they’re not going to stay home, they’re going to have leaks. They’re going to have gas leaking out and they can’t do it.”

Bowzer added of his business, “We’ve been here for many years working throughout the entire city. We’ve been around for four generations. We started in ’33. My grandfather started it in ’33.” Asked how long it took to get an appointment with DOB or Con Ed, Bowzer said, “DOB, I can get within a few days actually. Con Edison normally takes weeks and weeks. Actually, because of this job, I was given a phone number for Con Edison to speak to, so once we have DOB, we can get it done faster.”

 

Asked if he had experienced any delays with Con Edison, Bowzer replied, “We had delays because of the weather. It was the weather and then the snow that screwed things up a little bit.”

 

Speaking by phone, also on March 13, with Norwood News, a Con Edison representative later provided an update on the Botanical Square situation, saying, “I know there was a couple of buildings that were out of gas. We’re working with the landlord.” Norwood News informed Con Ed that the building manager alleged it had taken them six to seven weeks to schedule an appointment with Con Ed, but meanwhile, Con Ed had alleged they had been in touch with the master plumber, that there had been no delay, and that Botanical Square had not been considered a “regular customer.”

 

The Con Ed representative said in part, “We are working with them. I’m not sure what the saga of this story is. I’m just confused here. I don’t understand why it’s taking so long and what this big saga is. I feel like I’m missing something, like there is something happening here I’m not aware of.” Norwood News explained that in terms of the delay with getting the gas back on, what Con Ed was saying and what the building manager was saying was not aligned, and that we were just reporting what the different parties were telling us.

 

The Con Ed representative replied in part, “Okay, I’m telling you that we are working with these people. We’re working with them and we’re trying to get them back up as quickly as we possibly can. That is what I can say.”

 

Natalia, the same 2985 Botanical Garden building resident we had spoken to in February, later updated Norwood News on March 17 on the meeting that had been held with West Bronx Housing and the councilman. “We had Eric Dinowitz come with the West Bronx Housing last Wednesday,” she said. “They went door to door to get signatures to sign a letter to the landlord so that he doesn’t say he didn’t know about the situation and our request for him to fix the situation with the gas once and for all.”

 

Natalia said the letter detailed a list of issues including no gas service, lack of heat and hot water, and dirty hallways, and cited several violations according to the City. “Less than half of our back building has gas,” she said, adding that a handful of residents in 2995 were still without gas. “We’re all good with my line but still no gas,” she added.

 

Natalia continued, “It’s a shame that we’re still paying the full rent even though we’re missing a very important utility, but not even a credit on the rent. The elevator hasn’t been working for weeks. It gets stuck all the time and doesn’t move.”

The same day, March 17, Norwood News spoke with Bowzer again and he said of the gas situation, “There should be between 25 and 30 apartments that should have gas already. However, because these tenants are not staying home…” Bowzer said they would be scheduling another appointment for the following Monday and giving residents at least 3 days’ notice.

 

“Today, we were able to get into 4P. [Apartment] 3P never came home. You know what? Even though it was one apartment, and I was really wasting my time to go for one apartment, the tenant in 4P stayed home so we ran the pipe from 4P, 5P down to the floor of 4P, waiting to go into the apartment 3P, but 3P doesn’t stay home.”

 

Tenants at Botanical Square revived their long-dormant tenants association in 2020 in order to amplify the need for repairs.

 

*Síle Moloney contributed to this story.

 

Read our previous Inquiring Photographer feature on similar issues here.