Lack of heat irks residents at Bridgeport’s Success Village
Bridgeport police were called to Success Village on Tuesday to answer residents' complaints about lack of heat in the complex.
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Bridgeport police were called to Success Village on Tuesday to answer residents' complaints about lack of heat in the complex.
The complex is home to thousands of people in Bridgeport and Stratford.
Officials at Success Village say the boilers were built in the early 1940s and have long needed to be replaced.
People living there say they don't have heat right now, posing health risks as temperatures begin to drop.
"Last night it was freezing -- like it's just not fair! Not only am I cold but my animals are cold,” says Morgan Schick, a Success Village resident.
Co-President Jose Sandoz, of Success Village, tried to get a local boiler company to fix the ongoing issue. Sandoz says the general manager, Charley Pitcher, and the other co-president, Ty Bird, refused to let the boiler repair-team work on the system -- that’s when he called 911.
Pitcher says he stepped in because the board couldn't decide what company to hire, and the old boilers were obsolete. Bird says there is a plan in place to get the heat working again in a few days.
"I'm wearing double sets of clothes because it's so cold, and I'm trying to recover from COVID," says Blanche Mierzejewski, another Success Village resident.
Greg Segla says it's been as cold as 52 degrees in his apartment.
Bird says a quarter of the complex has heat and he's working around the clock with United Illuminating and DEEP to secure up to $15 million in grants to install a new electrical heating system.
Residents say servicing the boilers would be cheaper, more sensible and buy them enough time to find a path forward everyone can agree on.
