Elderly Conifer Village Tenants Left In The Cold: Complaints

EAST PATCHOGUE, NY — Beginning in November, the Suffolk County Department of Health began receiving complaints that the heat wasn't working properly in an East Patchogue senior apartment complex. Over two months later, after more complaints from Conifer Village tenants and several news stories, Suffolk Health Department officials say the heat is finally back on.

According to the department, a Nov. 23 complaint led to an inspection that found an air temperature of 61 degrees in the apartment complex, below the required 68 degree minimum. A re-inspection on December 16 found the heating issues had been corrected, the county says.

By January, however, elderly residents were freezing in their own homes again.

Sandra Bell, 75, told News 12 on Feb. 2 that her apartment was so cold she had to wear a hat and gloves and use her oven to stay warm.

A representative for the Suffolk Health Department told Patch that eight more complaints were filed between Jan. 10 and Jan. 18.

Chris Desio, of Patchogue, told Patch that a family friend in his 70s with health issues had been without adequate heat since December 2020 and was forced to stay with family members.

After the resident and friends continually called the property office but got no response, he tried to reach out to the landlord by leaving a Google review for the property on Brookwood Lane.

"No one cares, now the next step is the health department," Desio wrote in early February.

He says the heat is finally back on, but that "it was a long time."

A representative for Conifer LLC told Patch that "At no point was any resident without a temporary source of heat in the instances where we could not make immediate repairs to their equipment."

The company sent a notice to residents last week apprising them of the heating issues, attributed to recent supply chain issues:

"Recently we experienced maintenance issues on PTAC heating units. In a very short period, we had 23 PTAC units fail, which is atypical. We determined ten needed repairs and 13 required replacement. All repairs and replacements are complete, and we have ordered ten additional PTAC units to have on hand. All resident calls of no heat were responded to by management immediately. No resident at any time was left without heat."

"In every case, residents were provided a temporary heating source until the permanent repair/replacement could be executed. Unlike a typical season, we encountered an unprecedented delay in the delivery of replacement parts and units due to nationwide supply chain disruptions. This issue delayed our ability to make timely repairs. While we immediately focused on sourcing parts and equipment to make these repairs, we failed to share these struggles with our residents in real-time," the company said in a statement.

The Suffolk County health department explained that it ultimately commenced legal action against the property:

"Violations were cited during inspections of all eight complaints. Re-inspection showed that temperature violations were corrected however, some apartments continued to have nonfunctioning heating systems and were awaiting repairs. Formal legal action against the property owner was initiated by the department for the continued violations," department employees told Patch in an email.

As of Feb. 4, an inspection showed the heat in all units was functioning, according to the health department.

"We realize that while residents experiencing heating loss did receive temporary heating sources during this time, we are deeply sorry for the impact that supply chain issues had on our ability to provide the kind of maintenance we take pride in delivering," Conifer LLC said.