by Dana Williams
"I kept my apartment warm by using my oven, which is dangerous but there was nothing else left to do," said resident Joann Herrera, one of 13 tenants and families who had no heat. Herrera added that she contacted the media to receive help with the heat problem after it was turned off at 3 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 31.
Officials from the Town of Hempstead, Nassau County Department of Health and the Long Island Power Authority investigated the building last Thursday evening before the heat was turned back on.
"The people that came here to look at the building asked us to go to a shelter," Herrera added. "I told them I'm not going to a shelter because my rent is paid so I don't have to go anywhere."
LIPA later informed residents that the heat was turned off because the building's former landlord, Ira Sumpkin, neglected to pay the bill before he sold the building.
Town spokeswoman Susan Trenkle said that the town's building department responded to complaints of a power outage, and ultimately served Sumpkin with a summons for failure to provide heat.
"We went further than necessary, obviously for the residents," Trenkle said. "As soon as we were made aware of the issue, we got right on it. We got LIPA to expedite the response and turn the power back on."
She also said that despite Sumpkin's contention that he sold the building, he is still listed as the owner with the County Clerk's office.
"He has yet to provide us proof that he is no longer the owner," Trenkle said. "Generally, an apartment building owner would register with the Town and he's still listed as the owner."
Sumpkin has previously been cited for building violations, according to town officials. Sumpkin, who town officials said owns a number of properties in Nassau County, could not be reached for comment.
"Ira doesn't care about what's going on because he's a slum lord," said a resident of the building, who asked to remain anonymous. "I called Ira's office and spoke to his secretary. His secretary said she would send someone over to fix the heat but no one came."
The same resident also said that Sumpkin has ignored other problems plaguing the building including roaches, bed bugs, trash problems and a lack of security at the building's entrance.
"Ira does not want to fix any of these problems but he wants our rent money," the resident added. "Ira really needs to cut it out. He wouldn't have to go through all of this if he would just do what he is supposed to do and take care of this building."
Town officials are in the process of contacting Sumpkin, but residents of the building explained that they have seen him numerous times since this whole incident happened.
"Ira was parked outside our building yesterday morning," Herrera added. "He was driving around here, so he knows what's going on."
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