The Legal Aid Society called on the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) to ensure that families this holiday season have working heat and hot water. Last year, nearly 7,000 NYCHA residents at the Amsterdam, Jefferson, and King Towers developments spent their Christmas without these critical utilities. So far this heat season, thousands of residents have already suffered heat and hot water outages, according to the New York Daily News.

“No family should have to spend Christmas morning opening presents shivering, unable to enjoy a warm meal,” said Judith Goldiner, Attorney-in-Charge of the Civil Law Reform Unit at The Legal Aid Society.