Gateway Plaza has 1712 apartments. (Photo: Terese Loeb Kreuzer)

Though the new year has begun, some old problems remain. At Gateway Plaza, the largest residential complex in Battery Park City, leaky windows and inefficient heating and air conditioning systems continue to drive up electric bills to hundreds of dollars a month for many tenants.  

"In some apartments, ice forms in the windows and water comes in," said Glenn Plaskin, head of the Gateway Plaza Tenants Association. "It's very upsetting to some tenants," he added drily.

With snow predicted for this week and with temperatures hovering in the teens and 20's, many Gateway tenants are shivering even though the six structures in the complex are rented as "luxury" buildings, commanding rents that start at $2,350 a month for a studio, $3,150 a month for a one bedroom, $4,500 for two bedrooms and $5,295 for three bedrooms. Some two-bedroom apartments rent for as much as $6,000 a month.   

Gateway Plaza opened in 1982. In August 2012, Bright Power Energy, a consulting firm hired by Gateway's management, Marina Towers Associate, released an energy audit that stated that the complex's heating and air conditioning units (PTACs) needed to be upgraded to high efficiency units equipped with individual thermostats and that all of the windows in Gateway needed to be replaced. 

To date, approximately 300 of Gateway's 3,860 PTAC units have been upgraded. No work has been done on the windows.

On Nov. 19, New York State Sen. Daniel Squadron sent a letter to Gateway's management asking about the progress on the energy efficiency upgrades. "They're not adhering to the timetable that they had laid out for us earlier this year," said Mary Cooley, Squadron's district manager, at a Community Board 1 meeting on Dec. 19.

Squadron again wrote to Gateway management on Dec. 4, expressing concern about Gateway's preparedness for another storm.

Neither of Squadron's letters was answered.

"Gateway, in the opinion of the tenants' association is not fully ready for another weather emergency," said Plaskin. "In the case of another weather emergency, we want to be absolutely sure that the management is ready to handle it. We need a generator system that will power at least one elevator, emergency lighting and domestic water pumps. We would also like the utility equipment relocated from the basement above the flood plain."

On Jan. 7, Plaskin will be making a presentation to Community Board 1's Battery Park City Committee, asking for its support to address the problems. The meeting takes place at the Battery Park City library, 175 North End Ave., at 6 p.m. All are welcome to attend.

"We're very optimistic that Gateway management will make all necessary improvements to the infrastructure," Plaskin said. However, to many tenants, progress must seem glacially slow. 

- Terese Loeb Kreuzer 

A parking garage at 54 Fulton St. will be replaced by an apartment building. (Photo: Terese Loeb Kreuzer)

Downtown's Financial District is the fastest growing residential area in Manhattan. But community planners worry that there are already not enough school seats or recreation facilities for the influx of residents. Most of the streets in this historic area of the city are narrow and are  clogged with traffic.  

Nevertheless the lure for both developers and potential residents is great. Public transportation facilities are excellent and are about to get better with the completion of the Fulton Street Transit Center. Shops of all kinds abound and there are numerous restaurants. - Terese Loeb Kreuzer 

"Brauser Group plans 23-story mixed-use building in FiDi," The Real Deal, 12/30/13. The Brauser Group, one of the top garage owners in Manhattan, plans to replace its garage at 54 Fulton St. near Cliff Street with a 23-story apartment building. For more information, click here.