Paterson City Hall shuts down because of a heating failure; boiler replacement underway

PATERSON — Officials shut down City Hall early Monday afternoon because the heating system wasn’t working, and they were not sure if the building would reopen on Tuesday.

The lack of heat stemmed from a long-delayed boiler replacement project, a problem that started in March 2022 when the City Hall basement flooded.

“We ordered a new boiler last year but unfortunately, it was delayed due to supply chain challenges,” said Mayor Andre Sayegh. “A crew is currently working on the installation of the new boiler.”

Boiler installation underway, officials say

Dacil Tilos, a spokesperson for the mayor, said that “due to the size of the boiler, permits and inspections were needed for installation.” Officials have not revealed when the new boiler was installed, who is supposed to perform the permit inspections or whether the city has all the parts needed to operate the new boiler.

The mayor’s new chief of staff, Habib Kader, said workers were trying to fix the boiler on Monday afternoon so City Hall could reopen Tuesday.

Hazel Hughes, president of the union that represents City Hall office workers, saw Monday’s problem coming.

Hughes filed an Occupational Safety and Health complaint with the state labor department and sent Business Administrator Kathleen Long an email on Sept. 26 asking if the new boiler would be working by Oct. 15. Hughes said employees didn’t want to be sitting in the freezing cold.

Long responded to Hughes that same day, saying heating improvements were made over the summer and that the system was on track to be working by mid-October.

Hughes said she sent another round of emails to Long, Sayegh, and City Council members on Oct. 17. Hughes said employees had seen boiler parts sitting in the basement for weeks.

“Here it is November, and they still haven’t put it together,” Hughes said.

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'It's not safe' for Paterson employees in cold conditions

City Council President Alex Mendez said city employees were wearing their coats in particularly chilly City Hall offices on Monday morning.

“It’s not safe for them to be working like that,” he said.

Mendez said his understanding was that not all the parts for the new boiler had arrived yet.

Kader said the mayor conducted an office-by-office check of City Hall, checking whether employees were warm enough. Kader said the city provided space heaters for those workers who needed them. But Hughes said the space heaters were not very effective in providing warmth.

Hughes, who works in the sewer revenue division, was among a group of employees who decided to go home hours before officials shut down City Hall. The president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, Local 3724 said she got to work at 8 a.m.

“It was freezing in there,” Hughes said. The union president said that, after a few hours, the building did not warm up.

“I didn’t have any circulation in my leg,” she said.

Joe Malinconico is editor of Paterson Press. Email: editor@patersonpress.com

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Paterson NJ: City Hall closes after heating problem