Around 7 a.m. Thursday morning, power in the final building at the Stapleton Houses was turned back on.

“We just now got electricity,” resident Antoinette Casper said.

What You Need To Know

  • The power, heat and hot water are back on at the Stapleton Houses on Staten Island

  • Since Tuesday afternoon, thousands of tenants were left in the dark and in the cold

  • NYCHA crews worked around the clock to get things back up and running

The New York City Public Housing Authority said workers quickly restored heat and hot water after electricity was brought back on.

But with frigid temperatures, residents struggled to stay warm during the 36-plus hours without it.

“It's just as cold as it is outside. It's just as cold in the house,” explained Mariah Guadagno. “It's so bad that last night I ordered food. It was so cold in the house that you can see the steam coming off of my food.”

While most tenants did their best to keep warm in their apartments, a small group opted to spend the night on MTA busses parked outside the complex to keep warm.

“They kept us warm, but they wanted them to, like, leave. But we were still on the bus, so they stayed with us and stuff. They rocked out with us,” said Tanya Gillam, who spoke with NY1 on her way back from the bus to her apartment.

Residents said at first the outage on Tuesday was sporadic throughout the complex.

Then, by Wednesday morning, every building in the Stapleton Houses was without power, heat and hot water, leaving residents in the dark and in the cold.

“For two days, so it's been very hard,” explained Nidia Visque. “Thank God we keep flashlights and a lot of batteries in the house. And we have sandwiches because we can't cook."

NYCHA electricians worked through the night using mobile generators to get the lights, heat and hot water turned back on.

As for what caused the outage, that is unclear, but NYCHA said extensive permanent repairs are needed.