By Gabriela Resto-Montero
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
EAST HARLEM — Thanksgiving meals could have to be cooked on a tiny burner inside the George Washington Houses on Second Avenue this year, after a Second Avenue subway construction screwup cut off a gas pipeline that will take months to repair.
Contractors working on a stretch of the subway near the building at 1905 Second Avenue at East 97th Street accidentally cut a gas line on Wednesday instead of the water pipe they meant to shut down, an MTA spokesman said.
"This was an inexcusable mistake on the part of the contractor working on the Second Avenue Subway project and the contractor has assured us they will provide assistance to families impacted by this error," said Aaron Donovan, a spokesman for the MTA, in a statement.
It will likely take ConEd crews as much as two months to restore service, according to Donovan.
That's got residents, such as 91-year-old resident Millie Hudson, worrying about where they'll cook their turkey.
"Every year my family usually comes to my house for Thanksgiving," said Hudson. "I think I'm going to go to them."
The New York Housing Authority has provided residents with hot plates to use for cooking while the service is restored.
But cooking on just two hot plates has its drawbacks, according to Hudson.
"This thing makes you get up much earlier to fix your meal," she said.
