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Ever since the gas and hot water was shut off in James Nivens' building, he's had to cook with a hot plate.

"Thanksgiving is coming. I cannot bake a turkey or ham on a hot plate," Nivens said.

On October 22, the fire department found a gas leak on the line servicing residents at Crown Heights Public Housing in Brooklyn, at which time the building's gas was turned off.

"Thanksgiving I gotta cook at my son's house, which I'd rather cook here at my house," said Crown Heights Public Housing tenant Winifred.

And it's not just the gas that's been cut off, much of the building has been without hot water as well.

"I'll wake up early in the morning and I'll go over to my grandfather's to take a shower and as far as the food issue I'll buy anything that's open on my way home from work," said Crown Heights Public Housing tenant Victor Ordde.

NY1 reached out to the New York City Housing Authority and a spokeswoman released the following statement:

"We regret the inconvenience to families, and we have made efforts to alleviate this interruption in service by providing hot plates to each unit that is affected. We would like to stress that the process of restoring service must be done in way that is safe and complete. Restoring gas service requires coordination with the utility company, our residents, and our staff. We are also required to file the testing and repair with the Department of Buildings. Unfortunately, it frequently takes more than four weeks to restore gas service for multifamily buildings. We will continue to update residents on the progress that is made."

Residents, however, say they just want to see their basic services restored.