The coldest air of the winter descended on Jersey City this past week, and many residents caught without proper heating systems felt the harshest chill of all. On Wednesday, the Department of Housing Code Enforcement was bombarded with over 100 calls in the morning from residents complaining about busted boilers and dangerously cold apartments. Icicles formed on furniture while tenants shivered in their homes. For many residents, the struggle to keep warm had begun a week ago Friday when the cold front had first moved into the area. Almost six days later, residents living in apartments on Van Wagenen Avenue were left out in the cold, so to speak, still waiting for PSE&G to approve the installation of a broken heater cog. According to officials, when the temperature drops to the freezing depths it reached this week, heaters and boilers must work harder to keep rooms warm. When temperatures reached record-lows, the strain on certain heating systems was too much, crippling boilers that were providing necessary heat for children and senior citizens. Ed Coleman, director of housing code enforcement, said that his office was bombarded with a record number of calls from concerned and shivering residents. As the temperature got lower, the number of calls increased. This time of the year generally sees approximately 20 calls a day to Coleman’s office, not 100. Ironically, the heating system in the building in which Coleman’s department is located also hit the skids. Many of his workers fielded calls from residents, bundled in their own heavy winter gear, as the temperature in the Palisade Avenue municipal building plummeted. “Housing code officials do a courageous job,” said Jamie Vazquez, who is regularly called on to answer the complaints of unsatisfied citizens. Vazquez was a member of the City Council and used to be a deputy mayor of the city. Officials said that if the teeth-chattering problems persisted, the city could call on the services of the Office of Emergency Management and the Red Cross. Residents could be moved into warmer buildings until the problems are solved, though people would be very reluctant to leave their belongings behind, Vazquez said. According to housing regulations, landlords must keep their tenants’ temperature at or around 70 degrees between October and April. In some of the more densely-populated buildings, it is more of a strain on the heating systems to fight the cold and maintain safe temperatures. Coleman said that if residents encounter a heating problem, the housing code office’s phone number is 547-4825, though his department is treading water amid complaints. After normal business hours, the department’s hotline fields phone calls. Residents may leave a message on the hotline, 547-4821, which will be taken care of the next day, Coleman said.