Man shocked to find $38M bill for NYC studio apartment

NEW YORK CITY -- A New York man couldn't believe it when he received a $38 million utility bill for his small studio apartment in Queens.

Tommy Straub said he discovered the Con Ed bill when he went to make a payment online Monday night.

He decided to do what everyone does these days -- he tweeted about it, posting, "I own a 600 square foot apartment in Astoria, Queens. I do not own the entirety of Manhattan Island. This is insane. Fix it."

Our sister station WABC-TV reached out to Straub.

"I woke up this morning and it's on 'Kelly and Ryan,' you guys contacted me, it's all over the place," Straub said.

The excessive bill was not just a talker on morning TV. Since Straub tagged Con Ed in his tweet, the utility company quickly responded and said it would look into the matter.

Straub says the issue was being unable to change the amount that auto-populated in the payment box. Instead of the $74 he actually owed, it read nearly $38 million.

By mid-afternoon Tuesday, Con Ed said the problem had been resolved -- but there was no word on the specific cause of the misunderstanding.