NYC lawmaker wants to require landlords to provide air conditioning during the summer

Amid the backdrop of sweltering temperatures and back-to-back heat waves, a city councilmember is poised to introduce a bill that would require landlords to provide tenants with air conditioning units during the hot summer months.

City Councilmember Lincoln Restler of Brooklyn, who confirmed the news with Gothamist on Wednesday, said he plans to introduce his bill during Thursday’s stated meeting. The bill is intended to mimic current local law requiring landlords to provide tenants with heat during the winter months by requiring them to ensure tenants can cool their homes to at least 78 degrees when it is 82 degrees or warmer during the summer, Restler said.

“Heat is the number one climate or weather-related killer – not just nationally, but right here in New York City,” Restler said.“We’ve already suffered three awful heat waves this summer. Can you imagine what it’s like to try to manage it without air conditioning or any cooling device in your apartment?”

Restler said he spent nine months drafting the legislation.

Its introduction comes as southern New York state, Connecticut and New Jersey were put under another heat advisory this week , with temperatures expected to hit the triple-digits. Unrelenting heat has also contributed to transportation meltdowns that have left commuters stranded multiple times since June. And high temperatures can often be deadly, leading to hospitalizations and fatalities that disproportionately affect Black New Yorkers.

If Restler’s bill is enacted, landlords in the area would have four years to comply with the new requirements – or risk hefty fines. Landlords would also need to submit a report detailing how they plan to comply with the new measure within two years after the bill is enacted to the New York City Housing and Preservation Department.

Restler said he’s “optimistic” that the bill will get “the strong-majority support” it needs to pass in the 51-member chamber.

“We need new policy frameworks that ensure the safety of tenants in their home,” he said. “It’s the job of a landlord to ensure that their apartment is safe and inhabitable – that has come to mean providing cooling during extreme heat events.”

The city is already offering free air conditioning units to residents with gross monthly incomes under $3,035.

Liz Garcia, a spokesperson for Mayor Eric Adams, said in a statement that his office would review Restler's legislation and cited efforts to boost the city's cooling infrastructure and funding.

“The realities of climate change are stark, and extreme heat poses a serious health risk to New Yorkers, particularly those in low-income communities, which is why the Adams administration has made significant progress in creating more green infrastructure and prioritizing resiliency projects," she said. "We remain committed to the PlaNYC goals we laid out over a year ago to protect us from climate threats like extreme heat by, among efforts, maximizing access to indoor cooling as we develop a maximum summer indoor temperature policy."

Certain parts of New York state are expected to experience up to eight heat waves annually, according to projections from the state Department of Environmental Conservation . The number of days with temperatures exceeding 90 degrees Fahrenheit is also expected to increase in the future.

Local housing policy requiring renters be provided with air conditioning units is not novel. Chicago, Washington, D.C. and other cities have already enacted legislation requiring cooling protections for tenants.

One summer-long case study on senior apartments in public housing units in Elizabeth, N.J. found that cooling centers could "significantly reduce morbidity and mortality rates during heat disasters, especially among socially isolated and physically frail low-income seniors," and recommended mandatory cooling requirements for all renters in its findings.

Clinton J. Andrews, who co-authored the study – and also heads the Center for Urban Policy Research at Rutgers University – applauded Restler's legislation.

“Under tort liability case law, lease agreements carry an implied warrantee of habitability. Tenants can make the case that this includes cooling but the legal remedy is often difficult, so establishing a statutory right to cooling is a timely move,” Andrews said. “When drafting the law, the Council should consider two things. First, create a performance standard (target temperature range) not a prescriptive standard (requirement for air conditioners), otherwise the law will stifle energy-efficient innovation. Second, people vary in their thermal comfort preferences, so make sure tenants can adjust the indoor air temperature.”

This story has been updated with comment from Clinton J. Andrews and Mayor Adams' office.