City to fund another $400K in home upgrades

The City Council is funding free energy efficiency upgrades for hundreds of additional New York City homeowners who live in one- to four-family homes, the Daily News reported. Already, 500 New Yorkers have scored the freebie retrofittings. Yesterday, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn pledged another $400,000 towards the program, which saves residents an estimated $1,200 annually in energy costs through improvements to their insulation, caulking, pipe wrapping, windows and heating systems. The city is now targeting Jamaica, Queens; Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn; West Brighton, Staten Island; and Soundview in the Bronx for the upgrades. [NYDN]