City landlords may be required to install AC units for its tenants

City Council member Lincoln Restler from Brooklyn will propose a bill this week that requires landlords to buy, install and maintain air conditioners for tenants in the summer — or face fines up to $1,250 per day, the New York Times reported. 

The bill would require landlords to consistently cool homes to 78 degrees when outside temperatures reach 82 degrees. The requirement is modeled after other states with extreme heat like Phoenix and Dallas. 

The bill comes amid the Earth’s hottest year on record. The city’s most recent heat-related mortality report shows that people are also dying in less extreme heat, when temperatures are above 82 but still below 95 degrees.

Advocates compare the bill to providing heat for tenants in the winter. “We’ve already agreed as a society that no one should freeze in their homes. But there’s no reason we should accept sauna-like conditions.” said Caleb Smith, the resiliency coordinator for WE ACT for Environmental Justice, a nonprofit in Harlem that consulted on the bill. “It’s really about a right to safe housing, a right to cooling,”

Sheila Foster, a professor at Columbia’s Climate School, told the Times, “The increasing number of days with above-average temperature means that the lack of air conditioning can be a matter of life and death.” 

The measure contradicts other efforts intended to alleviate global warming. Air conditioners account for about 7 percent of annual greenhouse emissions, which is expected to triple by 2050, the Times reported. Older air conditioning units using hydrofluorocarbons are being phased out for more energy-efficient models. 

However, there are a million rent-stabilized apartments in the city with 90 percent of them built prior to 1974. Jay Martin, Executive Director of the Community Housing Improvement Program told the Times that landlords of these older properties will need more time to do that conversion.

If the bill passes, landlords will have two years to present their cooling plans, and all buildings will need to be compliant within four years. They would also be able to apply for an extension if they demonstrate financial hardships, like need for capital improvements. 

Non-compliant buildings will be fined anywhere from $350 to $1,250 per day, with landlords who resolve the problem within 24 hours of the first violation paying $250.

– Christina Previte