Restler will propose bill requiring landlords to provide air conditioning

July 17, 2024 Brooklyn Eagle Staff

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CITYWIDE — A NEW BILL BEFORE CITY COUNCIL would require landlords to buy, install and maintain air conditioning units or cooling systems for their tenants during the summer months, reports the New York Times. City Councilmember Lincoln Restler (D-33) announced this week he will introduce the legislation, which would update the city housing code to make landlords responsible for cooling and heating. It would apply to high-rises, walk-ups and multifamily buildings, including NYCHA-owned ones. Landlords would be fined up to $1,250 daily for failing or refusing to comply. Every summer, about 350 New Yorkers die from heat-related illnesses, according to the city’s health department. Black New Yorkers are twice as likely to die from heat as white residents, and a lack of home air-conditioning is a major driver of heat-stress deaths. Central Brooklyn, including Bedford-Stuyvesant in Restler’s district, is included in these high-risk demographics.

Property owners, some of whom are already working to comply with Local Law 97, which curbs carbon emissions from large buildings, have several concerns, especially about cost, and some people are questioning whether landlords would have to subsidize tenants’ electric bills to keep air conditioners running.

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