Renters sweating through New York City summers without air conditioning will get a reprieve, but not for another four years.
Last month, the City Council passed legislation in 2024, sponsored by Councilman Lincoln Restler, that would require building owners to install and maintain AC units for tenants who request them. The law applies to both market-rate and rent-stabilized units.
“All renters deserve a safe, livable home, and as our summers get warmer, that means ensuring access to air conditioning,” Councilman Lincoln Restler said in a December news release.
About 90 percent of NYC households already have air conditioning, according to a City Mortality Report 2025. For those who don’t, extreme heat can be deadly. Older residents, people with chronic health conditions and black New Yorkers are more likely to die from heat-related conditions. According to the city, on average, about 500 people die each summer.
“It’s the deadliest climate-driven phenomenon because it doesn’t really start and stop in noticeable ways like flooding or storms,” said Caleb Smith, policy manager at WE ACT for Environmental Justice, which represents residents of northern Manhattan.
“Chronic heat exposure is part of what makes heat so deadly and we need to be prepared for heat waves,” Smith said, especially as heat waves become more common. “This is one of the really fundamental steps to prepare New York for a much warmer climate.”
What the AC Act requires of landlords
During the summer, June 15 through September 15, rooms where tenants sleep cannot exceed 78 degrees when the outside temperature rises above 82 degrees.
Although landlords are required to install and maintain AC units, tenants are still left with the cost of electricity.
Landlords should also inspect the AC once a year, at least 30 days before June 15, to ensure the AC unit can maintain the required temperature.
Enforcement won’t begin until 2030, and landlords can apply for a hardship waiver that extends that timeline in two-year increments.
Landlords are responding to the new law
Ann Korchak, chairman of the board Small property owners in New York, an advocacy group for landlords, described the legislation as “few in detail.”
One of her biggest concerns is that New York City’s oldest buildings, often made of brick and poorly insulated, are difficult to keep cool.
“Window air conditioning units are the least efficient way to cool a room, but in an old building with a stabilized rent, there is no room to install central air conditioning and no way to charge for it. An owner with a stabilized rent cannot afford it,” she said.
She also expects that additional AC units will put additional strain on the electrical grid, and that the higher electricity costs will be difficult for utilities to bear.
How tenants register
Renters can sign up by requesting air conditioning from their landlord by March 1, 2028, under a process not yet fully developed by the Department of Housing Preservation and Development. Your landlord then has 60 days to comply.
“It doesn’t mean that everyone will automatically get a new cooling appliance at once,” says Smith. He compared the rollout of the program to a law requiring the installation of child safety locks on windows. The city will provide landlords with information about energy-efficient appliances.
If you are a renter and already have an effective window frame or central air conditioning, not much will change for you. Instead, the law is intended to “close the gap” for residents who have not been able to purchase their own units or whose units are not functioning properly.
Your rent can go up
Tenants in rent-stabilized units should know that your landlord can apply to increase your rent after installing a new AC unit.
Tenants will be charged an amount per AC unit as part of a permanent rent increase, according to an HPD spokesperson. [Editor’s note: Brick has reached out to HPD for details on the AC fee and will update the article.]
The mandate will work differently for those living in New York City Housing Authority buildings. The law only requires NYCHA to establish a “comprehensive cooling plan” by early January 2028, with steps to provide cooling to at least 25 percent of the units it owns or operates by June 1, 2030.
If your landlord does not comply with this
After 2030, tenants can file complaints through 311 about their building owner’s inability to provide air conditioning, an HPD spokesperson said. (Installation of AC in new construction falls under the jurisdiction of the Department of Buildings.)
When HPD receives a 311 complaint, HPD inspectors will verify whether a violation occurred. When measuring temperature and humidity, inspectors will measure from “one meter above the floor and at least one meter away from an exterior wall,” according to the law.
If a violation is found, landlords could be fined as much as $1,250 per day in civil penalties, with subsequent fines for repeat offenders.
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