A free air conditioner in every New York City apartment may sound downright utopian — and decidedly off-topic in January —but that’s what is in store for apartment dwellers across the five boroughs.
A new law requiring landlords to provide cooling to tenants at their request quietly went into effect this week, but with a long lead time for landlords. Actual enforcement by the city Department of Housing Preservation and Development is four years away, in 2030, according to Councilmember Lincoln Restler, who sponsored the legislation in the City Council.
“Many people don't realize, but almost 600 New Yorkers die every single year from extreme heat,” Restler told Gothamist. “And the most common factor among those folks is that they lack access to cooling in the home.”
Restler, a Democrat who represents Greenpoint, Williamsburg and Brooklyn Heights, said the law passed in December despite fierce opposition from real estate interests, who could now be compelled to spend tens of thousands of dollars on upgrades, depending on their properties. He stressed the cost of the cooling units would be borne by building owners, but acknowledged some nominal monthly costs could be passed onto renters.
Similar laws have been enacted in Los Angeles county, Phoenix, Dallas, New Orleans and Chicago, and Restler predicts many other municipalities will follow.
The cooling requirement, spurred by rising temperatures, comes as the number of days crossing 86 degrees each year has more than doubled over the last half-century, from 14 in the 1970s to 32 at present, according to a 2024 risk assessment by the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.
The law comes 108 years after the city implemented another mandate, in 1918, requiring buildings to provide heat to tenants during the winter, according to Restler’s office. It estimated that 850,000 New Yorkers currently lack air conditioning in their apartments. Most of those tenants live in low-income neighborhoods and communities of color, according to the city’s environment and health data portal.
The disparity has life and death consequences. A 2025 heat-related mortality report published by the city stated Black New Yorkers were particularly susceptible to heat-related illness, with death rates twice that of white New Yorkers.
“Lack of access to home air conditioning (AC) is the most important risk factor for heat-stress death,” the report said. “Among those who died from heat stress, the place of death was most often an un-air-conditioned home.”
The four-year on ramp for enforcement would provide time for buildings to upgrade their electrical wiring and secure utility subsidies from Albany, Restler said.
Opponents of the law said it would hurt landlords, especially small property owners. The law contains an opt-out provision for building owners pleading certain hardships; the measure also requires leases to specify who pays certain costs, such as electricity.
"While well-intentioned, this legislation will strain an already stressed electric grid, increase pollution and costs, and make it nearly impossible for the city’s existing housing stock to comply with Local Law 97,” said Zachary Steinberg, executive vice president of external relations and advocacy at the Real Estate Board of New York. Local Law 97 sets emissions limits for most buildings over 25,000 square feet in size, according to the city Department of Buildings.
Councilmember Joann Ariola, a Republican representing Glendale, Howard Beach and Ocean Park, was one of seven councilmembers who voted against the measure, which became law after former Mayor Eric Adams failed to sign or veto it within 30 days. In a statement, she said the city’s cooling centers already serve the purpose of keeping people cool during the summer and many landlords aren‘t “multibillion-dollar developers” but middle-class people struggling to make payments.
"This legislation places an additional burden on those small property owners who are already being crushed by the weight of ever-growing regulations,” she said, “and might force more of them out of the rental game altogether, which would only further contract the already limited rental market in New York City."
Restler said he expects the law to be contested in court but is optimistic about its long-term prospects.
“They opposed it when we introduced it,” he said, “and I imagine they'll continue to try to oppose it.”
