New York City – A sweeping new housing law quietly enacted this week could eventually require landlords to provide air conditioning to tenants across the city, a dramatic shift in how the city defines basic living standards amid intensifying heat.
The measure, sponsored by City Councilmember Lincoln Restler, gives renters the right to request in-home cooling from their building owners. While the law is now officially on the books, city enforcement will not begin until 2030, giving landlords a four-year window to prepare for compliance.
“This is about saving lives,” Restler said in an interview. “Nearly 600 New Yorkers die every year from extreme heat, and the single most common factor is the absence of cooling inside the home.”
Heat deaths and housing inequality
City data underscores the urgency behind the legislation. A recent assessment by the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene found that the number of days exceeding 86 degrees has more than doubled since the 1970s, climbing from roughly two weeks a year to more than a month.
Despite the growing risk, an estimated 850,000 New Yorkers still live in apartments without air conditioning. According to city environmental and health data, those residents are disproportionately concentrated in low-income neighborhoods and communities of color.
A 2025 heat mortality report found that Black New Yorkers face heat-related death rates twice as high as white residents. In most fatal cases, the report noted, deaths occurred inside uncooled homes.
“Lack of access to home air conditioning is the most significant risk factor for heat-stress deaths,” the report concluded.
A modern counterpart to heat laws
Restler likened the new cooling mandate to the city’s 1918 requirement that landlords provide heat during winter months, a regulation that fundamentally reshaped housing standards more than a century ago.
“This is the 21st-century equivalent,” he said. “Extreme heat is no longer an occasional inconvenience. It’s a predictable and deadly threat.”
Under the law, landlords would be responsible for supplying cooling equipment when requested by tenants. While owners must absorb the upfront cost of installation, the legislation allows leases to clarify responsibility for ongoing expenses such as electricity. The law also includes hardship exemptions for property owners who can demonstrate financial or technical obstacles.
The city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development will oversee enforcement once the law takes effect in 2030.
Industry pushback and political divide
Real estate groups strongly opposed the measure, arguing it places excessive financial and environmental strain on building owners.
“While the intent is admirable, this law risks overloading the electric grid, increasing pollution, and undermining compliance with existing climate mandates,” said Zachary Steinberg, an executive at the Real Estate Board of New York. He cited concerns about Local Law 97, which imposes emissions limits on large buildings.
Criticism also came from within the City Council. Councilmember Joann Ariola, one of seven members who voted against the bill, argued that cooling centers already provide relief during heat waves and warned the law could drive small landlords out of the rental market.
“Many landlords are middle-class New Yorkers, not massive developers,” Ariola said in a statement. “This adds yet another burden that could shrink an already tight housing supply.”
The legislation became law after former Mayor Eric Adams neither signed nor vetoed it within the required 30-day window.
Looking ahead
Supporters acknowledge the law is likely to face legal challenges but remain confident it will endure.
“There was resistance from the start,” Restler said. “And there will probably be resistance moving forward. But the reality is simple: people should not die in their apartments because it’s too hot.”
If upheld, the law would place New York among a growing list of U.S. cities — including Los Angeles, Phoenix, Dallas, New Orleans, and Chicago that now recognize cooling as an essential component of safe housing.
For millions of New Yorkers bracing for hotter summers ahead, that shift could prove life-changing.
By The Midtown Times Staff
Published Jan. 24, 2026
