Sensors Could Help Stop NYC Tenants From Freezing, Pols Say

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Sensors Could Help Stop NYC Tenants From Freezing, Pols Say

A City Council bill would force landlords with a history of heat problems to track temperatures in their buildings.

By Noah Manskar, Patch Staff | May 23, 2018 5:50 pm ET | Updated May 23, 2018 5:52 pm ET



NEW YORK, NY — New York City lawmakers want to force deadbeat landlords to track the temperatures in their buildings so their tenants aren't left freezing next winter. City Council members introduced a bill Wednesday that would require building owners who frequently break the city heating law to keep sensors in each apartment that would detect when each home gets too cold.

Supporters say the measure would give the city a powerful tool in enforcing its housing rules and taking on landlords who deprive tenants of basic utilities to force them from their apartments.

"We've been playing catch up to these bad actors because we've been using an abacus in an iPhone era," Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, who supports the bill, said in a statement.

City law requires landlords to heat their apartments from Oct. 1 to May 31. The inside temperature has to be at least 68 degrees when the mercury dips below 55 degrees outside during the day and at least 62 degrees overnight no matter the outdoor temperature.

The city received more than 200,000 311 complaints about heat and hot water issues during the last heating season but issued only about 3,400 heat violations through the Department of Housing Preservation and Development, or HPD.

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(Lead image: A man walks in freezing temperatures in Manhattan in January 2018. Photo by Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/Getty Images)

Source: New York City Patch