Image Credit: HPD
On October 1, 2024, the Department of Housing Preservation and Development announced the launch of the 2024-2025 heat season. Heat season runs from October 1st to May 31st. During heat season, building owners must maintain specific indoor temperatures depending on the outdoor temperature. Owners must maintain indoor temperatures at 68 degrees when outdoor temperatures are below 55 degrees during the daytime and a minimum of 62 degrees indoors overnight regardless of the outdoor temperature. Hot water must be provided at 120 degrees year-round.
Residents who are experiencing heat issues are recommended to first reach out to their building super or landlord. If service is not restored after notifying the owner or super, tenants can contact 311 to submit a complaint by phone, the 311 online website, or via the 311 app. Once a complaint is submitted, the Department of Housing Preservation and Development will try to contact building management. If the condition has not been corrected, a uniformed Code Enforcement inspector will be sent to the property. Tenants can check HPD Online to see if the agency has responded. Inspectors who are sent for heating issues will also proactively check for smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, pests, mold, self-closing doors, and other problems like lead-based paint or window guards if children are in the home.
When heat and hot water violations are continually unaddressed, the agency’s Housing Litigation Division can file cases in Housing Court to order repairs and possible civil penalties. When internal temperatures go below 64 degrees, the agency’s Emergency Repair Program may intervene to restore heat at the expense of the property owner.
In Fiscal Year 2024, the agency saw a 15 percent increase in housing maintenance issues, and over 812,000 issues reported. These reports included over 144,000 heat and hot water issues, an eight percent increase from the year prior. On average, New Yorkers submit 5,900 heat related complaints during heat season. The agency reported that despite the increase in complaints, the median response time decreased. HPD has collected over $3.5 million in penalties associated with heat and hot water violations.
First Deputy Mayor Maria Torres-Springer stated, “Our fellow New Yorkers need, and deserve, affordable, safe, quality housing, and our message to our neighbors is clear: during Heat Season, we’re all here to give you the homes—warm throughout the winter—that you deserve. Thank you to the City’s Housing Code Enforcement team, who do the quiet and key work of keeping homes comfortable throughout Heat Season.”
HPD Commissioner Adolfo Carrión Jr. stated, All New Yorkers deserve safe living conditions. As temperatures drop for fall and winter, please call 311 if you don’t have heat. Also please check on your friends and neighbors, especially older adults and people with disabilities. Hundreds of HPD inspectors will be fanning out around the City to ensure people are safe and warm by enforcing the law that requires owners to provide heat and hot water. You can do your part by getting lack of heat complaints to us as soon as possible, so we can ensure no one is left out in the cold.”
By: Veronica Rose (Veronica is the Editor of CityLand and a New York Law School graduate, Class of 2018.)