Heat Season Alert: City Mobilizes to Keep New Yorkers Safe this Winter

October 1, 2024

HPD's "heat season" starts today, property owners are required to maintain safe indoor temperatures for their tenants from now, October 1st to May 31st.

HPD responded in record time to the 144k heat related problems reported in 2023-24.

NEW YORK, NY - Today marks the start of New York City's "heat season," the time of year when landlords are required to maintain safe indoor temperatures for their tenants. The City's Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) is mobilizing in all five boroughs to ensure tenants and owners know their rights and responsibilities this coming winter. Heat season runs from October 1 to May 31.

During heat season, all residential property owners are legally required to provide adequate heating to ensure tenant safety. Specifically, when outdoor temperatures drop below 55 degrees, indoor temperatures must be maintained at a minimum of 68 degrees during the day between 6 am and 10 pm. Indoor temperature must be maintained at least 62 degrees overnight, regardless of the temperature. Additionally, the city is reminding tenants and owners that hot water must be available at a consistent minimum temperature of 120 degrees year-round.

"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," said Deputy Mayor for Housing, Economic Development and Workforce Maria Torres-Springer. "Thank you to the City's Housing Code Enforcement team, who do the quiet and key work of keeping homes comfortable throughout Heat Season."

"Heat is a necessity, and thankfully for New Yorkers, the City's Heat Inspectors have done great work over the last several years to continually improve service for New Yorkers," said NYC Executive Director for Housing Leila Bozorg. "This heat season, Heat Inspectors are ready as ever to respond professionally and promptly to tenants' right to a warm home.

"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," said Commissioner Adolfo Carrion Jr. "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."

Keeping New Yorkers Safe this Winter

New York City's heat regulations are designed to protect residents' health and safety.

"With the cold weather approaching, our entire housing enforcement team - from our inspectors to our emergency repair staff, neighborhood preservation staff and our attorneys - - are ready to keep New Yorkers safe this winter. All New York City tenants have a right to heat and hot water. If your apartment is cold, report the issue to your landlord immediately. If the problem persists, contact 311. Landlords, be responsive to your tenants' complaints and address conditions immediately. HPD will be there to issue violations if you're not complying with the law," said AnnMarie Santiago, HPD Deputy Commissioner for Enforcement and Neighborhood Services.

The quickest way to resolve heating issues is to inform the building owner or superintendent, as they often can respond most quickly to address any problems. If the issue remains unresolved, tenants can file a complaint by calling 311, visiting the 311 website, or using the 311 Mobile app. Tenants who are hard-of-hearing can register complaints using a TDD at (212) 504-4115.

Heat Season Inspections - What Happens After the 311 Call

When a complaint is filed, HPD will contact the building's managing agent to address the issue. Landlords are required to provide contact information to HPD every year on their annual Property Registration. HPD will also attempt to contact the tenant who lodged the complaint and if the tenant doesn't confirm that the problem is resolved, an inspector will be dispatched to investigate. Tenants can track HPD's response through HPD Online.

As soon as possible, an HPD inspector will visit the building to conduct an inspection of your apartment. In the event that no one is present, they will verify the heating condition in another unit in the building to ensure that heat is being provided adequately. Landlords must provide HPD with access to the keys for the boiler room so that the agency can check the heating system.

In addition to verifying adequate heat and hot water, HPD inspectors will also check for smoke detectors, carbon monoxide detectors, lead-based paint (if children under six are present), window guards (if children under 11 are present), self-closing doors and other hazardous conditions during every inspection.

In cases where heat and hot water violations remain unaddressed, HPD's Housing Litigation Division (HLD) takes action by filing cases in Housing Court to obtain court orders for repairs and, when appropriate, civil penalties. HLD works to restore essential services such as heat, hot water, and gas, and can file comprehensive cases addressing multiple hazardous violations within a building. Additionally, HLD pursues penalties against property owners who falsely certify repairs and may seek access warrants to allow HPD to correct immediately hazardous conditions when denied access by the owner.

In addition, when the internal temperatures dip below 64 degrees, HPD's Emergency Repair Program will attempt to reach out the owner again and if the owner is still unresponsive, intervene to restore heat. Technical staff will attempt to determine what the cause of the issue is and, as necessary, the program will contract with private plumbing companies to restore heat or hot water. Cost for any repairs conducted are billed back to the property through the Department of Finance,

To learn more about staying safe this winter, visit the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene's website for resources. Low-income property owners struggling with heating can reach out to the Home Energy Assistance Program (HEAP) at 718-557-1399 for help with heating bills and equipment repairs.

For tenants interested in learning more about housing rights, please visit HPD's updated ABC's of Housing, a comprehensive guide to housing rules and regulations for both owners and tenants or 311 for a copy of the ABCs.

HPD's Enforcement Team

Heat Season regulations are enforced by HPD's Office of Enforcement and Neighborhood Services, which includes the housing inspectors tasked with checking apartments for adequate heat and hot water. Overall, HPD has more than 330 housing inspectors citywide. Over 200 inspectors are dedicated to borough-specific offices, including one each in the Bronx, Queens, Manhattan, and Staten Island, with two offices serving Brooklyn. The majority of Borough Office inspectors work into the evenings and weekends, and there are teams assigned to work until midnight.

The agency will continue to hire additional inspectors to monitor building complaints as quickly as possible. Interested New Yorkers with construction and residential property management backgrounds are encouraged to take the civil service test for Housing Inspector or Construction Project Manager.

This year, HPD continues to build its enforcement team. A new cohort of 10 inspectors start on October 7^th.

Temperature Check: How we kept New Yorkers Safe in Winter 2023-2024

HPD begins the 2024-25 heat season, continuing its ongoing efforts to keep New Yorkers safe with legal indoor temperatures. In FY 2024, HPD saw a 15 percent increase in the total number of housing maintenance issues, with over 812,000 problems reported. This included 144,134 unique heat and hot water issues, which is an 8 percent increase from the previous year. New Yorkers submit an average of 5,900 heat related complaints per week during heat season, getting up to 18,260 in the coldest week between January 14-20.

The HPD enforcement team rose to the occasion and the increase in housing maintenance problems reported resulted in corresponding increases in problems closed and violations issued. The total number of problems closed, for instance, increased across all types and 24 percent overall.

In Fiscal 2024, despite the increase in problems reported, the median number of days it took the Agency to respond to a housing maintenance complaint across all categories of problems decreased compared to the prior year. The Agency's median time to first inspection for immediate emergency problems was less than a day in Fiscal 2024, 10 percent faster than in Fiscal 2023. Similarly, HPD saw reductions in response times for heat and hot water problems which decreased by 20 percent. HPD closed emergency problems in a median of three days, one day faster than in Fiscal 2023, and the median time to close non-emergency problems decreased to 12 days, one day faster than the previous year. There was also an increase in inspection visits per team per day, from about 14 visits in Fiscal 2023 to 15 visits in Fiscal 2024. These improvements in productivity are mainly due to the A increase the number of Housing Inspectors.

HPD also collected more than $3.5 million in various penalties associated with heat and hot water violations, including over almost $2.7 million in civil penalties in Housing Court, $280,000 in settlement fees outside of Court and $600,000 in inspection fees.

###

The New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) is the largest municipal housing preservation and development agency in the nation. HPD's mission is to promote quality housing and vibrant neighborhoods for all New Yorkers through affordable housing development, preservation, enforcement of housing standards, and educational initiatives for tenants and property owners. For more information, visit www.nyc.gov/hpdand follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram @NYCHousing.

Public link

Please use the above public link if you want to share this noodl on another website.