As New York City has faced record-breaking snow dumps, its housing infrastructure has come under the spotlight.
In a post shared to the r/AskNYC subreddit, one NYC resident reached out as their landlord looked to increase their rent, despite being reported for providing no heat to the building.
"He refuses to listen or answer emails about heat being off on weekends," the poster wrote. "I don't think I should have to pay for a rent increase when I have had heat for one day this week, and all last year the heater broke every time it was 30 or below."
"Do I have rights?" they asked. "I've reported him multiple times."
The poster explained that the building has countless violations, causing fear among other tenants of retaliation and being relocated if they report issues and the city finds the building unfit. Many in the building are older and in rent-controlled apartments and can't afford relocation due to high city rents and limited availability.
This is a common situation in New York City, with fines not large enough to make landlords want to follow the law. One commenter shared that it took almost two winters for their friend to get their situation fixed, only after contacting their council member's office to escalate things.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani has expanded efforts to connect homeless New Yorkers to warm shelters during recent cold snaps and launched a "Clean Heat for All" initiative to reach more than 10,000 apartments by 2030.
The issue extends beyond New York; landlords (and HOAs) across the country have been caught blocking renters from adopting cost-saving changes, like preventing renters from growing their own gardens and even trying to evict tenants who hang their clothes outside to dry.
Commenters shared similar experiences and strategies that helped.
"This sounds like my landlord," one wrote. "We haven't had adequate heat since last year, and froze pretty badly." Their advice to the poster was to keep reporting the landlord to build a paper trail against them.
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"You should be keeping track of the temperature inside and maintaining records," another advised.
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