Amid frigid temperatures, New Yorkers lodged 26,000 311 complaints about lack of heat or hot water over the last week, the most in a seven-day period since 2018. City Limits’ reporter Patrick Spauster spoke to WNYC’s The Brian Lehrer Show about what landlords are required to provide, and what tenants can do if their heat isn’t working.

Manhattan during Monday’s snowstorm. (Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office)

Over the last week, as frigid temperatures gripped the city, New Yorkers lodged 26,000 311 complaints about lack of heat or hot water—the most in a seven-day period since 2018 when a similar cold spell hit, according City Limits’ housing reporter Patrick Spauster.

Spauster spoke to WNYC’s The Brian Lehrer Show Wednesday about what the current extreme weather means for New York City tenants. While local law requires building owners to maintain indoor temperatures above a certain threshold from October to May, New Yorkers report tens of thousands of violations each winter. Last year, the Department of Housing Preservation and Development responded to a record 161,773 unique heat and hot water problems, as City Limits reported in October.

“Looking at this year, it’s on pace to break that again,” Spauster told WNYC host Amina Serna. “In December, we had the most heat and hot water complaints of any December since the 311 call data starts in 2010.”

You can listen to the full segment below, which discusses what landlords are required to provide, and what tenants can do if their heat isn’t working. Find more advice and steps you can take in Spauster’s earlier reporting here.

Over the last few days, 10 people were found dead outdoors during the “life-threatening” cold snap, Mayor Zohran Mamdani said during a PSA video released Tuesday warning New Yorkers to take precautions. The exact circumstances of those deaths are not yet known, but officials said several of those who died had previous interactions with the shelter system.

On Wednesday, the Department of Social Services activated an “an Enhanced Code Blue”—more serious than a standard “Code Blue” declaration—meaning its sending outreach teams out every two hours to canvass for unhoused people outdoors.

The city has also expanded its network of warming centers and warming buses (find a list of locations here), and is relaxing shelter intake rules during the weather emergency (find a list of intake and drop-in center locations here).

To reach the editor, contact Jeanmarie@citylimits.org.

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