Int. No. 1208-A
By Council Members Gutiérrez, Sanchez, Ayala, Cabán, Hanif, Banks, Louis, Hudson, Brannan, De La Rosa, Dinowitz, Banks and Won
A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to a report and study on air conditioning in homeless shelters
Be it enacted by the Council as follows:
Section 1. Chapter 1 of title 21 of the administrative code of the city of New York is amended by adding a new section 21-155 to read as follows:
§ 21-155 Biannual reporting on air conditioning in shelters. a. Definitions. For purposes of this section, the term “shelter” means temporary emergency housing provided by the department of homeless services, the department of social services, the department of housing preservation and development, or by a provider under contract or similar agreement with such agency, provided that such term shall not include units provided by such agency on a per diem basis.
b. Report and notification. 1. No later than 1 year after the effective date of the local law that added this section, and no later than every April 1 and November 1 thereafter, the commissioner of homeless services, in coordination with the commissioner of social services and commissioner of housing preservation and development, shall submit to the mayor and the speaker of the council a report regarding the availability and functionality of air conditioning in shelters. Such report shall include the following information for each borough:
(a) the percentage of shelters that have air conditioning in congregate areas, sleeping areas, or both;
(b) the percentage of shelters that have air conditioning provided through a central air system, an installed unit, or both; and
(c) the percentage of shelters with a central air system or installed units that did not function for a total period of 72 hours or more during the time period covered by such report.
2. The commissioner shall post each such report as required under paragraph 1 of this subdivision conspicuously on the department of social service’s website.
3. Within 30 days of air conditioning that is not functioning for a total of 72 hours or more, the commissioner and the commissioner of housing preservation and development shall notify the council member within whose district such shelter is located of the outage and what the plan is to restore the functioning of the air conditioning.
§ 2. Study on air conditioning in shelters. a. No later than 1 year after the effective date of this local law, the commissioner of social services shall deliver to the mayor and the speaker of the council a study assessing the needs required to install air conditioning in shelters, as such term is defined in section 21-155 of the administrative code of the city of New York, as added by section 1 of this local law. Such study shall include a table with the following forms of aggregate data that does not contain personally identifiable information for each shelter:
1. The name of the agency or entity operating such shelter or that is under contract or similar agreement with a provider for the operation of such shelter;
2. The borough in which such shelter is located;
3. The council district in which such shelter is located;
4. Whether such shelter has air conditioning;
5. If such shelter has air conditioning, whether such air conditioning is provided in congregate areas, sleeping areas, or both;
6. If such shelter has air conditioned congregate areas, (i) the ratio of air conditioned congregate areas to total congregate areas, and (ii) whether the air conditioning is provided through a central air system, an installed unit, or both;
7. If such shelter has air conditioned sleeping areas, (i) the ratio of air conditioned sleeping areas to total sleeping areas, and (ii) whether the air conditioning is provided through a central air system, an installed unit, or both;
8. Whether such shelter has any air conditioning central air system or installed units that did not function for a total of 72 hours or more in the previous calendar year;
9. Whether an air conditioning central air system has been installed in such shelter during the past 12 months, and if so, whether such system serves congregate areas, sleeping areas, or both;
10. Whether air conditioning installed units have been installed in such shelter during the past 12 months, and if so, whether such units were installed in congregate areas, sleeping areas, or both;
11. Whether the agency operating such shelter plans to install an air conditioning central air system within the next 12 months, and, if so, whether such central air system will serve only congregate areas, only sleeping areas, or both;
12. Whether the agency operating such shelter plans to install air conditioning units within the next 12 months, and, if so, whether such installed units will serve only congregate areas, only sleeping areas, or both; and
13. The building envelope rating or energy audit status of such shelter, if available.
b. For any shelter that does not have air conditioning in all congregate and sleeping areas and for which the agency, building owner, or provider operating such shelter does not plan to install air conditioning within the next 12 months, such study shall include the following additional information:
1. An estimate of the cost to install in such shelter a central air system in congregate areas, sleeping areas, or both; and
2. An analysis of the feasibility of installing in such shelter a central air system, air conditioning installed units, or both, in congregate areas, sleeping areas, or both, including the minimum amount of time to install such central air system or installed units.
c. For any shelter subject to subdivision b of this section that is owned and operated pursuant to contract with the city and for which the owner of the real property used for such shelter bears full responsibility for the maintenance of such shelter pursuant to such contract, the department of social services shall make such cost estimate based on information known or made available to the department of social services upon request to such owner.
§ 3. This local law takes effect immediately and section 2 of this local law expires and is deemed repealed upon submission of the report required by section 2 of this local law to the mayor and the speaker of the council. Upon such submission, the mayor shall notify the city clerk for the purpose of transmitting notice of such expiration and repeal to the New York state legislative bill drafting commission in furtherance of effectuating section 70-b of the public officers law, and the mayor shall notify the corporation counsel for the purpose of effectuating section 7-111 of the administrative code of the city of New York. Any failure to provide a notification described in this section shall not affect the effective date of any provision of this local law.
SA/PR/ACK
LS #10463/11505/17485
9/17/2025 6:49pm