TOO DAMN HOT: NEW YORKERS HAVE A RIGHT TO BE COOL!
New York City Council
We are urging Speaker Adrienne Adams and The New York City Council to co-sponsor and pass the Right to Cooling Bill Package!
Intro 0994 (Tenant’s Right to Cooling): This bill would require that landlords provide cooling and dehumidifying devices that can sustain 78 degrees, as well as being responsible for their installation and maintenance.
Intro 0998 (Codify Cooling Centers): The bill would codify the City’s cooling center program by granting agencies the discretion of designating cooling centers taking account for where vulnerable populations live and would be likely to use centers.
Intro 0928 (Cool Pavement Pilot): The bill would require agencies to conduct a pilot project on the use of cool pavement (pavement and pavement coatings designed to keep area temperatures cooler than normal).
Collectively, this slate of bills strengthens our City’s defenses against relentless and unprecedented heatwaves. It is crucial that we get these bills signed into law.
Extreme heat is the deadliest impact of climate change, and communities of color are the most impacted. For example, according to the city’s own data, 50 percent of the heat-related deaths in New York City are Black/African American people, even though they made up only 25 percent of the city’s population at the time. Additionally, the Department of Health’s most recent Heat-Related Mortality Report, “among those who died from heat stress, the place of death was most often an un-air-conditioned home.” Indoor temperatures fluctuate far less than outdoor temperatures, so during a heat wave residents without air conditioning are likely to be exposed to unsafe temperatures and humidity for long periods of time.
Putting the sole burden of cooling on tenants during the summer months is not working. The solutions are clear. Join us in telling the New York City Council that we need action to protect New Yorkers from extreme heat.
To:
New York City Council
From:
[Your Name]
Dear New York City Council,
We, the undersigned New Yorkers, are writing to express my support for the Right to Cooling Bill Package:
-Intro 0994-2024 (Tenant’s Right to Cooling): This bill would require that landlords provide cooling and dehumidifying devices that can sustain 78 degrees, as well as being responsible for their installation and maintenance.
-Intro 0998-2024 (Codify Cooling Centers): The bill would codify the City’s cooling center program by granting agencies the discretion of designating cooling centers taking account for where vulnerable populations live and would be likely to use centers.
-Intro 0928 - 2024 (Cool Pavement Pilot): The bill would require agencies to conduct a pilot project on the use of cool pavement (pavement and pavement coatings designed to keep area temperatures cooler than normal).
Collectively, this slate of bills strengthens our City’s defenses against relentless and unprecedented heatwaves. It is crucial that we get these bills signed into law. Extreme heat is killing my neighbors more often than any other climate impact and disproportionately straining the health of people of color, children, elders, and people with pre-existing conditions or disabilities every year.
The current model has failed to prevent needless deaths. Our laws must catch up to the reality of the climate crisis. We need climate informed public health and housing policy. Please help keep us safe.
Our current paradigm of cooling-as-a-luxury is undeniably inhumane, dangerous, and inequitable. Extreme heat is the deadliest impact of climate change and while everyone is exposed to it, heat acts as a threat multiplier for the most vulnerable residents. According to the EJNYC Report, Black New Yorkers are twice as likely to die from heat stress as white New Yorkers. The report goes on to note: “As a result of systemic racism, lack of green space, limited access to air-conditioning, and poor housing quality, heat-exacerbated deaths are more common in neighborhoods that are home to a greater proportion of low-income and Black New Yorkers.” Heat mortality is preventable. Intro 0994-2024 closes a policy gap we can no longer ignore. We already require all housing to provide heating. Now that we are in a humid subtropical climate zone experiencing sustained and extreme heat, everyone must have a right to cooling.
Even if New York City passes Intro 0994-2024, we will still need free, publicly accessible spaces for relief from the heat. The cooling center program is an essential safety net for communities who bear the burden of extremely hot days, especially for households that do not have an air conditioner or cannot afford the utility costs associated with running an AC. However, the program is in many ways ad hoc. It has no budget, little consistency, and some neighborhoods lack within a 5 minute walking distance. The program is also extremely under utilized due to little to no wayfinding, signage or advertisements. Community members have told us how to remedy these issues, but the solutions require thoughtful investment. Intro 998-2024, empowers the Office of Emergency Management and the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene to center equity in the quantity and siting of cooling center locations. Further, the codification of the program will allow the City to better allocate resources to improve awareness of the program and address barriers to access. While the new always-accessible Cool Options map allows residents to better plan for heat emergencies, it is in no way a replacement for the comprehensive community outreach, staff training, program reporting and community feedback mechanisms Intro 998-2024 would facilitate.
Cool pavement is an important form of green infrastructure that can provide immediate relief to neighborhoods and commercial corridors with limited tree canopy. A cool pavement pilot in Phoenix, Arizona found that streets with cool pavement had an average surface temperature 10.5 to12 degrees Fahrenheit lower than traditional asphalt at noon and during the afternoon hours. Intro 0928-2024 lays the foundation for us to convert streets that currently exacerbate the Urban Heat Island Effect into climate mitigation assets.
Please co-sponsor this bill package to promote health equity and resiliency in our City.
Thank you for your time and consideration.