Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
New App Will Hold Bad Landlords Accountable For Frigid Apartments
By
Lauren Evans
Published Aug 26, 2014
Modified Aug 26, 2014
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
Heat Seek NYC
By
Lauren Evans
Published Aug 26, 2014
Modified Aug 26, 2014
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
As you sit in your air-conditioned office, the August sun beating down on the pavement outside, it's only natural for your thoughts to turn toward winter: Soon, you'll be freezing. Soon, it will be time to file your annual 311 complaint about your landlord, who last year refused to turn on your heat until the frost has already taken three of your nine fingers. (The tenth was severed during that one night at the Beach Comber, so no one to blame but yourself there.)
It was only a matter of time before someone decided to battle this age-old lamentation with sleek technology, and now it's here. The device, and accompanying app, is called Heat Seek NYC, and it aims to prevent vulnerable New Yorkers from suffering in their own homes.
Every winter, there are more than 200,000 complaints about apartments left unheated, but the process for reporting the issue is tedious and unreliable. Heat Seek is essentially a web-enabled thermometer, which takes reading each hour and sends its findings back to a server. While the data itself will not do much to keep anyone warm, it will make it easier for elected officials and advocates to force bad landlords to follow the law. It has a Kickstarter!
The company is looking to raise $50,000 in order to provide 1,000 such sensors to tenants who need them most.
Tagged
heat
heat seek nyc
kickstarter
landlords
technology
winter
Lauren Evans
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
Retired NYPD detective charged in George Washington Bridge killing out on $1M bail
Victor Romero, who retired from the police department in 2001
By
Michael Sol Warren
Published Oct 25, 2026 at 10:25 a.m. ET
Suicides decline in NYC, but inequities persist across groups
New data shows suicide taking an outsize toll among Latino New Yorkers, even as overall deaths fell.
By
Jill Webb
News
Suicides decline in NYC, but inequities persist across groups
New data shows suicide taking an outsize toll among Latino New Yorkers, even as overall deaths fell.
By
Jill Webb
Cuts to rural healthcare become key issue for upstate votes in race for NY governor
By
Samuel King
NY Archdiocese will soon settle $800M clergy sexual abuse claims
By
Arya Sundaram
Chinatown residents file lawsuit against after-hours construction on new 'mega jail'
By
Arya Sundaram
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .