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NYC shelters must disclose when they lack basic air conditioning, a new bill says
By
Karen Yi
Published Oct 9, 2025
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By
Karen Yi
Published Oct 9, 2025
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The New York City Council wants to know how many homeless shelters lack air conditioning, and what it will cost to install it as climate change threatens even hotter summers.
On Thursday, the Council passed a measure requiring the city to publicly report the percentage of shelters with air conditioning in congregate or sleeping areas as a first step to better understand the scope of the problem.
”We just want the opportunity for the New Yorkers that are staying there to feel like they deserve to have a dignified space and an outlet if and when that doesn't happen,” said Councilmember Jennifer Gutiérrez, who is sponsoring the bill.
The city’s Department of Homeless Services, which oversees more than 86,000 people in its shelter system, told Gothamist nearly half its shelters don’t have air conditioning where people sleep.
But Gutiérrez said this information isn’t regularly available and councilmembers don’t always know whether the shelters in their districts are offering residents any sort of cooling options indoors. The bill also requires the DHS to inform a councilmember if a shelter in their district has a broken air conditioning system for 72 hours or more.
“Every summer we hear of more and more people who die, unfortunately, because they don't have access to ACs or the ACs are broken and we just don't want that reflected here,” Gutiérrez said.
DHS officials said part of the challenge is that many buildings need significant capital investments or costly electrical upgrades to withstand AC units. Some sites have windows that don’t open and can’t easily accommodate individual window units.
This spring, the DHS issued a new mandate to improve conditions for future shelter residents by requiring organizations interested in opening a city-funded shelter to provide air conditioning. The city is also helping more nonprofits own and develop their own shelters in order to save taxpayer money in the long run and offer better conditions to residents, including air conditioning.
The first report is due one year after the law takes effect and every April and November after that. The city will also have to produce a one-time report assessing what it would take to upgrade each shelter with a cooling system, including the estimated cost and length of time for installation.
DHS spokesperson Nicholas Jacobelli said the bill would burden nonprofit providers and building owners by requiring them to do costly assessments in “older buildings where air conditioning is not feasible or incredibly expensive.”
“That is why we are focused on developing new, high-quality facilities — where air conditioning is required — to replace older, outdated, substandard sites,” he said in a statement. “So rather than creating new unnecessary costs for outdated existing shelters, we strongly encourage the City Council to support our efforts to create new, high-quality shelters where people can live in dignity.”
This story has been updated to reflect that the bill passed Thursday.
Tagged
economy
housing
new york city
Karen Yi
Karen Yi covers homelessness and poverty. She joined the WNYC and Gothamist newsroom in 2020. Before that, Karen covered Newark for the Star-Ledger and spent almost a decade working for newspapers in New Jersey and Florida. She grew up in Miami and has a dog named Cashew. Got a tip? Email [email protected] or Signal 917-589-1460.
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