NYC heat season: the temperatures your landlord owes you, and what to do when the radiator is cold

• Heat season October 1 to May 31
• 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. 68 degrees inside when it is under 55 outside
• 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. 62 degrees inside, any weather
• Hot water 120 degrees, all year
• Fine, first violation $250 to $500 a day

The rule, in four numbers

The two halves of the heat rule work differently. The daytime number only applies when the outdoor temperature is under 55, so a cool apartment on a 60-degree October afternoon is legal. The overnight floor of 62 has no weather condition attached: a building that shuts the boiler off at 10 p.m. on a mild night still owes you 62 degrees at 3 a.m. And the season ends May 31, so a cold snap on May 20 counts and one on June 3 does not.

This is a lot of people's winter. HPD's own counter logged 344,437 heat complaints in the 2025-26 season through May 31, 2026, up from 282,606 the season before. The worst single day was February 8, 2026, with 6,144.

When the heat is out: the order that works

HPD's advice is to contact your landlord first, which is the fastest fix when a part has broken and the owner wants it working too. If that goes nowhere, file a complaint with 311: call 311 (TTY 212-504-4115), use 311 Online, or use the 311 app. HPD says tenants can file anonymously. After a complaint, HPD tries to notify the owner, may try to reach you, and tries to send an inspector.

Our advice, not HPD's: keep a log. Every time the apartment is cold, write down the date, the time and the reading on a cheap thermometer placed away from the windows and the radiator, and keep your 311 complaint numbers with it. An inspector who arrives after the boiler comes back on finds a warm apartment. A log shows the pattern, to HPD and to a Housing Court judge.

What it can cost the owner

HPD can seek civil penalties of $250 to $500 a day for each initial heat or hot water violation, and $500 to $1,000 a day for each subsequent one. Owners also pay a $200 fee for each inspection after the first two that finds a violation (all checked October 2026). When an owner still does not restore service, HPD's Emergency Repair Program can hire a private contractor to do the work and bill the owner.

Buildings with a bad record can end up in the Heat Sensors Program, set up by Local Law 18 of 2020 and amended by Local Law 70 of 2023. HPD picks 50 apartment buildings that consistently fail to provide heat, judged by their heat violations over the previous two years and by complaints from more than one unit. Their owners have to install a heat sensor in each apartment, in a living room the tenant chooses, by October 1, and send HPD the readings for every month of heat season. A building stays in the program for four years.

If 311 is not enough: an HP action

Tenants can also take the owner to Housing Court themselves. An HP action is a case asking the court to order the owner to make repairs and restore services like heat and hot water. You do not need a lawyer to start one: HPD says to go to the Clerk's Office at the Housing Court. Bring the log and the complaint numbers. For how the same court handles the other kind of case, see how an eviction moves through Housing Court.

Space heaters, if you have to

The FDNY's rule: plug a space heater straight into a wall outlet, never into a power strip or an extension cord. HPD adds two more: never leave one running unattended, and unplug it whenever you leave the room. A heater gets you through a cold night. The complaint is what gets the boiler fixed.