Okay, if you’ve read my monthly resets you might have seen that I haven’t had cooking gas in my apartment since April 2023 (this is unfortunately very common in NYC). I finally have sort of a resolution (even though the cooking gas isn’t fixed). This is probably boring to some people if you’re not NYC based so leaving it as a note instead of in an actual post:

Here’s the timeline:

April 2023: Cooking gas gets turned off in my building due to a potential gas leak.

June 2023: No signs of progress. Some people in the building start withholding rent. I keep paying rent.

October 2023: I submit an application to the state for a rent reduction due to reduced services.

January 2024: It seems like there has been some progress with them working in the basement. I learn some people in the building are getting rent abatements, and I ask the landlord for an abatement again. I don’t hear back.

February 2024: I ask the landlord again for a rent abatement and finally get $500 flat plus $100 off each month going forward.

April 2024: The state finally comes to inspect my apartment (in response to my application from October) and confirm there is indeed no cooking gas.

June 2024: They start doing inspections on the work. So maybe we’re getting closer to being done?

July 2024: I get the final order from the state: granted. However, this just means the rent goes back to my previous lease ($70 less), so it doesn’t actually change anything since I’m already getting more than that in the abatement I negotiated for in February.

Anyway, sharing all this to 1) show how insane renting an apartment in NYC is and 2) tell you to ask for that rent abatement & advocate for yourself as a tenant when you have issues with your apartment! There’s no guidebook for this kind of thing, but everyone I spoke to from the city and state was so helpful (we just need better laws to protect tenants in these situations!)