The City Council overwhelmingly approved new rules for installing appliances on Thursday despite critics arguing the mandates would mean higher costs for building owners — and larger rent bills.
Lawmakers voted 47-1 on a bill to require New Yorkers to hire master plumbers or specially-qualified handymen to handle putting in gas ovens, dryers and other appliances.
But critics have argued the legislation could cost homeowners or landlords as much as $500 more per installation – and ultimately be passed along to renters.
Bronx Councilwoman Pierina Sanchez, who spearheaded the proposal, pointed to a deadly 2015 gas explosion in the East Village as justification for the law that still needs to be signed into law by Mayor Eric Adams.
The explosion – which killed two people and leveled three buildings — was caused by an illegal hookup.
“Y’all, public, in the city of New York, should not be installing a gas range yourself,” Sanchez said Thursday ahead of the council’s vote. “It’s not safe.”
But the New York Apartment Association, which represents landlords in rent-stabilized units, claimed the City Council action wasn’t necessary.
Kenny Burgos, the leader of the advocacy organization, estimated the specialized plumbers could charge up to $500 to install or change gas appliances.
“The law will add hundreds of dollars to every installation because it will require licensed master plumbers to perform a job store technicians, building supers, contractors and handy homeowners have been doing safely for decades,” he wrote in a Post op-ed this week.
He also argued there might not be enough plumbers with those qualifications to help handle the installations.
“But on top of that, there’s a real logistics problem when you have a small number of master plumbers and so many appliances that are being teased out on a regular basis just around here city,” Burgos told Fox News Business.
Sanchez insisted New Yorkers won’t suffer sticker shock because it was already an “existing practice.”
“Anyone who is making complaints with respect to that change, it’s not really a change, it’s just a clarification,” she said.
But Sanchez, who chairs the council’s Housing and Buildings Committee, admitted the new law could increase demand for master plumbers.
There are only roughly 1,100 plumbers of that kind, according to a Fox Business report.
“In terms of the shortage of master plumbers and anyone else who is certified to do this work, that’s a conversation that I certainly want to have as chair of housing and buildings, is, how do we get more folks into the trades?” Sanchez said. “And is there a conversation about other individuals who could be certified to do this work safely?”
The lone lawmaker to vote against the bill was Kevin Riley, who represents part of the Bronx. He did not immediately reply to a request for comment Thursday evening.
The Adams administration also did not immediately return an email seeking comment on if the mayor supports the bill.
The new law would go into effect in 120 days if Adams signs it.
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