Continued Problems with Hot Water and now Gas

Not sure about the legal component, but calling 311 to issue a formal complaint is always a good idea so that you have additional documentation of the issue.

Your landlord has to provide a habitable place, and no cooking or hot water doesn't work out.

In my not-a-lawyer opinion, with holding rent (or "maintenance" or "common charges") for any reason is *usually* a bad strategy, unless pursued with a lawyer's advice.

I would call 311 as a next step. Be sure to save the receipt number they give you for your complaint.

Also, pull out your lease and read it. We rented a rent-stabilized apartment a couple of years ago, and in the lease there was a schedule of credits due to tenants in the event of repairs not being made within a certain number of hours.

Definitely good to keep a log of problems. But I think you'll find 311 helpful. To just with hold rent without a letter to the landlord first....again I don't do it that way. I don't want anybody to accuse me of not fulfilling my obligations, and using that as a mechanism to prevent me from getting compensation. Best of luck to you :)

thanks for the responses. Just to specifically address those questions, I emailed them a formal request for a rent reduction which they denied. Said that the hot water issues aren't their fault, and when they happen they are quick to fix. Which is true, however the fixes are obviously temporary and haven't addressed the underlying causes. Now we are dealing with this new gas issue - they sent out an email saying the building's gas is now off and they don't know when it will be back. They provided everybody electric stove top burners, I'm sure in an attempt to again say they did what the could / needed to in order to avoid problems with people asking for rent reductions. we just tried ours for the first time and it emitted smoke and a bad smelling odor. So now we can't cook which will obv increase costs.

I will contact 311. It's one thing to know we can pursue legal options, but another if it involves lawyers / fees / etc.

any more advice would be appreciated. thanks again

Some key questions:

What neighborhood is this in?
What kind of building?
How big is the landlord?
How much is the rent?
How old are you and the other tenants?
What is your occupation / industry?

From the AG's website. Read pg 17 on habitability. https://www.ag.ny.gov/sites/default/files/pdfs/publications/Tenants_Rights.pdf

Did you check the DOB website ?

Withholding rent is only a good strategy if you don't care about getting evicted. Because that's what will happen 99% of the time, the landlord will just throw you out.