New York City Council Postpones Gas Detector Law

New York City building owners haven’t had much to cheer about lately.

State legislators did nothing on rent stabilization. The Federal Reserve paused interest rate reductions because of uncertainty about tariffs. And Zohran Mamdani won the Democratic primary for mayor running on a “freeze the rent” platform.

But Monday brought some long-awaited good news, however small: The City Council postponed one of the many mandates that have been vexing landlords, not to mention condo and co-op boards.

The chamber unanimously passed a bill on Monday to postpone a law requiring detectors above gas appliances in residential buildings, except for owner-occupied, single-family homes.

Local Law 157 was approved in 2016 but didn’t take effect until May 1, 2025, as it required a complementary electric-code bill to pass. Despite the long lead time, many apartment owners still don’t have the UL-rated devices they need to comply with the law.

Complicating matters, the detectors must be between three and 10 feet from the appliance and within a foot of the ceiling, which rules out plug-in units in nearly all circumstances.

That left exactly one option: a DeNova Detect battery-powered detector, which sells for $93.49 on the manufacturer’s website (the price has been increasing slowly but steadily). Some vendors who handle bulk orders have reported backlogs of several months.

The bill, which Mayor Eric Adams is certain to sign into law, delays the mandate until at least Jan. 1, 2027, and possibly longer. It would re-launch Local Law 157 one year after the Department of Buildings determines that natural gas alarms are sufficiently available and affordable.

City Council member Eric Dinowitz of the Bronx introduced the bill after hearing of the order backlog and the lack of competition among manufacturers of gas detectors. Various different models are available on Amazon and other websites, but except for the DeNova Detect, all are either plug-ins or are not UL-rated.

The bill recently had a hearing, after which it advanced relatively quickly to the City Council floor for a vote. The Council speaker does not schedule a vote for any bill unless it has enough support to pass, so there was no drama once Dinowitz’s bill was placed on the meeting agenda.

Local Law 157 applies to multiple dwellings, one- and two-family homes that are rented out, and Class B dwellings, such as hotels. It is among a slew of measures implemented by the city to prevent gas explosions, which have been rare but occasionally disastrous.

No reports have surfaced of landlords or homeowners being fined for not having a detector for every gas stove, dryer and boiler.