Window unit blowing warm air, a PTAC flashing a code, a mini-split dripping down the wall, or a central system gone quiet? Call from the ZIP where the unit is and the line tries to put you through to an independently owned HVAC company that takes calls for that ZIP.
Four common kinds of air conditioner turn up in New York homes, sometimes on the same block. Say which one you have, roughly how old it is and what it is doing, so the person you reach can start with the right questions.
HomeAdvisor puts most window-unit repairs at $105–$359, and a new unit at $150–$500 installed, so the price of the fix often decides it. Run the unit straight from a wall outlet: the FDNY says to plug large appliances directly into the wall and never overload power strips or extension cords.
Call (855) 555-0163 →These sit in a sleeve under the window and many heat as well as cool. If the building supplied yours, call management before paying for a repair. Under Local Law 23 of 2026, owners must keep permanent units able to hold 78°F from June 15 to September 15, starting June 1, 2030.
Call (855) 555-0163 →Water running down the wall below the indoor head usually traces to a clogged condensate drain line, a dirty air filter or a damaged drain pan. If the head is blinking, note the pattern before you call. The Department of Buildings says AC units should have dedicated outlets, and city rules require a licensed electrician for any new wiring.
Call (855) 555-0163 →One-family houses are 60% of Staten Island's homes and 28% of Queens', against under 2% of Manhattan's. If the condenser fan hums but won't spin, switch the system off at the thermostat. HomeAdvisor puts a capacitor at $120–$475 and a compressor at $1,200–$2,800.
Call (855) 555-0163 →
Any phone works, cell or landline. There is one number for the whole city.
A recorded prompt asks for five digits before a person comes on. Use the ZIP where the unit is, such as 11215 in Park Slope or 10314 on Staten Island, and keep holding. Hanging up during the recording ends the call.
Window, PTAC, mini-split or central; the brand and rough age; what it is doing; and whether you rent or own. Ask what the service call costs before anyone comes out. Whether to book is your decision.
New York's housing is old and mostly rented. Of the city's 3.7 million homes, 38% were built before 1940 and about two in three are renter-occupied (ACS 2024). The kind of air conditioner, and who is responsible for it, tends to follow the building.
The hottest July day of a typical year reaches about 96°F (1991–2020 normals).
Set at 5 p.m. on July 19, 2013. The 2025 peak, 12,530 MW, came on June 25, in a heat wave the Health Department links to 19 heat-stress deaths.
Citywide, out of 3,737,632 housing units. In Brooklyn the share is 48%, and the median Brooklyn home dates to 1942.
Another 14% run theirs half the time or less on hot days because of the cost (2022 NYC Household Energy and Health Survey).
90% of Manhattan homes and 67% of the Bronx's are in buildings with ten or more units. The Department of Buildings wants every window unit supported from underneath or fastened from inside, with any brackets, rails or angles fastened to the building, never leveled on loose bricks, books or wood blocks, never blocking a fire-escape window, and installed with management's permission. A common window unit generally needs no work permit unless it tops 36,000 BTU/hr.
Detached and attached one-family homes make up 60% of Staten Island's housing and 28% of Queens'. Staten Island's median home was built in 1973, three decades after Brooklyn's, and 68% of its homes are owner-occupied (44% in Queens), so on Staten Island the repair-or-replace call usually sits with the owner.
It adds a cooling section to the Housing Maintenance Code. Tenants can start requesting cooling for the rooms they sleep in on March 1, 2028, and from June 1, 2030 owners must keep requested and permanent systems able to hold 78°F from June 15 to September 15. Until then, check your lease before paying to fix equipment the building owns.
In buildings with three or more apartments, owners must install window guards where a child 10 or younger lives. The exceptions are windows leading to fire escapes or used for emergency escapes, and windows with an air conditioner permanently and safely installed, so a unit sitting loose in the frame is a safety issue as well as a cooling one. Missing guards are a 311 call.
Sources: U.S. Census ACS 2024 1-year via Census Reporter, Central Park 1991–2020 normals (Wikipedia), Con Edison, NYC Health heat report, NYC Buildings, NYC Council, NYC Health window guards.
The same call works from a fifth-floor walk-up or a detached house with a yard. Wherever the unit is, that is the ZIP to key in when the recording asks.
Norbert Nagel, CC BY-SA 3.0
Prewar apartment buildings with fire escapes out front. Keep window units out of the fire-escape window. ZIPs start with 100, 101 or 102.
Beyond My Ken, CC BY-SA 4.0
Thirteen row houses on St. John's Place, built in 1891–92 inside the Park Slope Historic District. Brooklyn ZIPs start with 112.
XanderAi, CC BY-SA 4.0
Queens is 44% owner-occupied, second only to Staten Island. ZIPs start with 110, 111, 113, 114 or 116. Pictured: a Tudor house in Forest Hills Gardens.
67% of Bronx homes are in buildings of ten or more units and about one in five is owner-occupied, so check the lease and ask the super about a building-supplied unit first.
The borough of houses: 60% one-family homes, 68% owner-occupied, and a median home built in 1973, the newest of the five.
The peninsula gets its power from PSEG Long Island, not Con Edison, so outages there are reported to PSEG Long Island.
From a fifth-floor walk-up off Avenue A to a two-family in Astoria, a co-op on the Grand Concourse or a split-level near the Staten Island Mall: dial, enter the ZIP where the unit is, and the line looks for a company that takes calls for that ZIP.
National figures from HomeAdvisor's central AC guide (updated June 17, 2026) and window AC guide (updated June 19, 2026). They are not New York-specific, so use them to sanity-check a quote. Only the company that sees your unit can price the job.
About $417 on average.
About $229 on average.
Most companies apply it to the repair if they find the problem. Ask first.
| Repair | Typical range |
|---|---|
| Window unit fan motor (part only) | $100–$300 |
| Window unit control board (part only) | $50–$250 |
| Window unit refrigerant recharge | $100–$250 |
| New window unit, installed | $150–$500 |
| Central AC capacitor | $120–$475 |
| Central AC refrigerant leak repair | $225–$1,600 |
| Evaporator coil | $600–$2,000 |
| Blower motor replacement | $250–$800 |
| Drain pan | $200–$600 |
| Thermostat replacement | $60–$440 |
| Central AC compressor | $1,200–$2,800 |
| After-hours or holiday labor, per hour | $160–$250 |
HomeAdvisor's rule for window units: if the repair costs more than half the price of a new one, replace it, and expect eight to ten years from a unit. For central systems it multiplies the repair price by the system's age; over $5,000, get a replacement price too.
Central Park's normal high climbs from 79.7°F in June to 84.9°F in July, and the Health Department finds about 80% of heat-related deaths come on hot but not extreme days of 82–94°F. Run the AC for a while in May, so a problem shows up before the first hot spell rather than during it.
The Department of Sanitation takes an air conditioner only after a refrigerant-removal appointment, booked through 311. Set it at the curb, back facing the street, after 6 p.m. the night before. Units with R32 or R600a refrigerant can't go this route.
Check the DCWP license before anyone opens the unit. In New York City, installing central heating or air conditioning counts as home improvement, and any home improvement job over $200 needs a Home Improvement Contractor license from the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP).
Sources: HomeAdvisor AC repair and window AC repair cost guides, NYC Health, DSNY, DCWP hiring tips and home improvement guide, FDNY, EPA.
Not covered here? If the call connects, the company on the line can talk through your own unit and building.
Nobody live at first. A recording asks for the ZIP where the air conditioner is, such as 10025 on the Upper West Side or 11375 in Forest Hills. Key it in and stay on, because that is when the line tries to connect you with an independently owned HVAC company that takes calls for that ZIP. Fixly Pro's part ends there. The company you speak with handles its own diagnosis, price and repair, and you are under no obligation to book.
Start with management or the super, and read your lease. Local Law 23 of 2026 adds cooling to the city's Housing Maintenance Code in stages: tenants can request cooling for the rooms they sleep in from March 1, 2028, and from June 1, 2030 owners must keep requested and permanent units able to hold 78°F from June 15 to September 15. If a building-supplied through-wall unit is also your heat, a cold apartment between October 1 and May 31 is a heat complaint you can file with 311.
Fixly Pro doesn't quote jobs; the company that inspects the unit sets the price. As a national reference, HomeAdvisor puts central AC repair at $172 to $664, about $417 on average, and window unit repair at $105 to $359, about $229 on average. A service call typically runs $75 to $200, and most companies apply it to the repair if they find the problem.
Often not. HomeAdvisor's rule of thumb: if the repair costs more than half the price of a new unit, replace it, and a new window unit runs $150 to $500 installed. If you do replace it, book a Department of Sanitation refrigerant-removal appointment through 311 before the old one goes to the curb.
A common window unit generally needs no Department of Buildings work permit unless it is over three tons (36,000 BTU/hr). DOB guidance still calls for the unit to be supported from underneath or fastened from inside, with any brackets, rails or angles fastened to the building, nothing loose such as bricks, books or wood blocks used for leveling, permission from building management, and no unit blocking a fire-escape window.
Ask for the Home Improvement Contractor license number and look it up with the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection's Search Business tool at nyc.gov/dcwp, or call 311. Installing central heating or air conditioning counts as home improvement, and any job over $200 needs the license. Search an electrician in the Department of Buildings' DOB NOW Public Portal. Contract and workmanship disputes go to DCWP through 311 or nyc.gov/dcwp.
Dial, enter the ZIP when the recording asks, and stay on the line. The line looks for an independent HVAC company that takes calls for that ZIP.
(855) 555-0163 Call (855) 555-0163
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