Enjoying That Refreshing Blast of Cool Air on the Sidewalk? It’s Illegal
Nicole Levy | DNAinfo

Walk along any commercial strip in New York City this summer (as we did) and you’re bound to pass an open door expelling a blast of cool air. It’s a smart strategy: a store that gives overheated passersby a brief respite from the heat is a store luring customers inside.

It’s also illegal.

In 2008, the New York City Council enacted a local law that prohibits chain stores and those larger than 4,000 square feet from keeping their outside doors propped open while operating an air conditioner or central cooling system.

The council had the city’s power grid and the environment in mind. The practice of leaving doors open while air conditioners are running can increase a building’s electricity usage by 20 to 25 percent, according to the Long Island Power Authority. During the summer months, that raises peak power demands and puts local utilities at greater risk of power shortages.

As for the environment, “10,000 square foot business that leaves just one door open can… release 2 tons of unnecessary carbon dioxide into the air,” Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer said in a statement last week, citing a Con Edison number. Carbon dioxide emissions from human activities are one of several factors raising global temperatures and sea levels.

Brewer urged owners and managers of street-level businesses to keep their doors and windows closed while running air conditioners and called for the Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA) to intensify its enforcement of the law in light of last week’s heat wave. She did so a week after DCA Commissioner Julie Menin announced an education and outreach campaign encouraging businesses to “Shut the Front Door!”

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