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The New York City Department of Environmental Protection is expected to release new rules soon telling buildings they have to stop using No. 6 heating oil by 2015, according to an article January 13 by Leslie Albrecht at DNAinfo.com
Buildings would be asked to switch to cleaner heating oil such as No. 4, or use natural gas instead, the article said, noting that there are about 3,000 buildings in Manhattan that burn No. 6 heating oil, according to the Environmental Defense Fund.
The article said that such famed pre-war landmarks on the Upper West Side as the Dakota, the San Remo and El Dorado on Central Park West, the Ansonia on Broadway, the Dorilton on West 71st Street and the Belnord on West 86th Street, are heated by the "dirty" No. 6 oil.
Most people were oblivious to the fact that some of their favorite Upper West Side buildings were contributing to the city's poor air quality, Isabelle Silverman, a lawyer with the Environmental Defense Fund, said, according to the article, which said that No. 6 heating oil is a pollutant that some studies have linked to cancer, asthma and premature death.
The smoke from heating fuel causes 50 percent more pollution than cars and trucks, EDF says. EDF has been leading a campaign to ban No. 6 heating oil in New York, and its efforts were expected to get a boost shortly, said EDF attorney Isabelle Silverman.
The article said that Ansonia property manager Marc Lippman said the Beaux Arts style building, built in 1904, has a decades-old boiler that has always used No. 6 heating oil, "but he added that No. 6 heating oil takes a toll on the building and makes maintaining the boiler a headache."
Silverman, the article continued, "said she was hoping to convince property managers such as Lippman to switch to cleaner fuel by making an economic case. While it was true that No. 6 heating oil was once far cheaper than other fuels, it's now only about 10 percent less expensive than cleaner oils, Silverman said. The increased maintenance costs associated with burning No. 6 made it pricier to burn in the long run, Silverman said. Natural gas, the cleanest alternative, was also the most cost effective, Silverman said."
A December 9, 2010 article by Amy Zimmer at DNAinfo.com said that the Deparmtnet of Environmental Protection is slated to release rules that may "require buildings using No. 6 and the slightly less dirty No. 4 heating oil to convert their boilers to a low sulfur No. 4 oil by 2015," adding that the city "is one of the few places in the country where No. 6 and No. 4 are still used for home heating."
According to the department, there are roughly 6,000 buildings that use No. 6 and 4,000 buildings that use No. 4 heating oil citywide, the article said.
Ms. Silverman of the Environmental Defense Fund that that No. 6 heating oil "has 20 times more soot pollutants than regular oil or natural gas," adding that "Black plumes belching out of smokestacks is not only bad for the environment, it may actually be illegal. If the sooty stuff is wafting for more than two minutes within an hour, it's a violation of city air pollution codes."
The Real Estate Board of New York supported the eventual phase out of No. 6 heating oil, "but given the economic climate, we have to be sensitive to the capacity of buildings for capital investments," said Angela Sung, a REBNY senior vice president, the article said, adding that "rather than converting boilers to another heating oil, which could cost from $5,000 to $200,000, many landlords would rather make the switch to natural gas, which could also cost up to $200,000, but the process is somewhat limited by available ConEd gas lines," according to Sung.
Buildings would be asked to switch to cleaner heating oil such as No. 4, or use natural gas instead, the article said, noting that there are about 3,000 buildings in Manhattan that burn No. 6 heating oil, according to the Environmental Defense Fund.
The article said that such famed pre-war landmarks on the Upper West Side as the Dakota, the San Remo and El Dorado on Central Park West, the Ansonia on Broadway, the Dorilton on West 71st Street and the Belnord on West 86th Street, are heated by the "dirty" No. 6 oil.
Most people were oblivious to the fact that some of their favorite Upper West Side buildings were contributing to the city's poor air quality, Isabelle Silverman, a lawyer with the Environmental Defense Fund, said, according to the article, which said that No. 6 heating oil is a pollutant that some studies have linked to cancer, asthma and premature death.
The smoke from heating fuel causes 50 percent more pollution than cars and trucks, EDF says. EDF has been leading a campaign to ban No. 6 heating oil in New York, and its efforts were expected to get a boost shortly, said EDF attorney Isabelle Silverman.
The article said that Ansonia property manager Marc Lippman said the Beaux Arts style building, built in 1904, has a decades-old boiler that has always used No. 6 heating oil, "but he added that No. 6 heating oil takes a toll on the building and makes maintaining the boiler a headache."
Silverman, the article continued, "said she was hoping to convince property managers such as Lippman to switch to cleaner fuel by making an economic case. While it was true that No. 6 heating oil was once far cheaper than other fuels, it's now only about 10 percent less expensive than cleaner oils, Silverman said. The increased maintenance costs associated with burning No. 6 made it pricier to burn in the long run, Silverman said. Natural gas, the cleanest alternative, was also the most cost effective, Silverman said."
A December 9, 2010 article by Amy Zimmer at DNAinfo.com said that the Deparmtnet of Environmental Protection is slated to release rules that may "require buildings using No. 6 and the slightly less dirty No. 4 heating oil to convert their boilers to a low sulfur No. 4 oil by 2015," adding that the city "is one of the few places in the country where No. 6 and No. 4 are still used for home heating."
According to the department, there are roughly 6,000 buildings that use No. 6 and 4,000 buildings that use No. 4 heating oil citywide, the article said.
Ms. Silverman of the Environmental Defense Fund that that No. 6 heating oil "has 20 times more soot pollutants than regular oil or natural gas," adding that "Black plumes belching out of smokestacks is not only bad for the environment, it may actually be illegal. If the sooty stuff is wafting for more than two minutes within an hour, it's a violation of city air pollution codes."
The Real Estate Board of New York supported the eventual phase out of No. 6 heating oil, "but given the economic climate, we have to be sensitive to the capacity of buildings for capital investments," said Angela Sung, a REBNY senior vice president, the article said, adding that "rather than converting boilers to another heating oil, which could cost from $5,000 to $200,000, many landlords would rather make the switch to natural gas, which could also cost up to $200,000, but the process is somewhat limited by available ConEd gas lines," according to Sung.
Architecture Critic
Carter Horsley
Since 1997, Carter B. Horsley has been the editorial director of CityRealty. He began his journalistic career at The New York Times in 1961 where he spent 26 years as a reporter specializing in real estate & architectural news. In 1987, he became the architecture critic and real estate editor of The New York Post.
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