N-5Borough · Staten Island
Heat, hot water and pipes on Staten Island
Staten Island heat and plumbing questions are mostly house questions: about four in five homes are in one- or two-family buildings, where the owner hires the plumber and the tenant calls 311 if heat fails.
Most Staten Islanders live in a house. If yours has a rented unit, or you rent one, the two-family house sheet is the place to start; an owner-only attached house fits the brownstone and row house sheet. The island’s fewer apartment buildings match the co-op or condo high-rise and prewar walk-up sheets.
What share of Staten Island homes are houses?
About 78%. Adding up units in City Planning’s PLUTO file, version 26v2, we count 179,691 homes on the island, by far the fewest of the five boroughs.
| Category | Units | Share |
|---|---|---|
| One and two family | 139,677 | 78% |
| Multi-family walk-up | 18,435 | 10% |
| Multi-family elevator | 15,157 | 8% |
| Mixed residential and commercial | 5,282 | 3% |
Staten Island’s stock is also younger: about 20% of units are in buildings recorded as built before 1940, against roughly half in Manhattan and Brooklyn. DCP cautions that year built is decade-accurate. Counts are homes, not residents.
How does water reach Staten Island?
Under New York Harbor from Brooklyn. A DEP 2014 press release describes two siphons laid about 50 feet below the harbor in 1917 and 1925, running from Bay Ridge to Stapleton and Tompkinsville. In 1970 the 10-foot Richmond Tunnel, cut deep in bedrock, became the island’s main supply, with the old siphons as backup. The same release described a new, deeper 72-inch siphon then under construction as the future backup feed; we found no DEP page confirming its completion date. The CEQR Technical Manual traces the route: City Tunnel No. 2 runs to Brooklyn and then through the Richmond Tunnel to the island. The supply is the same upstate water the rest of the city drinks; see tap water quality.
What are the Bluebelt and the septic areas?
Two ways the island handles water the sewers do not. DEP’s Bluebelt program drains 16 watersheds, 15 on the south end plus Richmond Creek, about 10,000 acres in all, through streams, ponds and wetlands. The CEQR manual says the southwestern part of Staten Island uses septic systems until city sewers are extended, and that parts of the island run separate storm and sanitary sewers. If your house is on septic, the sewer pages here only partly apply; for a sewer connection, the owner is responsible for the line to the street. See sewer backups.
When are Staten Island districts due for Local Law 152?
In sub-cycles A and B: 2024 and 2025, then 2028 and 2029. The island has three community districts, and DOB’s schedule puts districts 1 and 3 in sub-cycle A and district 2 in sub-cycle B. Nothing here falls in sub-cycles C or D. Since most island homes are one- or two-family houses, they are exempt anyway; a three-family house is not. The Local Law 152 page covers filing.
| District | Neighborhoods include (DCP) | Sub-cycle | Years |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | St. George, Port Richmond, Stapleton, Mariner’s Harbor | A | 2024, 2028 |
| 2 | New Dorp, Midland Beach, Todt Hill, New Springville | B | 2025, 2029 |
| 3 | Tottenville, Great Kills, Eltingville, Huguenot | A | 2024, 2028 |
Neighborhood lists are from DCP’s Community District Profiles.
Who does what here?
| Situation | Who | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Tenant’s unit is cold in heat season | Owner first, then 311 | City heat rules cover tenant-occupied 1–2 family houses |
| Owner’s own boiler or furnace | A licensed plumber or heating pro | No DOB yearly inspection at five families or fewer |
| Gas odor | All occupants out at once | From outside, call 911 and the utility on your gas bill |
| Water service line or house sewer | Owner, using a licensed plumber | DEP owns the mains in the street |
| Frozen pipe | Warm it gently, never with flame | Burst? Close the house valve, call a licensed plumber |
Look up your own building
- ZoLa · year built, lot size, units and district for your Staten Island lot
- DOB gas piping lookup · whether a three-family or larger building owes an inspection
- DEP service line map, via the lead page · the material on record for your water line
- DOB License Search · check the plumber’s license before any pipe or gas work
- HPDONLINE · HPD complaints and violations for a rented building
Questions people ask
Does my Staten Island house need a yearly boiler inspection?
Not if it has five families or fewer. DOB exempts those buildings, and a single boiler that heats only one apartment. Service is still a job for a licensed pro.
Does an island landlord with one tenant owe the city heat minimums?
Yes. The Housing Maintenance Code covers tenant-occupied one- and two-family houses, so the rented unit must reach 68°F by day when it is below 55°F outside, and 62°F at night, October 1 to May 31.
Is Staten Island in the free lead line program?
DEP’s named areas so far are in the Bronx and Queens, with Brooklyn and Queens next. Staten Island owners can still check the service line map and order a free test kit through 311.
How much water does Staten Island use?
DEP put it at about 50 million gallons a day for nearly 500,000 residents in its 2014 release. We found no newer island-only figure.
How this plate was drawn
This sheet rests on DEP’s 2014 siphon release and Bluebelt page, the CEQR manual, DOB’s gas piping and boiler rules, and DCP’s PLUTO 26v2 and profile data, checked 11 Nov 2026. Shares are our own sums of DCP’s unit counts. We could not count island homes on septic, and the new siphon’s completion date is unconfirmed.
Sources
- DEP press release 14-64 (July 2014) on the Staten Island Siphon · 1917 and 1925 siphons, Richmond Tunnel 1970, daily use · checked 11 Nov 2026
- DEP — The Bluebelt Program · 16 watersheds, about 10,000 acres · checked 11 Nov 2026
- CEQR Technical Manual, chapter 13, December 2025 · southwestern septic, separate sewers, tunnel route · checked 11 Nov 2026
- DOB — Periodic Gas Piping System Inspections · sub-cycles A and B for the island’s districts · checked 11 Nov 2026
- DOB — Boiler Compliance page · small-building boiler exemption · checked 11 Nov 2026
- Tax-lot data dictionary, PLUTO 26v2, from City Planning · building categories and year-built caution · checked 11 Nov 2026
- DCP — Staten Island district profiles · neighborhood names · checked 11 Nov 2026
Borough sheet N-5 · revised 11 Nov 2026