The New York Post interviewed and photographed me for a story on New Yorkers who don’t use air conditioning: No AC? No sweat! Meet the New Yorkers sweltering through summer — by choice, written by Lauren Elkies Schram, photographed by Stefano Giovannini.
[EDIT, after reading the article, read About the comments to yesterday’s NY Post article about not using air conditioning]
The story begins:
New York City has a cool class of rebels — those who elect to brave the crushing summer heat without air conditioning at home.
It is a small, but mighty group that opts to use fans, take cold showers and work in cool alternate locations during the hot months. Now, following a dreary holiday weekend, temperatures are back on the rise — and these locals are ready to take the heat.
Eleven percent of New Yorkers do not have air conditioners at home, according to data touted by the city comptroller in 2025. Another 15% never or seldom use AC, an older survey by the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health indicates.
Schram covered three New Yorkers. I was the second. The part on me begins:
Living off the grid
Josh Spodek, a leadership coach who works from his 500-square-foot Greenwich Village studio apartment, finds living with no air conditioning is about mindset.
“I have been here a little over 25 years,” Spodek, 54, said. “It has central air. If I put it on it would cool the room and it wouldn’t cost me any more.”
But he doesn’t, primarily for environmental reasons.
“I don’t want to pollute and deplete the rest of the world,” he said.
You can acclimate, he said, by shifting your perspective.
“People have lived on this island of Manhattan for thousands of years,” Spodek said. “AC has been around for a few decades. We don’t need it.”
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