too hot to live

The AC is *still* down from Thursday. I haven't slept more than 3-5 hours a night in a few days. Sometimes it's ok to fall asleep when there's a slight breeze coming from the window. But by 5 am the breeze stops and I always wake up feeling the pressure of hot, stagnant, humid air covering me like a very thick and unpleasant blanket.

The maintenance updates that are hanging in the elevators have all been graffitied with things like "I'm not paying rent for these days," or "no Christmas bonus for you!" and "We will remember!"

I actually spent some time looking up NYC tenant's bill of rights today. Technically, the landlord is supposed to provide a "safe, habitable" environment.. and I would definately say the last few days have not been habitable, but on the grand scale of things, I doubt the housing dep't would agree. They deal with things like rat infestations, and drug needles lying around. There's a heating requirement for landlords, but nothing mentioning maintenance of central air systems. The best the tenant can do is withhold paying rent until the problem is solved, but in the end I think you have to pay it all. Or, go to an arbitrator to determine the real value of the apartment without AC and then deduct that from the rent. Luckily I haven't paid my rent yet. I think I'll hold out for a bit and send a nasty letter along with my payment. Not that it will do any good. I can deduct the rent for the last few days but I have a feeling they'd just take it out of my security deposit.

I'm so exhausted, I can barely keep my eyes open :(