NYC Accelerator

Administered by: NYC Mayor's Office of Climate and Environmental Justice (MOCEJ) Status: Active in 2026 Verified: May 27, 2026 against NYC Accelerator program site Source quality: Primary

What it is

NYC Accelerator is a free advisory program for owners of buildings in the five boroughs. It is run by the NYC Mayor's Office of Climate and Environmental Justice. The program does not pay you a rebate. It tells you which rebates and financing programs your building qualifies for, walks you through compliance with city energy laws, and connects you with vetted contractors.

The Accelerator operates two tracks. The small-buildings track serves 1-9 unit properties — single-family homes, brownstones, small rentals, and small co-ops. The large-buildings track serves properties 10 units and up, which is also where most Local Law 97 exposure sits. Both tracks include one-on-one advisor sessions, technical reviews of contractor scopes, and referrals to financing.

The advice is free. The program is funded through the Mayor's Office budget and does not charge fees, take commissions from contractors, or sell follow-up services. That is the cleanest practical distinction between the Accelerator and the for-profit retrofit consultancies operating in the same space.

Who qualifies

You own or manage a building in any of the five NYC boroughs: Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, or Staten Island.
Both the small-buildings track (1-9 units) and the large-buildings track (10+ units) are open.
Co-op boards, condo boards, and building managers acting on behalf of an owner can request services.
Tenants and renters are not the direct audience; the program serves the entity making decisions about the building envelope and systems.
There is no income limit. Market-rate buildings, affordable buildings, and HPD-regulated buildings can all use the service.

What you get

One-on-one advisor sessions with a staff member assigned to your building type and borough.
Technical review of contractor proposals and project scopes before you sign.
Referrals to the NYS Clean Heat heat pump rebate, Con Edison Residential Rebates, Comfort Home weatherization, EmPower+ for income-qualified buildings, and NYC PACE Financing where applicable.
Compliance support for Local Law 97, Local Law 88 lighting and submetering rules, and benchmarking obligations.
Contractor introductions through the Accelerator's vetted contractor network. The introduction is free; the contractor's bid is on your own terms.
Specific dollar amounts are not published on the program overview page because the Accelerator itself is an advisory service, not a rebate. The dollar amounts come from the programs it routes you to.

How to apply

Visit accelerator.nyc and submit the building intake form, or call (212) 656-9202.
An advisor follows up within several business days to confirm which track applies (small buildings or large buildings) based on unit count.
The advisor schedules an initial session, either remote or in person at the Accelerator's resource center.
After the session, you receive a written summary of recommended programs, eligible rebates, and next-step contractors.
You apply to the underlying rebate or financing programs directly. The Accelerator does not file rebate paperwork on your behalf, but it walks you through which forms go where.

How this stacks with other programs

The Accelerator is the broker, not the source of the money. The practical role it plays is sequencing other programs in the right order so that rebates do not cancel each other out.

Con Edison plus Clean Heat for heat pumps. Most NYC heat pump installs route the rebate through Con Edison's tier of the statewide NYS Clean Heat program. The Accelerator confirms which contractor is on the Clean Heat-approved list and which rebate line covers your equipment class.
Weatherization with rebates. A small-building owner pursuing insulation and air sealing typically combines Comfort Home with the Con Edison Residential Rebates weatherization line. Scopes overlap but rebate eligibility rules do not. The Accelerator's job is to flag the overlap before the contractor signs the scope.
Income-qualified path. For households at or near area median income, EmPower+ is the correct intake. The Accelerator routes income-qualified small-building owners to EmPower+ instead of running them through the market-rate weatherization stack.
Large-building financing. For co-op and condo boards facing Local Law 97 penalties, the Accelerator commonly pairs a Con Edison custom incentive with NYC PACE Financing to fund the capital portion of a deep retrofit.

What to ask your contractor

Once the Accelerator has handed you a list of contractors, the questions you put to those contractors do most of the work.

Are you on the Accelerator's current vetted-contractor list, and are you also enrolled in the rebate program covering this scope?
Will you file the rebate paperwork, or do I file it after the install?
For a Local Law 97 retrofit, do you carry the modeling and reporting capacity required to document emissions reductions for the building's annual filing?
Have you completed similar work in this borough on a building of this type, and can I see the addresses?
Is the price you are quoting the post-rebate price or the gross price?

Common pitfalls

Confusing the Accelerator with a paid retrofit consultancy. Several for-profit firms in NYC offer Local Law 97 advisory services, and some buildings end up paying for advice that the Accelerator provides at no cost. Confirm an advisor's MOCEJ affiliation before signing any engagement letter.
Skipping the small-building track and going straight to a contractor. Small-building owners often assume the Accelerator is only for large buildings. The 1-9 unit track is active and underused.
Assuming the Accelerator files rebates. It does not. The advisor identifies the right rebate, but you or your contractor submits the paperwork to the rebate administrator.
Treating contractor introductions as endorsements. The Accelerator's contractor list is a starting point. Run the same diligence you would on any other bid: licenses, insurance, references, prior NYC work.
Booking a single session and stopping there. Multi-year retrofits require multiple touchpoints. The advisor relationship is meant to span the project, not a single intake call.

Important dates

NYC Accelerator does not have a published program-end date as of May 27, 2026. Funding is renewed annually through the Mayor's Office budget cycle, so program continuity tracks the city budget rather than a fixed sunset. Local Law 97 compliance periods step tighter at 2030 and again at 2035; building owners facing those deadlines should book Accelerator engagements multiple years in advance of the step.

Source

NYC Accelerator program site (retrieved May 27, 2026)
NYC Mayor's Office of Climate and Environmental Justice (retrieved May 27, 2026)
NYC Local Law 97 overview page, NYC Sustainability (retrieved May 27, 2026; cited for the Accelerator's compliance-support role)

NYSERB.com is an independent research site. It is not affiliated with the NYC Mayor's Office of Climate and Environmental Justice, the City of New York, the State of New York, or any utility. Verify all program details and incentive amounts directly with the NYC Mayor's Office of Climate and Environmental Justice before making any financial decision.

Verified against accelerator.nyc, www.nyc.gov on May 27, 2026.