A hotline that's been around for more than a decade is available to city tenants who need help with heating this winter.

The Met Council on Housing created the emergency line to bolster tenant's rights to have heat and hot water.

"If a tenant doesn't have heat, they might be scared to speak up and say I need heat it's really cold because they're afraid their lease isn't going to get renewed,” said Trinity Mirabito, a hotline volunteer. “Good cause would stop that from happening it would keep people in their homes. It already exists for many renters across the city and the state and we're really trying to make it a statewide right."

If you'd like more information on that hotline, click on the link here.