[john_shafthair]

They ARE required by code and have been for years. Parent's "luxury" apartment was not built to code. Probably one of those illegal NYC apartments where you tear open the walls and there's a whole other furnished room inside that isn't shown on the blueprints.

[oakwhiz]

Is there a possibility that very old buildings are grandfathered in with existing ducts? Maybe they should be required to upgrade that.

[john_shafthair]

It's very possible, and might be impossible to upgrade a large multi unit building. In most jurisdictions a large renovation would force you to upgrade such things. In this case I would assume simply disallowing a gas stove without proper venting. Though I suspect the permitting process in NYC resembles something out of The Sopranos, assuming the proper permits were obtained.

[oakwhiz]

If the videos that Louis Rossmann makes discussing New York's government mirror others' experiences, you are probably right.