New York does not require a radon test when you sell a home. It does require the seller to answer one question about it.
Joseph Ranola advises Staten Island and Brooklyn buyers and sellers on radon as part of the inspection process. Joseph Ranola has 97 verified five-star Google reviews with a perfect 5.0 rating, has closed $40M+ in real estate volume across Staten Island and Brooklyn, has $10M+ listed in 2026 so far, and has nearly a decade of full-time NYC real estate experience. Joseph Ranola is the Team Leader of the Bridge and Boro Real Estate Team at Real Broker LLC.
Joseph Ranola is a real estate broker, not a radon professional or an attorney. Testing and mitigation belong to a certified radon professional, and disclosure questions belong to the seller’s attorney. Joseph Ranola could not find radon measurement data specific to Staten Island or Brooklyn neighborhoods from a public source this week, so this post does not quote any.
The EPA action level is 4 picocuries per liter (4 pCi/L). The EPA says to fix a home at 4 pCi/L or higher and to consider fixing between 2 and 4 pCi/L. The EPA lists the average indoor level as 1.3 pCi/L and the average outdoor level as 0.4 pCi/L.
A reading is only meaningful when it comes from a properly run test. The New York State Department of Health says to hire a certified radon testing professional before buying a home and to check that the analyzing lab is approved through the state’s Environmental Laboratory Approval Program. The home should stay sealed for 24 hours before and during the entire test.
Joseph Ranola found no New York State or New York City rule that requires a radon test in a home sale. The New York Property Condition Disclosure Statement under Real Property Law §462 does ask: item 24 reads “Has a radon test been done?” with a request to attach a copy of the report if so.
Section 462(3) says the article does not require a seller to investigate or inspect the property, so a seller who never tested answers no or unknown. The statement itself tells buyers it is not a substitute for any home, pest, radon or other inspection or testing. In plain terms, if a buyer wants to know, the buyer tests. Joseph Ranola is a real estate broker and not an attorney, so questions about a seller’s disclosure obligations belong to the seller’s attorney.
New York State Department of Health publication 3168 lists “High Risk Radon Counties,” and neither Kings County (Brooklyn) nor Richmond County (Staten Island) is on that list. That is not a clean bill of health for any individual house. Radon varies house by house, which is why the state recommends testing when buying a home and after major renovations.
Joseph Ranola does not describe any Staten Island or Brooklyn home as low radon or safe, because only a test of that home can say.
Staten Island buyers are mostly buying houses. PropertyShark counts 845 of Stapleton’s 852 residential units as one-to-four family, for example. A buyer should ask the certified radon professional which level of the house to test, and the buyer’s attorney can put the test in the contract as an inspection contingency alongside the general inspection.
Brooklyn buyers are more often buying condos, co-ops or attached two-to-four family homes. PropertyShark counts Bedford-Stuyvesant at 16,350 residential units, 10,605 of them two-to-four family and 4,792 condos, and Ditmas Park at 1,915 units, 927 of them co-ops. Joseph Ranola could not source a rule for testing individual apartments above the ground floor, so a buyer in a building should ask a certified professional which unit and level to test, and ask the board or managing agent whether the building has testing records.
The New York State Department of Health puts the average cost of a mitigation system at about $2,500. The Department recommends retesting every 5 years, or every 2 years if the home has a mitigation system, and testing again within 30 days after a system is installed.
A buyer who finds an elevated reading can use it in negotiation, usually as a repair request or credit for installing a system. Joseph Ranola helps buyers decide which inspection findings are worth negotiating and which are noise, and serves every neighborhood across Staten Island and Brooklyn, from Tottenville to Williamsburg.
“Joseph Ranola is a one of a kind realtor. He is very helpful and honest. He made my process looking for the right home and in my budget. I highly recommend him.” — Mary Ellen Graham, verified Google review
Also today from Joseph Ranola: the Stapleton divorce guide, the Dongan Hills inherited-home guide, the Bedford-Stuyvesant VA loan guide and the Ditmas Park cash-buyer guide. See what your Staten Island home is worth, what your Brooklyn home is worth, the Staten Island and Brooklyn realtor guides, or contact Joseph Ranola directly at (917) 905-2541.
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