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If you want you can boil it first before drinking as an extra precaution.
Boil NYC tap water? Nah. I've only boiled water when travelling abroad. NYC (and Long Island) have great tap water. I have tried to drink straight from the tap in some other places (Florida, southwest) and UGH ... not poisonous or anything but tasted awful.
Boiling will only kill microorganisms (and not all of 'em!), but won't remove things like lead or other compounds, minerals or metals dissolved in the water, which contribute to the taste (and, in the case of lead, toxicity). But NO water is sterile!!!
Just because you don't immediately come down with something after having a glass of tap water does not mean it doesn't have low levels of dangerous chemicals which, over a long period of time, could result in some disease.
NYC's water comes directly via massive pipes from protected watersheds and reservoirs upstate. The city has invested much money in acquiring land within the watersheds to ensure the quality of the water. As a result, the city has excellent water quality and there is no need to filter or boil (?!?!) the water. The pipes WITHIN your building may be another matter, however, and you should take advantage of the city's free lead testing program. just call 311 and tell them that you want a lead testing kit. They'll mail it to you with instructions and you get lead results back in a few weeks. We've done it in each apartment we've lived in. No lead yet, but you never know.
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