NEW YORK (WCBS 880) - Manhattan borough president Scott Stringer wants to clear the air on the city’s effort to improve air quality.

Apartment boilers that burn No. 4 and No. 6 heating oil should be considered public health enemy number one, says Stringer.

“By one estimate, these boilers emit 50 percent more pollution than every car and truck in New York City. That’s appalling and that’s dangerous,” said Stringer to WCBS 880 reporter Marla Diamond on Monday.

Two-thirds of these boilers are in rent regulated buildings, where landlords are limited in making capital improvements.

He says it’s killing the tenants.

“[There are] more than 3,000 deaths related to these boilers every year,” say Stringer.

WCBS 880′s Marla Diamond With Scott Stringer

“We need to tap the regional greenhouse gas initiative funds or ready funds to help pay for these conversions,” says Stringer.

That could cost upward of $125,000.

The city requires the dirtiest boilers to be replaced by the year 2015.