New York City—the largest US metro area by population—is experimenting with a new mode of water utility governance to cope with municipal debt. After a fifteen-year hiatus, water service shutoffs are again legal and operational in the city, resulting in thousands of households without running water. We ask: why?

Our research in NYC probes the changing political economy of utility governance and public service provision that has led to reinstatement of the shutoff. In the face of such punitive practices, we learn from New Yorkers who are organizing to push back and transform utility governance—to truly achieve ‘water for all’.