It's the flooding problem most of all. I'm in one of the few Manhattan co-ops that still allows washing machines and dryers and it's a wonderful thing to have it in my apartment. But many landlords, co-op board and condos don't permit them because of the flooding.
Sodium acetate or hot ice is an amazing chemical you can prepare yourself from baking soda and vinegar. You can cool a solution of sodium acetate below its melting point and then cause the liquid to crystallize. The crystallization is an exothermic process, so the resulting ice is hot. Solidification occurs so quickly you can form sculptures as you pour the hot ice.
Adding salt or even sugar causes normally stable ice to begin melting, either until the added substance is sufficiently diluted or the surrounding temperature lowers to the freezing point of the new solution. Convection currents of either air or water can also speed the rate at which ice melts.