RIers have more tenants rights than most states. The problem is that the easiest way to express those rights is to wihthold rent, declare the lease invalid (due to landlord not meeting their requirements) and move, which of course in the recent elevating rent environment is tough to do. Or for lower income people, etc. it can be hard to qualify with others so they end up dealing with it and trying to get code enforcement to deal with the problems. Hence the stories you hear. These absentee landlords exist in MA too.

The problem with the gas is that the law/insurance does not allow delivery folks to fuck with the gas. So you have to pay an installer to do it, and also you have to buy new flex hose and fittings. This means your $600 range comes with $75 in extra material plus a $300 install price. So your landlord/whoever probably didn't want to pay it. You will have the same problem again and again unless you have a plumber on site at the same time (or their maintenance guy, whatever). It doesn't matter if they come by and turn off the gas first, the delivery dudes are not going to hook up the gas. At least this is the case with the big box stores.

Not providing heat is a big issue. The general requirement is that the heat works to get the apartment to 68 degrees. If this isn't happening then the best way to deal with this is to say that without the heat you are going to a hotel/whatever and will deduct the price of the hotel from the rent. You need to document all of this and it's best to work with them first.