Multiple Dwelling Law

TITLE 2
FIRE PROTECTION AND SAFETY

S 50. Entrance halls. Every entrance hall in every multiple dwelling
erected after April eighteenth, nineteen hundred twenty-nine, shall be
at least four feet in clear width from the entrance to the first stair,
and beyond that shall be at least three feet eight inches in clear
width. If such an entrance hall is the only entrance to more than one
flight of stairs, the required width of such hall shall be increased in
every part, for each such additional flight of stairs, by one-half the
width required for one flight of stairs.

S 50-a. Entrances: doors, locks and intercommunication systems. 1.
Every entrance from the street, passageway, court, yard, cellar, or
similar entrance to a class A multiple dwelling erected or converted
after January first, nineteen hundred sixty-eight, except an entrance
leading to the main entrance hall or lobby which main entrance hall or
lobby is equipped with one or more automatic self-locking doors, shall
be equipped with automatic self-closing and self-locking doors and such
doors shall be locked at all times except when an attendant shall
actually be on duty. Every entrance from the roof to such a dwelling
shall be equipped with a self-closing door which shall not be
self-locking and which shall be fastened on the inside with movable
bolts, hooks or a lock which does not require a key to open from inside
the dwelling.
2. Every class A multiple dwelling erected or converted after January
first, nineteen hundred sixty-eight containing eight or more apartments
shall also be equipped with an intercommunication system. Such
intercommunication system shall be located at an automatic self-locking
door giving public access to the main entrance hall or lobby of said
multiple dwelling and shall consist of a device or devices for voice
communication between the occupant of each apartment and a person
outside said door to the main entrance hall or lobby and to permit such
apartment occupant to release the locking mechanism of said door from
the apartment.
3. On or after January first, nineteen hundred sixty-nine, every class
A multiple dwelling erected or converted prior to January first,
nineteen hundred sixty-eight, shall be equipped with automatic
self-closing and self-locking doors, which doors shall be kept locked
except when an attendant shall actually be on duty, and with the
intercommunication system described in paragraph two of this section,
provided that tenants occupying a majority of all the apartments within
the structure comprising the multiple dwelling affected request or
consent in writing to the installation of such doors and
intercommunication system on forms which shall be prescribed by the
department, except that in the event a majority of tenants in occupancy
request or consent on or after January first, nineteen hundred
sixty-eight, to the installation of such doors or intercommunication
system such installation shall be started within ninety days, but need
not be completed until six months after the owner`s receipt of requests
or consents by a majority of the tenants, except that in any such
multiple dwelling owned or operated by a municipal housing authority
organized pursuant to article thirteen of the public housing law, such
installation need not be completed until one year after the owner`s
receipt of requests or consents by a majority of the tenants. If the
dwelling is subject to regulation and control of its residential rents
pursuant to the local emergency housing rent control act, the local city
housing rent agency shall upon the filing of executed forms containing
the required requests or consents, prescribe the terms under which the
costs of providing such doors and intercommunication systems may be
recovered by the owner from the tenants. In any multiple dwelling built
pursuant to the provisions of the redevelopment companies law in which
residential rents are limited by contract, the costs of providing such
doors and intercommunication systems may be recovered by the owner from
the tenants. The terms under which such costs may be recovered shall be
the same as those prescribed by the local city housing rent agency in
the city in which the multiple dwelling is located for dwellings subject
to regulation and control of rent pursuant to the local emergency
housing rent control act. Such costs shall not be deemed to be "rent" as
that term is limited and defined in the contract.
4. All such self-closing and self-locking doors, and
intercommunication systems shall be of a type approved by the department
and by such other department as may be prescribed by law and shall be
installed and maintained in a manner prescribed by the department and by
such other department.
5. Every owner who shall fail to install and maintain the equipment
required by this section, in the manner prescribed by the department,
and by such other department as may be prescribed by law, and any person
who shall wilfully destroy, damage, or jam or otherwise interfere with
the proper operation of, or remove, without justification, such
equipment or any part thereof shall be guilty of a misdemeanor as
provided in subdivision one of section three hundred four of the
multiple dwelling law and shall be punishable as provided therein.

S 50-c. Rights of tenants to operate and maintain a lobby attendant
service. 1. Tenants of every class A multiple dwelling containing eight
or more apartments shall be entitled to maintain and operate a lobby
attendant service for such multiple dwelling at any time or times when
an attendant hired or furnished by the owner thereof shall not be on
duty. Such lobby attendants so maintained by such tenants shall be
engaged solely for security purposes and shall perform no acts or duties
other than those which shall be directly related to the safety and
security of occupants and visitors to such building while in and about
the public portions thereof and no owner shall unreasonably hinder,
interfere with, obstruct or prohibit the maintenance and operation of
such service, provided that each attendant so engaged by tenants shall
at all times when on duty be stationed at and remain in the entrance
halls or public lobbies of the building adjacent to the main entrance
thereto, and provided further that no owner of such building shall be in
any manner liable or responsible for any injury to any such attendant or
for any damage or injury arising out of or resulting from any act or
omission of any such attendant or for the payment of any wages or other
compensation to such attendants. The lobby attendants furnished,
operated or maintained by tenants pursuant to this section may consist
of or include tenants or other occupants of the multiple dwelling and
may include either volunteer or paid personnel or a combination thereof.
2. Any agent, owner or other person who shall unreasonably interfere,
hinder, obstruct or prohibit the installation, maintenance and operation
of any such lobby attendant or shall unreasonably hinder or interfere
with the performance of the duties of such lobby attendant engaged
pursuant to this section, shall be guilty of a violation with a maximum
fine not to exceed fifty dollars.

S 51. Shafts, elevators and dumbwaiters. 1. Every shaft constructed
after April eighteenth, nineteen hundred twenty-nine, in any multiple
dwelling shall be enclosed on all sides with fireproof walls and shall
have fireproof doors and assemblies at all openings, with the doors
self-closing. Dumbwaiter shafts, except those adjoining public halls,
may be constructed with walls of gypsum plaster blocks approved by the
department, at least two inches thick if solid and at least three inches
thick if hollow.
2. All dumbwaiter doors constructed after such date shall be fastened
by an interior lock in the shaft operated and controlled from a central
point in the cellar or lowest story if there be no cellar.
3. The doors of every elevator shaft constructed after such date shall
be provided with an automatic device approved by the department to
prevent the normal operation of the elevator unless the hoistway door at
which the car is standing is closed and locked, or unless all hoistway
doors are locked in a closed position. Such doors may have a vision
panel of wire glass not exceeding one square foot in area.
4. Every elevator installed after such date shall be equipped with a
gate with an automatic device approved by the department to prevent the
normal operation of such elevator unless such gate is closed.
5. When any elevator or dumbwaiter constructed after such date opens
into more than one stair, elevator vestibule or other public hall on any
floor, such elevator or dumbwaiter shall be placed in a separate shaft.
Not more than three elevators or two dumbwaiters shall ever be placed in
the same shaft.
6. Every dwelling erected after such date which exceeds six stories or
sixty feet in height shall be equipped with one or more passenger
elevators, operative at all times, at least one of which shall be
accessible to every apartment above the entrance story.
7. In every multiple dwelling, elevator shafts, not previously
enclosed to the satisfaction of the department, shall be enclosed with
fireproof walls and shall have fireproof doors and assemblies, with the
doors self-closing.

S 51-a. Peepholes. In every multiple dwelling the owner shall provide
and maintain a peephole in the entrance door of each housing unit. Such
peephole shall be located, as prescribed by the department, but shall be
so located as to enable a person in such housing unit to view from the
inside of the entrance door any person immediately outside of the
entrance door to such housing unit. The provisions of this section shall
not apply to hotels or apartment hotels or to college or school
dormitories.

S 51-b. Mirrors in connection with self-service elevators. In all
multiple dwellings in which there are one or more self-service passenger
elevators, there shall, pursuant to such regulations as the department
shall prescribe, be affixed and maintained in each such elevator a
mirror which will enable persons prior to entering into such elevator to
view the inside thereof to determine whether any person is in such
elevator.

S 51-c. Rights of tenants to install and maintain locks in certain
entrance doors. Every tenant of a multiple dwelling, except a tenant of
a multiple dwelling under the supervision and control of a municipal
housing authority, occupied by him, except as a hotel or motel, or
college or school dormitory, shall have the right to install and
maintain or cause to be installed and maintained in the entrance door of
his particular housing unit in such multiple dwelling, a lock, separate
and apart from any lock installed and maintained by the owner of such
multiple dwelling, not more than three inches in circumference, as an
ordinary incident to his tenancy, provided that a duplicate key to such
lock shall be supplied to the landlord or his agent upon his request;
and every provision of any lease hereafter made or entered into which
reserves or provides for the payment by such tenant of any additional
rent, bonus, fee or other charge or any other thing of value for the
right or privilege of installing and/or maintaining any such lock, shall
be deemed to be void as against public policy and wholly unenforceable.

S 52. Stairs. 1. In every multiple dwelling erected after April
eighteenth, nineteen hundred twenty-nine, every interior stair,
fire-stair and fire-tower and every exterior stair in connection with
any dwelling altered or erected after January first, nineteen hundred
fifty-one, shall be provided with proper balustrades or railings and all
such interior and exterior stairs shall be kept in good repair and free
from any encumbrance. Every such stair, fire-stair and fire-tower more
than three feet eight inches wide shall be provided with a handrail on
each side.
2. The upper surface of every balustrade or railing placed in any
stair after April eighteenth, nineteen hundred twenty-nine, shall be at
least two feet six inches and at most two feet eight inches above the
front edge of the stair treads, and at any stair landing shall be at
least two feet eight inches and at most three feet above the level of
such landing.
3. The treads and risers of every stair, fire-stair and fire-tower
constructed after April eighteenth, nineteen hundred twenty-nine, in any
multiple dwelling shall be of uniform height and width in any one
flight. Each tread, exclusive of nosing, shall be not less than nine and
one-half inches wide; each riser shall not exceed seven and
three-quarters inches in height; and the product of the number of inches
in the width of the tread and the number of inches in the height of the
riser shall be at least seventy and at most seventy-five.
4. No winding stairs shall be constructed in any multiple dwelling.
5. a. Except as otherwise provided in paragraph b of this subdivision,
every stair constructed after April eighteenth, nineteen hundred
twenty-nine, leading to a cellar or basement from the first story above
shall be entirely enclosed with fireproof walls and be provided with
fireproof doors and assemblies at both top and bottom, with the doors
self-closing; except that, in a non-fireproof multiple dwelling erected
before such date, where such a stair is permitted such enclosing walls
may be fire-retarded.
b. When the first floor or a part thereof, in a fireproof multiple
dwelling, is used for business purposes, a stair leading to a cellar or
basement from such business space shall be enclosed in fireproof walls
having a fire-resistive rating of at least three hours and be provided
with a fireproof door and assembly at the bottom, with the door
self-closing. No opening shall be permitted between such business space
and the remainder of the dwelling.
6. The department shall have the power to make supplementary
regulations relating to fire-towers.
7. In every multiple dwelling erected under plans filed with the
department after January first, nineteen hundred sixty, on every story
above the entrance story every door opening into such stair shall be so
hung and arranged that in opening and when opened it shall at no point
reduce the clear and unobstructed required width of the stair or stair
landing.
8. The provisions of this section shall not apply to a stair within an
apartment provided that each level of the apartment is provided with
required means of egress complying with the provisions of this article.

S 53. Fire-escapes. Every fire-escape erected after April eighteenth,
nineteen hundred twenty-nine, shall be located, arranged, constructed
and maintained in accordance with the following provisions:
1. Access to a fire-escape shall be from a living room or private hall
in each apartment or suite of rooms at each story above the entrance
story, and such access shall not include any window of a stairhall.
a. Such room or private hall shall be an integral part of such
apartment or suite of rooms and accessible to every room thereof without
passing through a public hall.
b. When one or more living rooms of any apartment are rented to
boarders or lodgers, every such room shall be directly accessible to a
fire-escape without passing through a public hall, and for separately
occupied living rooms access to fire-escapes shall be direct from such
rooms without passing through a public hall or any other separately
occupied room, except as may be permitted for dormitories in section
sixty-six.
c. Access to any fire-escape shall not be obstructed by sinks or
kitchen fixtures or in any other way. Iron bars, grilles, gates, or
other obstructing devices on any window giving access to fire-escapes or
to a required secondary means of egress shall be unlawful unless such
devices are of a type approved by the board of appeals and are installed
and maintained as prescribed by the board; provided, however, that in a
city having a population of one million or more, such devices shall be
of a type approved, installed and maintained as prescribed by the fire
commissioner, or as previously approved and prescribed by the board of
standards and appeals of such city, except as otherwise provided by said
commissioner.
d. Every such fire-escape shall be accessible to one or more exterior
doors or windows opening from the room, apartment, suite of rooms or
other space which it serves as means of egress, and such window or door
shall be two feet or more in clear width and two feet six inches or more
in clear height. The sill of any such window shall be within three feet
of the floor.
2. A required fire-escape may be erected in any of the following
places:
a. On a wall facing a street or yard;
b. In a court of a non-fireproof multiple dwelling to serve an
apartment or suite of rooms which does not contain any room fronting
upon a street or yard, or in any inner court thirty-five feet or more in
its least horizontal dimension, provided the fire-escape does not
project more than four feet from the wall of the dwelling and is
directly connected at the bottom of such court with a fireproof
passageway at least three feet wide and seven feet high leading directly
to a street unless the court itself leads to a street;
c. In any outer court eighteen feet or more in width and thirty feet
or less in length;
d. In any outer court more than eighteen feet in width the length of
which does not exceed its width by more than seventy per centum;
e. In any outer court ten feet or more in width at every point and
situated on a lot line;
f. In any outer court seven feet or more in width at every point which
is situated on a lot line and extends from a street to a yard;
g. In a recess on the front wall of a multiple dwelling, provided the
recess does not exceed five feet in depth, is used solely for
fire-escape purposes and has seventy-five per centum or more of its area
open to the street, and is otherwise unenclosed and open at the top. No
such recess shall be counted as a part of the unoccupied area of the
premises or be construed as a court unless its entire area is open to
the street.
3. No fire-escape may project more than four and one-half feet into a
public highway from the lot line of the multiple dwelling it serves.
Every part of such fire-escape shall be at least ten feet above any
sidewalk directly below.
4. a. Every fire-escape shall be constructed of open balconies and
stairways of iron or stone capable of sustaining a load of at least
eighty pounds per square foot. The use or reuse of old materials or cast
iron in the construction of fire-escapes shall be unlawful.
b. Balconies for fire-escapes shall be three feet or more in clear
width except that a party-wall balcony as permitted by paragraph f of
subdivision one of section one hundred eighty-seven may be two feet in
clear width.
c. Every stairway shall be placed at an angle of sixty degrees or less
with flat open steps at least six inches in width and twenty inches in
length and with a maximum rise of nine inches. The opening in any
balcony for such a stairway shall be at least twenty-one by twenty-eight
inches.
5. a. There shall be provided from the lowest balcony a drop ladder
fifteen inches in width and of sufficient length to reach to a safe
landing place beneath. Such ladder shall be constructed, located and
arranged so as to be held in proper position at all times and, unless
properly counter-balanced, shall be placed in guides so that it can be
easily lowered.
b. The distance from the lowest balcony to the ground or safe landing
place beneath shall be not more than sixteen feet, except that the
department may permit such lowest balcony to be up to eighteen feet
above a public sidewalk because of structural conditions in any multiple
dwelling erected before April eighteenth, nineteen hundred twenty-nine.
c. No drop ladder shall be required where the distance from the lowest
balcony to a safe landing place beneath is five feet or less.
6. The balcony on the top story shall be provided with a stairway or a
gooseneck ladder from such balcony to and above the roof and securely
fastened thereto, except that no such stairway or ladder shall be
required:
a. On multiple dwellings two stories or less in height erected after
April eighteenth, nineteen hundred twenty-nine; or
b. Wherever there is a peak roof with a pitch in excess of twenty
degrees;
c. When the fire-escape is on the front of the dwelling, in a recess
on the front of the dwelling, or on an outer court opening to a street.
7. Every fire-escape if constructed of material subject to rusting
shall be painted with two or more coats of good paint in contrasting
colors; in the case of a new fire-escape the first coat before erection,
and the second coat after erection. Whenever a fire-escape becomes
rusty, the owner shall repaint it with two additional coats of good
paint.
8. a. Whenever a non-fireproof multiple dwelling is not provided with
sufficient means of egress in case of fire, the department may order
such additional fire-escapes or balconies as in its judgment may be
deemed necessary.
b. The owner of a multiple dwelling shall keep and maintain every
fire-escape thereon in good order and repair.
c. No person shall at any time place any encumbrance of any kind
before or upon any fire-escape, or place or keep a cover of any kind
over the stairway opening in a balcony of such fire-escape. An occupant
or tenant of a multiple dwelling who shall violate or assist in the
violation of the provisions of this paragraph shall be guilty of a
misdemeanor punishable as provided in section three hundred four.
9. No fire-escape shall be removed from or constructed on any existing
multiple dwelling without permission from the department. No fire-escape
shall be removed from any apartment without due precaution against
leaving occupants of such apartment without adequate means of egress in
case of fire. A wire, chain cable, vertical ladder or rope fire-escape
is an unlawful means of egress. Every such fire-escape, if required as a
means of egress, shall be removed and replaced by a system of
fire-escapes constructed and arranged as provided in this section.
10. The department shall have the power to make supplementary
regulations relating to fire-escapes.

S 54. Cellar entrance. There shall be a direct entrance to the cellar,
or to the lowest story if there be no cellar, from the outside of every
multiple dwelling erected after April eighteenth, nineteen hundred
twenty-nine, except that in non-fireproof multiple dwellings erected
after such date which are three stories or less in height and occupied
by not more than two families on any story, any stair leading to such
cellar or lowest story may be located inside the dwelling provided it is
enclosed in fireproof walls and fireproof doors and assemblies with the
doors self-closing, at both the level of such cellar or lowest story and
that of the story above. No such outside entrance existing in any
multiple dwelling on April eighteenth, nineteen hundred twenty-nine,
shall be obstructed.

S 55. Wainscoting. 1. Whenever the surface of walls, partitions or
ceilings in any apartment or suite of rooms of any non-fireproof
multiple dwelling is covered, sheathed or wainscoted wholly or in part
after April eighteenth, nineteen hundred twenty-nine, such covering
shall be backed solidly with plaster. In fireproof multiple dwellings
such covering shall be backed solidly and continuously or filled with
incombustible material. In the case of walls and partitions in
fireproof dwellings, such backing and filling shall extend to the
fireproof floor construction and in non-fireproof dwellings to the floor
beams. All such backing and filling shall be fire-stopped.
2. No wood wainscoting other than fireproofed wood complying with the
provisions of section fifty-eight shall be erected in any public hall,
stair or shaft of any multiple dwelling.

S 56. Frame buildings and extensions. 1. Except as provided in section
one hundred ninety-three and subdivision seven of this section, no frame
multiple dwelling shall be erected and no frame dwelling not used as a
multiple dwelling on April eighteenth, nineteen hundred twenty-nine,
shall be altered or converted to such use or occupancy.
2. No existing frame multiple dwelling shall be increased in height
nor shall it be altered to permit a greater occupancy on any story than
provided for on April eighteenth, nineteen hundred twenty-nine; except
that, if the walls of such a frame dwelling are faced with brick veneer
or with another material or combination of materials having a fire
resistive rating of at least one hour, and the entrance story thereof is
occupied by not more than one family, such entrance story may be altered
so that it may be occupied by not more than two families.
3. No frame building of any kind whatsoever shall be placed or built
upon the same lot with any multiple dwelling.
4. No multiple dwelling shall be placed or built upon the same lot
with any frame building.
5. No frame multiple dwelling, no wooden structure of any kind or
class on the same lot with any frame dwelling or with any multiple
dwelling, and no other building on the same lot with any frame dwelling,
shall be altered or converted so as to be enlarged, extended or
increased in height or bulk or in the number of rooms, apartments or
dwelling units therein; except that:
a. An extension seventy square feet or less in ground area the side
walls of which are of frame and brick filled or of masonry construction
may be added to any existing frame multiple dwelling if used solely for
bathrooms or waterclosets; and
b. An extension constructed with fireproof walls may be made to a
frame building if the first story of such extension is used solely for
business not prohibited by any local law or ordinance, or if such
extension contains not more than one living room on any story. No yard
or court shall be diminished by such extension so that its area or least
dimension is less than required by this chapter for a yard or court of a
multiple dwelling erected after April eighteenth, nineteen hundred
twenty-nine.
6. None of the provisions of this section shall apply to dwellings
erected under the provisions of article five-a of this chapter.
7. In any city the department may approve for any such dwelling three
stories or less in height, the alteration and conversion of that portion
of said dwelling used as a store or other non-residential use to no more
than one additional dwelling unit; provided, however, that: (a) such
space has been vacant for at least one year, and (b) such space has a
minimum of three hundred square feet of floor area, and (c) the
conversion must be for a class "A" use, and (d) said unit shall contain
a cooking space and a complete bathroom, and (e) all walls and ceilings
of the new dwelling unit shall be fire-retarded with one hour rated
fire-retarding materials, and (f) the height and bulk of the dwelling
shall not be increased, and (g) the dwelling will be in full compliance
with this chapter and other related and local ordinances, except that
the owner of said dwelling shall be entitled to consideration for
variances permitted in subdivision one and subparagraph five of
paragraph a of subdivision two of section three hundred ten of this
chapter for multiple dwellings and buildings existing prior to November
first, nineteen hundred forty-nine.

S 57. Bells; mail receptacles. 1. Whenever bells are installed at the
entrance to any multiple dwelling or at any door of an individual
apartment in a multiple dwelling, they shall be kept in good working
order.
2. Whenever the owner of a multiple dwelling has not arranged for mail
to be delivered to occupants thereof by himself, his agent or employees,
arrangements shall be made for the delivery of such mail in conformity
with regulations of the post office department.

S 58. Incombustible materials. Except as may be specifically provided
otherwise in this chapter, all required incombustible materials,
including fireproofed wood, shall be capable of withstanding
successfully standard fire tests as prescribed by the building code. In
the absence of any such prescribed requirements, the department shall
have the power to make supplementary regulations relative to standard
fire tests for incombustible materials.

S 59. Bakeries and fat boiling. 1. It shall be unlawful to construct
or maintain a bakery or a place of business where fat is boiled in any
non-fireproof multiple dwelling or upon the lot on which such dwelling
is situated, unless the ceiling, side walls and all exposed iron or
wooden beams, girders and columns within the said bakery or business
place where fat is boiled, are covered with fireproof materials.
2. There shall be no door, window, dumbwaiter shaft or other opening
between such a bakery or business place where fat is boiled and any
other part of the dwelling, except that:
a. There may be access to the public parts of the dwelling from any
bakery maintained therein if the product of such bakery is consumed
exclusively within such dwelling.
b. In a fireproof hotel where a retail bakery is maintained therein,
there may be access to the public parts of the hotel, provided the door
openings leading thereto from such bakery and the door assemblies are
fireproof with the doors self-closing, and provided the public parts of
such bakery premises are protected by one or more sprinkler heads.
c. In bakeries in which no fat is boiled and on the premises of which
there is no apparatus for fat boiling, a dumbwaiter communicating
between the place where the baking is done and a bakery store above may
be maintained if entirely enclosed in a brick shaft with walls eight
inches or more in thickness, without any openings whatever except one
door opening into the bakeshop and one into the bakery store. Every such
opening shall be provided with a fireproof door and assembly so arranged
that when one door is open, the other is entirely closed.
3. Every part of a bakery, its plumbing, and the yards and open spaces
adjoining shall be kept in good repair, in sanitary condition and free
from rodents and vermin.

S 60. Motor vehicle storage. A space may be provided and maintained in
any multiple dwelling or upon the premises thereof, or a structure may
be erected and maintained at the rear or side thereof, for the storage
of passenger motor vehicles but only with a written permit therefor when
required by local law and in accordance with every applicable local law,
ordinance, resolution, code provision or regulation and with the
following provisions:
1. a. It shall be unlawful to sell, store, handle or furnish gasoline,
oil or other fuel, or any article, accessory or service except storage,
or to construct or maintain repair or grease pits in any such space or
structure. The provisions of this section shall not prevent the keeping
of such gasoline, oil or other fuel as may be contained in the tank of
any such motor vehicle, and the cleaning or washing of such motor
vehicles.
b. Such space or structure shall be used solely for the storage of
passenger motor vehicles of the occupants of the multiple dwelling or of
multiple dwellings under common ownership, except that, in the event
such space or structure or part thereof is not used by such occupants,
it may be rented by the owner or owners of such dwelling or dwellings to
persons other than the occupants thereof. The space which has thus been
rented shall be made available to an occupant within thirty days after
written request therefor. Except as otherwise provided in paragraph d
herein transient parking for any period of less than one month by
non-occupants is unlawful. However, such space may be used also for the
storage of any type of mechanical or motor-driven equipment or other
accessory device or passenger bus required for the proper maintenance of
the site and of the dwellings thereon.
c. If any of the provisions contained in paragraphs a and b of this
subdivision is violated, the department charged with the enforcement of
this chapter or the fire department shall order and direct that no motor
vehicle may be stored or kept in such space or structure thereafter for
such period as either department shall determine, and thereupon the
permit shall be suspended and no motor vehicle shall be stored or kept
in such space or structure for such period.
d. A city may, by local law or ordinance, or the duly constituted
planning or appeal board or commission of a city may by granting an
approval, exception or variance, authorize transient parking for any
period of less than one month of motor vehicles in dwellings by
non-occupants in any space that is not let to an occupant pursuant to
the other provisions of this section. Such city may require a license
and impose a fee therefor, and adopt supplementary rules, regulations
and conditions under which such parking shall be permitted.
2. a. Every such space or structure shall be designed and constructed
to accommodate not more than two passenger motor vehicles for each
family in such multiple dwelling.
b. Such space or structure shall have a floor area within its
enclosing walls not greater than three hundred square feet per vehicle
for each such family, including car parking spaces and aisles.
c. Every such storage space or structure shall be fireproof
throughout, except that any extension of such storage space or structure
beyond the exterior walls of a fireproof dwelling not exceeding one
story in height and any separate structure on the same lot as a
fireproof dwelling may be of uncombustible material with a
fire-resistive rating of at least two hours, if such extension or
separate structure complies with the provisions of paragraph e of this
subdivision.
d. When constructed within a multiple dwelling such storage space
shall be equipped with a sprinkler system and also with a system of
mechanical ventilation in no way connected with any other ventilating
system. Such storage space shall have no opening into any other part of
the dwelling except through a fireproof vestibule. Any such vestibule
shall have a minimum superficial floor area of fifty square feet and its
maximum area shall not exceed seventy-five square feet. It shall be
enclosed with incombustible partitions having a fire-resistive rating of
three hours. The floor and ceiling of such vestibule shall also be of
incombustible material having a fire-resistive rating of at least three
hours. There shall be two doors to provide access from the dwelling to
the car storage space. Each such door shall have a fire-resistive rating
of one and one-half hours and shall be provided with a device to prevent
the opening of one door until the other door is entirely closed. One of
these doors shall swing into the vestibule from the dwelling and the
other shall swing from the vestibule into the car storage space. The
door from the vestibule to the dwelling shall be at least twenty feet
distant in a non-fireproof dwelling or twelve feet in a fireproof
dwelling from any stair enclosure, elevator shaft, or any opening to any
other vertical shaft. Such vestibule shall also be equipped with
sprinklers and with an exhaust duct having a minimum cross-sectional
area of one hundred forty-four square inches and shall not be connected
with any other ventilating system.
e. Such storage space may be extended beyond the exterior walls of a
fireproof dwelling without any separating walls between its interior and
exterior portion provided that such extension is roofed over and
equipped with sprinklers throughout. Such extension shall be open to the
outer air on at least two sides and in no event shall more than fifty
percent of its vertical surface area be enclosed in any manner. Any such
extension shall not be deemed to be a storage space within a multiple
dwelling. Any enclosed sub-surface space beneath such an extension shall
however, comply with all the provisions of this section applicable to
storage space within a multiple dwelling. Any portion of such extension
of storage space or of a separate structure for such storage purposes
appurtenant to a multiple dwelling which face any dwelling within a
distance of twenty feet therefrom or which is within thirty feet of any
living room window of any dwelling shall be unpierced except for door
openings for vehicles. A separate structure for such storage purposes
appurtenant to a multiple dwelling may adjoin such dwelling provided
that the part of the wall separating such space from the dwelling is
fireproof and unpierced, except by a fireproof vestibule as provided in
subdivision d. Such extension or separate structure shall be adequately
screened at grade level. That part of the roof of an extension within
thirty feet of any living room window of any dwelling shall not be used
for parking or storage of motor vehicles or the ingress thereto or
egress therefrom by motor vehicles.
f. Any such structure one story in height or any extension of a
storage space within a multiple dwelling beyond the exterior wall of
such dwelling where such extension is one story in height, shall not be
deemed an encroachment upon a yard or its equivalent or a court. Any
such structure or extension in excess of such height shall be deemed an
encroachment thereupon.
g. In a completely enclosed storage structure or a storage space
within a multiple dwelling except for vehicle entrance doors, all doors,
windows and their assemblies in the exterior walls of any such space or
structure accommodating more than five motor vehicles shall be fireproof
and such windows shall be either fixed windows or automatic fire windows
and glazed with wire glass. Any door or vehicle entrance to such space
or structure accommodating more than five motor vehicles shall be at
least twenty feet distant from any door giving access to any required
entrance hall from outside of the dwelling and shall be at least eight
feet distant from any other entrance or exit of such dwelling. However,
in such space the windows in an exterior wall which faces the street may
be of incombustible material and be glazed with plain glass, provided
that such windows are thirty feet or more, measured in a horizontal
direction, from any opening in the exterior wall of the dwelling.
h. Notwithstanding any other provision of this section when such
storage space or structure is designed and constructed within or
appurtenant to a converted dwelling to accommodate not more than three
motor vehicles, (1) the ceiling and the enclosing walls may be of
materials having a fire-resistive rating of not less than one hour and
the floors shall be fireproof; (2) only one opening shall be permitted
in the enclosure partition between the garage and the dwelling and such
opening shall be protected by a fireproof door and assembly with the
door self-closing; (3) a sprinkler system for such space shall not be
required; and (4) in lieu of mechanical ventilation, such space may have
fixed ventilation of not less than one hundred and forty-four square
inches for each motor vehicle.
3. The agency of a city authorized by law to make rules supplemental
to laws regulating construction, maintenance, use and area of buildings
and to grant variances of the zoning resolution shall have the power to
make rules to supplement the requirements of this section and, after
public hearing, may grant variances of local laws, resolutions, code
provisions or regulations which are more restrictive than the provisions
of this section, subject to such conditions as, in the opinion of such
agency, will best promote health, safety and welfare and carry out the
permissive intent of this section. All owners of property within a
radius of one hundred fifty feet of the entrance or entrance passage to
such space or structure shall be duly notified of any such public
hearing and shall be given due opportunity to be heard thereon. Nothing
in this section shall be deemed to prohibit the use of a part of such
lot or plot as a parking area for the exclusive use of the occupants of
such dwelling.
4. No parking area or space to be used for the storage of motor
vehicles upon the premises of a multiple dwelling shall encroach upon
any part of the lot or plot which is required by any provision of this
chapter to be left open and unoccupied.
5. None of the provisions of this section shall be construed as
permitting such space or structure or part thereof to be rented or
leased for the storage or warehousing of passenger or commercial type of
motor vehicles, which are part of stock of any person, firm or
corporation engaged in the purchase, sale or rental of such motor
vehicles.

S 61. Business uses. 1. Except as may be otherwise provided by any
local law, ordinance, rule or regulation, business may be conducted in
any multiple dwelling including:
a. Baking and fat-boiling as provided in section fifty-nine,
b. Storage of passenger motor vehicles as provided in section sixty,
and
c. Any manufacturing business in which seven or more persons are
employed, or any employment agency as defined in section one hundred
seventy-one of the general business law other than a non-profit
employment agency in a fireproof class B multiple dwelling owned and
occupied by a non-profit corporation organized for and engaged
exclusively in promoting religious, education or philanthropic purposes,
provided that every means of egress from such a business space shall be
separate and distinct from and without means of communication with any
means of egress from the dwelling portion of the building.
2. The number of means of egress from the portion of any multiple
dwelling where business is conducted shall be in conformity with those
provisions of the local laws, ordinances, rules and regulations covering
means of egress from buildings in which a like business is conducted.
3. There shall be no manufacturing business conducted above the second
floor of any non-fireproof multiple dwelling.
4. Where business is conducted in any multiple dwelling erected before
April eighteenth, nineteen hundred twenty-nine, such business space
shall also comply with all the following requirements in a manner which
the department shall deem adequate to prevent the spread of fire:
a. Within or appurtenant to such space, all pipe chases and openings
around flues shall be fire-stopped, and such flues shall be kept in good
order and repair.
b. All other openings from such space into non-fireproof shafts or
into entrance halls shall either be sealed with fire-retarded material
or equipped with a self-closing fire-retarded door or window with
fire-retarded assemblies.
5. Where business is conducted in any non-fireproof multiple dwelling
erected after April eighteenth, nineteen hundred twenty-nine, the walls
and ceiling of such business space shall be fire-retarded. The
department may also require the walls and ceilings of any business space
in any multiple dwelling erected before such date to be fire-retarded
when the department shall deem such requirement necessary for the
protection of the occupants.
6. If the ground story of any non-fireproof multiple dwelling is
extended for business purposes, the underside of the roof of such
extension shall be fire-retarded. If there are fire-escapes above such
extension, its roof shall be fireproof.

S 62. Parapets, guard railings and wires. 1. Every open area of a
roof, terrace, areaway, outside stair, stair landing, retaining wall or
porch and every stair window of a multiple dwelling erected after April
eighteenth, nineteen hundred twenty-nine, shall be protected in a manner
approved by the department by a parapet wall or a guard railing three
feet six inches or more in height above the level of such area, or, in
the case of a stair window, above the level of the floor adjacent
thereto, unless the department shall deem that such protection is not
necessary for safety. In any multiple dwelling where a bulkhead door or
scuttle cover opens within four feet of the edge of the roof, that part
of the roof which is immediately adjacent to such door or cover shall be
adequately protected. Such protection shall consist of guard rails or
parapet walls extending at least three feet six inches above the level
of the roof, and shall be arranged and placed in a manner approved by
the department, but shall not be required for such bulkhead door or
scuttle cover when the bulkhead or scuttle on such dwelling is
immediately adjacent to, and also on the same level as or on a lower
level than, the roof of a contiguous building. This subdivision shall
not apply to the open area of a roof of a garden-type maisonette
dwelling project.
2. All radio, antennae or other wires over any roof shall, unless
otherwise permitted by the department, be kept ten feet or more above
such roof, and no radio, television antennae or other wires shall be
attached to any fire escape or to any soil or vent line extending above
the roof.

S 63. Sub-curb uses. 1. When any living room is below the level of the
highest curb in front of any multiple dwelling erected after April
eighteenth, nineteen hundred twenty-nine, in accordance with the
provisions of paragraph f of subdivision one of section thirty-four, all
portions of such dwelling below such level shall be fireproof throughout
except that windows therein need not be fireproof but shall be of
incombustible material and may be glazed with plain glass.
2. Except in multiple dwellings which do not exceed eighty feet in
height measured from the lowest point of any curb on which any part of
the dwelling faces, at least one means of egress from any apartment or
suite of rooms below the level of the highest curb in front of such a
dwelling shall lead directly to the street in front of said dwelling and
at least one such means to the yard or street in the rear of said
dwelling. Every yard in the rear of every such multiple dwelling,
regardless of the height of such dwelling, shall at the lowest level of
such yard be provided with a fire passage in compliance with the
requirements for such a passage in paragraph f of subdivision five of
section twenty-six.
3. Notwithstanding any other provisions of this section the department
may require such additional means of egress from the said dwelling or
protection from fire as the department may deem necessary for the safety
of the occupants.

S 64. Lighting; gas meters; gas and oil appliances. 1. Every multiple
dwelling after July first, nineteen hundred fifty-five, shall be
adequately equipped throughout all stories and cellars for lighting by
gas or electricity, with proper fixtures at every light outlet,
including lighting for all means of egress leading to the street, yards
or courts, and for every room, water-closet compartment, bathroom, stair
or public hall.
2. No gas meter, other than a replacement meter, installed in a
multiple dwelling after July first, nineteen hundred fifty-five, shall
be located in any boiler room or other room or space containing a
heating boiler, nor in any stair hall, nor in any public hall above the
cellar or above the lowest story if there is no cellar, except that in
any multiple dwelling where there is an existing gas meter located in
any boiler room or other room or space containing a heating boiler, one
additional gas meter may be installed in such room or space, provided
such additional gas meter is installed adjacent to such existing gas
meter and is used in conjunction with the supply of gas for a gas-fired
heating boiler or a gas-fired water heater used as a central source of
supply of heat or hot water for the tenants residing in such multiple
dwelling. Such additional gas meter may be installed only upon condition
that space heaters or hot water appliances in the apartments are
eliminated. For the purposes of this subdivision, the term "gas meter"
shall not include any instrument, device or apparatus used to measure
the consumption of gas where no gas, manufactured, natural or mixed, is
contained in or flows through such instrument, device or apparatus,
provided that such instrument, device or apparatus is approved by and
installed under the supervision of the city agency vested by law with
jurisdiction to inspect and test wiring and appliances for electric
light, heat and power and provided further that the location of such
instrument, device or apparatus is approved by the department.
3. It shall be unlawful to place, use, or to maintain in a condition
intended, arranged or designed for use, any gas-fired cooking appliance,
laundry stove, heating stove, range or water heater or combination of
such appliances in any room or space used for living or sleeping in any
new or existing multiple dwelling unless such room or space has a window
opening to the outer air or such gas appliance is vented to the outer
air. All automatically operated gas appliances shall be equipped with a
device which shall shut off automatically the gas supply to the main
burners when the pilot light in such appliance is extinguished. A gas
range or the cooking portion of a gas appliance incorporating a room
heater shall not be deemed an automatically operated gas appliance.
However, burners in gas ovens and broilers which can be turned on and
off or ignited by non-manual means shall be equipped with a device which
shall shut off automatically the gas supply to those burners when the
operation of such non-manual means fails. All gas appliances shall be
connected directly to the gas supply by means of rigid piping or other
approved connectors or connections of incombustible materials. All such
automatically operated gas appliances and devices shall be approved by
the local agency empowered to grant the same.
4. It shall be unlawful to use, or to maintain in a condition
intended, arranged or designed for use, in any multiple dwelling any
oil-burning equipment for heating or cooking, unless such equipment has
been approved for design, manufacture and appropriate safety and
ventilating requirements by the local board of standards and appeals;
provided, however, that in a city having a population of one million or
more, approval of such equipment for use in any multiple dwelling shall
be made by the commissioner of buildings or the fire commissioner, as
appropriate, in accordance with local law.
5. All appliances in use after June thirtieth, nineteen hundred
fifty-five, shall conform to the provisions of subdivisions three and
four of this section except that appliances now in use shall conform to
such provisions not later than June thirtieth, nineteen hundred
fifty-six.

S 65. Boiler rooms. 1. Except as hereafter provided, in every multiple
dwelling erected after April eighteenth, nineteen hundred twenty-nine,
which is four stories or more in height the boiler shall be enclosed in
a room or space constructed with fireproof walls extending from the
floor construction to the ceiling construction, and all openings
therefrom to other portions of the dwelling shall be equipped with
fireproof doors and assemblies with the doors self-closing. However, in
all multiple dwellings, on and after January first, nineteen hundred
sixty-six, a room or space provided with a central heating plant shall
be completely enclosed with incombustible materials having a standard
fire-resistive rating of at least one hour.
2. In such a dwelling access to a cellar or lowest story in which a
boiler is located shall not be through any boiler room, nor shall any
cellar or basement stair or any shaft be installed within a boiler room.
3. The department shall have the power to make supplementary
regulations relating to boiler or furnace rooms.

S 66. Lodging houses. 1. It shall be unlawful to occupy any lodging
house unless such dwelling conforms to the provisions of the specific
sections enumerated in section twenty-five to the extent required
therein, including the provisions of this section, and to all other
applicable provisions of this chapter.
2. a. No wood or other combustible facing shall be permitted on the
walls, partitions or ceilings of entrance halls or other public halls or
stairs, except a flat baseboard ten inches or less in height. The stair
string, handrails, soffits, fascias, railings, balustrades and newel
posts shall be constructed of hard incombustible material and shall be
of such sizes and secured in such manner as approved by the department.
b. The walls and ceilings of all entrance halls, stair halls and other
public halls and stairs shall be fire-retarded on the hall or stair side
with half-inch plaster board covered with twenty-six gauge metal or
other materials approved by the department.
c. Except partitions forming existing cubicles, flat baseboards not
more than ten inches high and door and window assemblies not otherwise
required to be fire-retarded, all wood partitions and all combustible
coverings on walls or partitions throughout the portion of the dwelling
used for lodging-house purposes shall be protected with incombustible
material approved by the department.
d. The cellar ceiling and the ceiling of every story shall be
fire-retarded. The department may accept an existing ceiling if it is in
good condition and plastered, or covered with metal or with half-inch
plaster board covered with metal, or other materials approved by the
department, except that the ceiling over and the floor beneath any
furnace, stove, boiler or hot-water heater shall be fire-retarded and
such fire-retarding shall extend for a distance of at least four feet
beyond the sides and rear and eight feet in front of such furnace, stove
or heater. Metal breechings and flues connected to such devices shall be
made secure and be protected in conformity with regulations adopted by
the department.
e. Every window not opening to the outer air in an entrance, stair or
other public hall shall be removed, and the opening closed and
fire-retarded, except that interior windows or similar openings in
partitions forming the enclosure of entrance, stair or other public
halls may be retained if they are used in the operation and maintenance
of the lodging house and are protected by automatic fire windows.
f. There shall be one or more completely enclosed compartments remote
from any stairway for the storage of mattresses, linens, brooms, mops
and other paraphernalia incidental to the occupancy and maintenance of
the lodging house, and such paraphernalia shall be stored in no other
portion of such dwelling. The partitions forming each such compartment
shall be fire-retarded and shall be provided with a fireproof door and
door assembly with the door self-closing. Each such compartment shall be
ventilated in accordance with regulations adopted by the department. Any
space which is used for the storage of mattresses, in addition to
conforming to the other provisions of this section, shall be provided
with a window ten square feet or more in area, and such window shall
open upon a street or yard.
g. There shall be provided on each lodging-house story one or more
containers of metal or other hard incombustible material, with
self-closing lids, in which all scrap and refuse of a combustible nature
shall be placed until its disposal.
h. Insecticides and other fluids containing inflammable, volatile or
combustible material shall be stored in a completely enclosed
fire-retarded room or compartment, ventilated in accordance with
regulations adopted by the department, and only under authority of a
permit from the fire department.
3. a. In non-fireproof lodging houses there shall be in all
dormitories, entrance and other public halls, stairs, storage rooms,
cellars and other parts of the dwelling an automatic wet-pipe sprinkler
system, installed and maintained in conformity with regulations adopted
by the department. In connection with such sprinkler system there shall
be an automatic closed-circuit alarm system so arranged and installed as
to give warning, at a recognized central station satisfactory to the
fire department, of the closure of any valve controlling water supply to
any of the sprinklers and of the operation of any sprinkler head. Such
alarm system shall also be so installed and maintained that when a
sprinkler operates an alarm bell satisfactory to the fire department,
eight inches in diameter or at least capable of being heard clearly
throughout the room, will sound in each dormitory and in the office of
the lodging house, and that such alarm system can also be operated
manually. Such sprinkler and alarm systems shall have supervisory and
maintenance service satisfactory to the department and the fire
department respectively. Any existing fire alarm or sprinkler system
which can be altered or adapted to meet the requirements of this
paragraph may be so used instead of a completely new system.
b. In fireproof lodging houses all dormitories, entrance and other
public halls, stairs, storage rooms, cellars and other parts of the
dwelling shall either be equipped with a combined sprinkler and fire
alarm system as required for the lodging houses provided for in
paragraph a or be equipped throughout with an automatic, thermostatic,
closed-circuit fire alarm system. Such alarm system shall be so arranged
and installed that it can also be operated manually and that it will
give warning, at a recognized central station satisfactory to the fire
department, of the operation of any part of the alarm system. Such alarm
system shall also be so installed and maintained as to actuate an alarm
bell satisfactory to the fire department and at least eight inches in
diameter in each dormitory in the dwelling and in the lodging-house
office when the alarm system operates. Such alarm system shall have
supervisory and maintenance service satisfactory to the fire department.
4. a. There shall be at least two means of unobstructed egress from
each lodging-house story, which shall be remote from each other. The
first means of egress shall be to a street either directly or by an
enclosed stair having unobstructed, direct access thereto. If the story
is above the entrance story, the second means of egress shall be by an
outside fire-escape constructed in accordance with the provisions of
section fifty-three or by an additional enclosed stair. Such second
means of egress shall be accessible without passing through the first
means of egress.
b. All doors opening upon entrance halls, stair halls, other public
halls or stairs or elevator, dumbwaiter or other shafts, and the door
assemblies, shall be fireproof with the doors made self-closing by a
device approved by the department, and such doors shall not be held open
by any device whatever. All openings on the course of a fire-escape
shall be provided with such doors and assemblies or with fireproof
windows and assemblies, with the windows self-closing and glazed with
wire glass, such doors or windows and their assemblies to be acceptable
to the department.
c. There shall be unobstructed aisles providing access to all required
means of egress in all dormitories. Main aisles, approved as such by the
department to provide adequate approaches to the required means of
egress, shall be three feet or more in width, except that no aisle need
be more than two feet six inches wide if it is intersected at intervals
of not more than fifty feet by crossover aisles at least three feet wide
leading to other aisles or to an approved means of egress.
d. Every required means of egress from the lodging-house part of the
dwelling shall be indicated by a sign reading "EXIT" in red letters at
least eight inches high on a white background illuminated at all times
during the day and night by a light of at least twenty-five watts or
equivalent illumination. Such light shall be maintained in a keyless
socket. On all lodging-house stories where doors, openings, passageways
or aisles are not visible from all portions of such stories, and in
other parts of the dwelling which may be used in entering or leaving the
lodging-house part and in which a similar need exists, signs with easily
readable letters as least eight inches in height, and continuously and
sufficiently illuminated by artificial light at all times when the
natural light is not sufficient to make them easily readable, shall be
maintained in conspicuous locations, indicating the direction of travel
to the nearest means of egress. At least one such sign shall be easily
visible from the doorway of each cubicle.
e. Access from the public hall at the top story to the roof shall be
provided by means of a bulkhead or a scuttle acceptable to the
department. Every such scuttle and the stair or ladder leading thereto
shall be located within the stair enclosure.
5. The number of persons accommodated on any story in a lodging house
shall not be greater than the sum of the following components.
a. Twenty-two persons for each full multiple of twenty-two inches in
the smallest clear width of each means of egress approved by the
department, other than a fire-escape.
b. Twenty persons for each lawful fire-escape accessible from such
story if it is above the entrance story.
6. Existing cubicles complying with all other provisions of this
section may be maintained, provided the top of the enclosure of every
cubicle is at least two feet from the ceiling. Any rearrangement of
existing cubicles that may be made necessary by the provisions of this
section shall be lawful. Cubicles authorized by this section shall not
be considered rooms or alcoves but parts of the rooms in which they are
constructed.
7. The department shall cause all lodging houses to be inspected at
intervals of three months or less. All sections and parts of every
lodging house shall also be inspected by a clerk or watchman in the
employ of the owner at least once in every two hours.
8. a. The department shall have power to make supplementary
regulations relating to fire-escapes, protection from fire, and the
installation of sprinkler systems in lodging houses and the fire
department shall have power to make such regulations relating to fire
alarms therein.
b. Nothing in this section shall be deemed to abrogate any powers or
duties vested in the fire commissioner or the fire department of the
city of New York by chapter nineteen of the administrative code of the
said city.

S 67. Hotels and certain other class A and class B dwellings. 1. It
shall be unlawful to occupy any class A or class B multiple dwelling,
including a hotel, unless it conforms to the provisions of the specific
sections enumerated in section twenty-five to the extent required
therein, including the applicable provisions of this section and all
other applicable provisions of this chapter except that the provisions
of this section shall not apply to:
a. Converted dwellings;
b. Tenements;
c. Lodging houses;
d. Class A multiple dwellings erected under plans filed with the
department after April eighteenth, nineteen hundred twenty-nine.
2. Any such multiple dwelling, altered or erected after April fifth,
nineteen hundred forty-four, and which is required to conform to the
provisions of articles one, two, three, four, five, eight, nine and
eleven, shall not be required to conform to the provisions of
subdivisions three, six, nine and ten of this section.
3. The walls and ceiling of every entrance hall, stair hall or other
public hall, every hall or passage not within an apartment or suite of
rooms, every dumb-waiter, elevator, and, except as provided in paragraph
d of subdivision six, every other shaft, including stairs, connecting
more than two successive stories, shall be sealed off from every other
portion of the dwelling with fire-retarding materials approved by the
department, or, in lieu thereof, except in the case of elevator shafts,
shall be equipped with one or more automatic sprinkler heads. Nothing
contained herein shall be deemed to exempt from enclosure an interior
required means of egress. The provisions of this subdivision and similar
requirements of section sixty-one shall not apply to a store or space
used for business on any story where there are no sleeping rooms, when
such store or space is protected with sprinkler heads.
4. There shall be one or more completely enclosed compartments for the
storage of mattresses, furniture, paints, floor wax, linens, brooms,
mops and other such inflammable or combustible paraphernalia incidental
to the occupancy and maintenance of the dwelling, and such paraphernalia
shall be stored in no other portion of such dwelling. Such compartments
shall be completely protected by one or more automatic sprinkler heads.
Every door from any such compartment shall be self-closing. Closets
which do not exceed one hundred square feet in floor area may be used
for the temporary storage of such paraphernalia, except mattresses,
furniture, paints and insecticides containing inflammable materials and
are excluded from the requirements of this subdivision.
5. All kitchens and pantries serving restaurants in such non-fireproof
dwellings shall be equipped with one or more automatic sprinkler heads.
6. Except in fireproof class A multiple dwellings erected under plans
filed after January first, nineteen hundred twenty-five, and which were
completed before December thirty-one, nineteen hundred thirty-three, and
except as otherwise provided in paragraph c of this subdivision, in
every such dwelling three or more stories in height there shall be from
each story at least two independent means of unobstructed egress located
remote from each other and accessible to each room, apartment or suite.
a. The first means of egress shall be an enclosed stair extending
directly to a street, or to a yard, court or passageway affording
continuous, safe and unobstructed access to a street, or by an enclosed
stair leading to the entrance story, which story shall have direct
access to a street. That area of the dwelling immediately above the
street level and commonly known as the main floor, where the occupants
are registered and the usual business of the dwelling is conducted,
shall be considered a part of the entrance story; and a required stair
terminating at such main floor or its mezzanine shall be deemed to
terminate at the entrance story. An elevator or an unenclosed escalator
shall never be accepted as a required means of egress.
b. The second means of egress shall be by an additional enclosed stair
conforming to the provisions of paragraph a of this subdivision, a
fire-stair, a fire-tower or an outside fire-escape. In a non-fireproof
dwelling when it is necessary to pass through a stair enclosure which
may or may not be a required means of egress to reach a required means
of egress, such stair enclosure and that part of the public hall or
corridor leading thereto from a room, apartment or suite, shall be
protected by one or more sprinkler heads; in a fireproof dwelling only
that part of the hall or corridor leading to such stair enclosure need
be so protected.
c. Where it is impractical in such existing dwellings to provide a
second means of egress, the department may order additional alteration
to the first means of egress and to shafts, stairs and other vertical
openings as the department may deem necessary to safeguard the occupants
of the dwelling, may require the public halls providing access to the
first means of egress to be equipped on each story with one or more
automatic sprinkler heads, and, in non-fireproof dwellings, may also
require automatic sprinkler heads in the stair which serves as the only
means of egress.
d. Nothing in this section shall be deemed to require the enclosure of
a stair which is ornamental provided such stair does not connect more
than two stories.
e. A stair, fire-stair, fire-tower or fire-escape which is
supplementary to the egress requirements of paragraphs a, b and c of
this subdivision need not lead to the entrance story or to a street, or
to a yard or a court which leads to a street, provided the means of
egress therefrom is approved by the department.
7. a. All doors opening from shafts, stair halls or stairs and the
door assemblies shall be fire-resistive with the doors self-closing and
without transoms or any other opening.
b. All other doors opening upon entrance halls or other public halls
or corridors in every part of the dwelling shall be self-closing. In
non-fireproof dwellings any existing openings in such doors, except in
doors to public toilet rooms or bathrooms, shall be closed and sealed in
such manner as to provide a fire-resistive rating equal to the
fire-resistive rating of the remainder of the door. Except as provided
in this paragraph, any existing transoms over such doors in such
non-fireproof dwellings shall be firmly secured in a closed position, or
removed and the openings closed, in a manner satisfactory to the
department. If such doors or transoms are glazed with plain glass, such
glass shall be removed and replaced with wire glass one-quarter of an
inch in thickness or replaced with material approved by the department.
In non-fireproof dwellings existing transoms or ventilating louvres in
public halls or corridors, and any openings in partitions separating
sleeping rooms from public halls or corridors to provide ventilation,
need not be replaced, closed or sealed provided such public halls or
corridors are protected by automatic sprinkler heads. When existing
ventilating louvres are located in the lower half of any such door they
may be retained and new ventilating louvres may be installed in the
lower half of any new or existing doors provided the openable area of
every such louvre does not exceed one hundred forty-four square inches
and the bottom of the opening is one foot or more above the finished
floor of the public hall or corridor upon which such door opens and, in
such case, no sprinkler system shall be required.
c. Every existing interior glazed sash, window or opening, other than
a door, in any partition forming required enclosures around stairs or
shafts shall be removed and the openings closed up and fire-retarded.
Where an existing sash provides borrowed light to a public hall or
corridor from a living room and there is no glass panel in the door
providing access to such room, such sash shall be made stationary in a
closed position and be glazed with wire glass one-quarter inch in
thickness, or be entirely removed and the opening closed up with
incombustible material.
d. All openings which provide direct access to a fire-escape from a
public hall or corridor shall be equipped with fireproof doors and
assemblies with the door self-closing or fireproof windows glazed with
clear wire glass. Doors providing access to fire-escapes from public
halls or corridors may be glazed with clear wire glass.
e. It shall be unlawful to attach to or maintain on or about any door
required to be self-closing any device which prevents the self-closing
of such door.
8. a. (i) Every means of egress shall be indicated by a sign reading
"EXIT" in red letters at least eight inches high on a white background,
or vice versa, illuminated at all times during the day and night by a
red light of at least twenty-five watts or equivalent illumination. Such
light shall be maintained in a keyless socket. On all stories where
doors, openings or passageways giving access to any means of egress are
not visible from all portions of such stories, lighted or reflective
directional signs shall be maintained in conspicuous locations,
indicating in red on a white background, or vice versa, the direction of
travel to the nearest means of egress. In addition to being posted in
conspicuous locations, such signs located near the floor, giving
direction to the nearest means of egress, shall also be maintained. At
least one sign shall be visible from the doorway of each room or suite
of rooms. Existing signs and illumination may be accepted if, in the
opinion of the department, such existing signs and illumination serve
the intent and purpose of this subdivision. Supplementary stairs,
fire-stairs, fire-towers or fire-escapes which do not lead to the
entrance story or to a street or to a yard or court, leading to a
street, shall be clearly marked "NOT AN EXIT" in black letters at least
four inches high on a yellow background and at the termination of each
such stair, fire-stair, fire-tower or fire-escape, there shall be a
directional sign indicating the nearest means of egress leading to a
street. All signs shall be constructed, located and illuminated in a
manner satisfactory to the department.
b. On each floor of every hotel or motel having two or more stories
where the rooms or suites of rooms are connected by an interior hallway,
there shall be posted by each stairway, elevator or other means of
egress a printed scale floor plan of the particular story, which shall
show all means of egress, clearly labeling those to be used in case of
fire. Such signs shall be posted in other conspicuous areas throughout
the building. Said floor plan shall be no smaller than eight inches by
ten inches and shall be posted in such a manner that it cannot be
readily removed.
9. The ceiling of the story immediately below the entrance story shall
be fire-retarded or be equipped with one or more sprinkler heads. Any
boiler or furnace room within the dwelling used in connection with
supplying heat or hot water shall be enclosed with fire-retarded
partitions and every door opening therefrom and its assembly shall be
fireproof with the door self-closing. The ceiling of such room shall
also be fire-retarded or be equipped with one or more sprinkler heads.
10. a. There shall be provided in the roof directly over each stair,
fire-stair, fire-tower, dumb-waiter, elevator or similar shaft which
extends to or within one story of a roof, a ventilating metal skylight
having horizontal dimensions equal at least to seventy-five per centum
of the cross-sectional area of such shaft. Such skylight need not,
however, exceed twenty square feet in area. Where an existing skylight
is smaller than the dimensions or area prescribed in this paragraph, no
structural change shall be required, but a ventilating metal skylight
fitting the existing opening in the roof shall be sufficient. Every
skylight shall be glazed with plain glass in the roof of such skylight
and shall be equipped with metal screens over and under the skylight. In
lieu of a skylight a window of the same area at the top story shall be
accepted.
b. Whenever there is a flooring of solid construction at the top of
any enclosed stair, fire-stair, fire-tower, elevator or similar shaft,
openings shall be left near the top of such shaft for ventilation. Such
openings shall provide at least two hundred eighty-eight square inches
of unobstructed ventilation and shall communicate directly with the
outer air, or be otherwise ventilated in accordance with the provisions
of the local building code.
c. It shall be unlawful to discharge into any such shaft any
inflammable or volatile gases, liquids or other thing or matter which
would endanger life.
11. a. There shall be a fire-retarded bulkhead in the roof over, or
connecting directly by means of a public hall with the highest portion
of, every stair extending to the highest story below the main roof.
Stairs leading to such bulkheads shall be fire-retarded as required for
other public stairs and shall have at the top fireproof doors and
assemblies with the doors self-closing. All stairs to required bulkheads
shall be provided with a guide or handrail. A scuttle so constructed as
to be readily opened may be substituted for a bulkhead in such dwellings
two stories or less in height. Such scuttle shall be at least twenty-one
inches in width and twenty-eight inches in length, covered on the
outside with metal and provided with a stationary iron or steel ladder
leading thereto.
b. When a dwelling has a pitched or sloping roof with a pitch or slope
of more than fifteen degrees, no bulkhead or scuttle, or stair or ladder
leading thereto shall be required.
c. A bulkhead door or scuttle shall never be self-locking and shall be
fastened on the inside with movable rustproof bolts, hooks, or a lock
which does not require a key to open from the inside of the dwelling.
d. Bulkheads and stairs leading thereto existing on April fifth,
nineteen hundred forty-four, shall be permitted provided the stairs have
such angle of ascent and treads of such dimensions as may be approved by
the department.
12. In every such dwelling containing thirty or more rooms used for
living or sleeping purposes by transient occupants there shall be a
closed-circuit interior fire alarm system. Such alarm system shall be so
installed and maintained that it can be operated manually from any story
to sound an alarm or alarms capable of being heard clearly in all parts
of the dwelling. Such alarm system shall be installed, arranged and
maintained in a manner satisfactory to the fire department.
13. When the local building code requires a standpipe system such
system shall comply with all of the applicable requirements of such
code.
14. In every such fireproof dwelling containing fifty or more rooms
used for living or sleeping purposes by transient occupants and in every
such non-fireproof dwelling containing thirty or more such rooms, the
owner shall employ one or more watchmen or clerks whose duty it shall be
to visit every portion of the dwelling at frequent regular intervals for
the purpose of detecting fire or other sources of danger and giving
immediate and timely warning thereof to all the occupants. There shall
be provided a watchman`s clock system or other device to record the
movements of such watchman. Such system shall be installed, supervised
and maintained in a manner satisfactory to the fire department. However,
the provisions of this subdivision shall not apply where, throughout the
dwelling, a closed-circuit, automatic, thermostatic fire-detecting
system is installed which actuates a fire alarm, or where, throughout
the dwelling, an approved-type automatic sprinkler system is installed
which actuates a fire alarm by the flow of water through such system.
15. a. Nothing in this section shall be construed as permitting
partitions or materials which are not fireproof in any fireproof
dwelling; nor shall anything in this section be deemed to abrogate any
powers or duties vested by law in the fire commissioner or fire
department, except that an existing sprinkler installation, fire alarm
or standpipe system which has been approved or accepted by the
department having jurisdiction and installed before July first, nineteen
hundred forty-eight, shall, after inspection by the said department, be
deemed to be in compliance with the requirements of this section or may
be altered or adapted to meet such requirements instead of a completely
new installation or system.
b. All automatic sprinkler heads required by this section shall be
constructed to fuse at a temperature not higher than one hundred
sixty-five degrees Fahrenheit, spaced so as to protect the area which is
required to be sprinklered, and installed, arranged and maintained in
conformity with regulations adopted by the department.
c. For the purposes of subdivisions twelve and fourteen of this
section, the term "transient occupancy" shall mean the occupancy of a
room for living purposes by the same person or persons for a period of
ninety days or less.

S 68. Smoke detecting devices. 1. This section shall apply to all
multiple dwellings, whenever constructed, provided however, that for the
purposes of this section the term "multiple dwelling" shall also include
any dwelling accommodation used as a temporary or permanent residence
located in any building owned as a condominium or cooperative.
2. (a) The owner of every multiple dwelling to which the provisions of
this section apply shall equip each apartment or other separate living
unit in such multiple dwelling with approved and operational smoke
detecting devices in conformity with the state fire prevention and
building code; provided, however, that any multiple dwelling not subject
to the provisions of such code may, in the alternative, be equipped with
battery-operated smoke detecting devices of a type accepted by the
division of housing and community renewal.
(b) In hotels and other class B multiple dwellings, and in any portion
of a class A multiple dwelling used for single room occupancy, at least
one smoke detecting device shall be located within each room used for
sleeping purposes. In any other multiple dwelling or portion thereof,
there shall be at least one smoke detecting device located within each
apartment or separate living unit, in an area so that it is clearly
audible in each bedroom or other room used for sleeping purposes, with
intervening doors closed; provided, however, that no smoke detecting
device be located more than ten feet from the entrance to any bedroom or
other room used for sleeping purposes.
(c) Each smoke detecting device shall include a test device to permit
the occupant to readily determine if it is operational.
(d) In addition to complying with the provisions of this section, the
type, location, number, and manner of installation of smoke detecting
devices shall be in accordance with standards prescribed by the state
fire prevention and building code council.
3. (a) With respect to class A multiple dwellings, other than any
portion of any such dwelling used for single room occupancy, and
notwithstanding the provisions of section seventy-eight or any other
provision of this chapter, or of any law or requirement, state or local,
the duties of the owner and tenant with respect to smoke detecting
devices installed pursuant to this section shall be as provided in
subdivisions four and five of this section.
(b) With respect to a class B multiple dwelling, or any portion of a
class A multiple dwelling used for single room occupancy, the provisions
of subdivision five of this section shall not apply, and smoke detecting
devices installed as required by this section shall be subject to the
provisions of section seventy-eight of this chapter.
(c) The owner of every multiple dwelling shall keep such records as
the state fire prevention and building code council shall prescribe
relating to the installation and maintenance of smoke detecting devices
in the building and make such records available to any local code
enforcement official on request.
4. In addition to initially providing and installing the smoke
detecting devices, the owner shall:
(a) replace within thirty days after the receipt of written notice any
such device which becomes inoperable within one year of the installation
of such device due to a defect in the manufacture of such device and
through no fault of the occupant of the apartment or other unit;
(b) upon the occurrence of a vacancy, replace or properly equip any
such device which has been removed or rendered inoperable, so as to
provide operational smoke detecting devices for any new tenant; and
(c) notify tenants in writing, individually or through posting of a
notice in a common area of the building, of the respective duties of
owners and tenants under this section.
5. Except as provided in paragraph (b) of subdivision three of this
section, the tenant shall keep and maintain any smoke detecting device
installed pursuant to this section in good repair and replace any such
device which becomes inoperable during his occupancy.
6. An owner need not furnish or install a smoke detecting device where
one has already been installed, provided that (a) the type of such
device and the manner of its installation comply with the provisions of
this section and the standards prescribed by the state fire prevention
and building code council, (b) the existing device is tested and found
to be operational, and (c) the existence of such device in lieu of an
owner-furnished device is noted on the records kept by the owner
pursuant to paragraph (c) of subdivision three of this section.
7. This section shall not apply within cities with a population of one
million or more, provided however, any local law in such cities relating
to smoke detecting devices shall provide for the installation and
maintenance of smoke detecting devices in dwelling accommodations
located in buildings owned as condominiums or cooperatives.

© 2001-2004, Steven De Castro, All Rights Reserved. The representations made are accurate to the best of the author's knowledge on the day of publication, but readers should note that laws and regulations constantly change and are subject to different interpretations. For legal advice applicable to your situation, see an attorney. This fact sheet expires one year after publication.