Increases the safety of elevators in buildings owned by the New York city housing authority

BILL NUMBER:A8154A

Title of bill

An act to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to the safety of elevators in buildings owned by the New York city housing authority

Purpose

To increase the safety of elevators in buildings owned by the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA).

Summary of provisions

Section 1: Amends the administrative code of the city of New York by adding four new sections:

28-304.10 mandates the installation of door zone restrictors in eleva- tors within buildings owned by the housing authority.

28-304.11 establishes that all public housing elevators are inspected by the Department of Buildings following the same rules other New York City building owners follow.

28-304.12 mandates interagency coordination between the New York. City Housing Authority, the Department of Buildings, and the Fire Department with all relevant information regarding elevator hazards, rescue missions from the Fire Department, and other elevator safety concerns.

28-304.13 requires the New York City Housing Authority to disclose all inspection data to the public. Such reports shall provide a detailed explanation of how the elevators were graded and why an elevator received an unsatisfactory grade.

Section 2: Effective date.

Justification

Approximately 400,000 residents-5 percent of New York's City population-currently live in NYCHA housing complexes. Many of these residents, including seniors, children, and people with disabilities, struggle with broken elevators that constantly fail to provide necessary services. The system's 3,300 elevators are unsafe, unreliable, and poor- ly maintained. As previously reported by the media, in the worst scenar- ios, the lives of public housing residents are endangered by broken elevators. In August 2008, a 5-year-old boy, Jacob Newman, was killed while opening the doors of a stalled elevator and trying to escape. In 2007, a Brooklyn woman, who suffered from asthma, also died as she was forced to walk up ten stories to reach her apartment when both elevators in her building were broken. Manhattan Borough President Scott M. Stringer released a report on NYCHA's elevator safety. The Borough Pres- ident's 2008 report, entitled "Dangerous Neglect: Elevator Safety in New York City Housing Authority Buildings," found that 3/4 of elevator inspections in the last 5 years have resulted in unsatisfactory ratings. This bill addresses the major finding of the Borough President's report and aims to make New York City public housing elevators safer, for tenants and their visitors.

Legislative history

2009: A8154 (Kavanagh) - Passed Assembly.

Fiscal impact on the state

None.

Effective date

This act shall take effect on the 180th day after it shall have become law.