Grants the commissioner of buildings of New York City the power to waive provisions of the multiple dwelling law with regard to construction or alteration of multiple dwellings

Summary of provisions

Section 1 of this bill amends the Multiple Dwelling Law by adding a new section 15 to provide that in a city of one million or more, the Commissioner of buildings of such city is authorized to vary or modify any provision of the Multiple Dwelling Law when compliance with the strict letter of the Multiple Dwelling Law produces undue hardship and a variation or modification would be neither contrary to the spirit and intent of the Multiple Dwelling Law nor contrary to the preservation of public health, safety, and welfare.

Section 2 of this bill provides that this act shall take effect immediately.

Existing law

Under current law, the provisions of the Multiple Dwelling Law cannot be modified or varied by the Commissioner of Buildings for a City with a population of one million or more.

Justification

The Commissioner of Buildings already may waive provisions of the Building Code pursuant to section 645 of the New York City Charter. This act would extend the Commissioner's waiver to the Multiple Dwelling Law, in order to address unique circumstances in the construction or alteration of buildings in New York City and that may cause practical difficulties in complying with provisions of the Multiple Dwelling Law.

Currently, only the Board of Standards and Appeals may issue variances of the Multiple Dwelling Law in New York City. Nothing in this proposed legislation would affect this power of the Board of Standards and Appeals. This act would simply allow the agency to which an application is made to vary provisions of a law it is already authorized to enforce, thus streamlining the approval of permit applications.

This legislation will encourage safety-enhancing alterations in the thousands of New York City buildings constructed under the precursor

to the Multiple Dwelling Law, the State Tenement Law of 1901 or 1929, or the building Codes of 1938 These are mostly wood-framed, non-fireproof buildings. The Multiple Dwelling Law has, in many cases, proven so prescriptive as to deter even simple alterations that would make these buildings safer. As a result, building owners allow the buildings to deteriorate, and tenants suffer the consequences.

For example, a five-story tenement building in Manhattan may have wooden stairs, doors that open directly into the stairway, and inadequate egress-taken together, a substantial safety risk. For an owner to upgrade or improve any of these individual features, the entire building may need to brought up to a standard under the MDL that is, as a practical matter, impossible, because of the physical layout of the building. Faced with a choice of a gut renovation or doing nothing, an owner might reasonably choose the latter course. If, however, the Buildings Department could grant a waiver of the Multiple Dwelling Law, improvements could be made that would substantially increase the safety of the building. Wooden stairs could be replaced with metal stairs, sprinklers could be installed and doors could be adjusted - even if the stairs don't meet the required width called for under the Multiple Dwelling Law.

Legislative history

2014: S.3584 - Passed the Senate 2013. S.3584 - Passed the Senate 2012: S.5484 - 3rd Reading Calendar 2011: S.5484 - Passed the Senate

Fiscal implications

None to the State

Effective date

This act shall take effect immediately.