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History
- Referred to housing, construction and community development
- Referred to housing, construction and community development
Full text
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Sponsor's memo
BILL NUMBER:S4589
Title of bill
An act to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to requiring operational smoke detecting devices in one family and two family dwellings
Purpose
To require operational smoke detecting devices in one family and two family dwellings
Summary of provisions
Section one of this bill adds new subdivision (c) to Section 27-979 of the Administrative Code of New York City. Subdivision (c) provides that owners of one family and two family dwellings - occupancy group J-3 - built prior to January 1, 1982 must provide the commissioner with proof of purchase of approved and operational smoke detecting devices. This proof of purchase, containing the name, place of residence of the purchaser and the address of the dwelling for which the device or devices were purchased, can be mailed to the commissioner, and the commissioner may request more information in accordance with rules and regulations.
Section two of this bill provides that this act shall take effect on the one hundred and eightieth day after having become law.
Justification
On March 21, 2015 a house fire in Midwood, Brooklyn led to the deaths of 7 children - Eliane, 16; Rivkah, 11; and Sara, 6; and boys David, 12; Yeshua, 10; Moshe, 8; and Yaakob, 5 - leaving only the mother and one sibling still alive. Investigators of the fire found only one smoke detector in the home, and it was in the basement, two floors below where the children slept. The children could have been woken up by smoke detectors had they installed one on the first floor of the home.
This bill requires that residents prove purchase of smoke detectors because there is an endemic problem in New York City relating to the absence of smoke detectors in residencies. Working smoke detectors are found in fewer than 30% of fatal fires. The New York City Fire Department recommends that smoke detectors be placed in basements, but also in the living rooms and near bedrooms. By requiring that families purchase these detectors, more lives can be saved and tragedies like the one in Midwood can be avoided.
Legislative history
This is a new bill.
Fiscal implications
None to the State.
Effective date
This act shall take effect on the one hundred and eightieth day after having become law.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.