What's happening
This bill requires owners and agents of multiple residences or dwellings to provide residents' names and contact information to emergency personnel during emergencies.
Why it matters
Enhances emergency response. By ensuring emergency personnel have rapid access to resident information, responders can more quickly verify who is present or missing, potentially saving lives during disasters or crises.
Accountability for property owners. The law places a legal responsibility on landlords and managing agents to maintain up-to-date contact lists, encouraging better record-keeping and tenant communication.
Broader scope of emergencies. The bill covers a wide range of emergency situations (fires, gas leaks, building collapses, natural disasters, terrorism), reflecting a comprehensive approach to resident safety, not just common occurrences.
Potential privacy considerations. Requiring disclosure of personal information to emergency responders may raise concerns about data privacy and the security of residents’ personal details, especially in larger buildings with many occupants.
Albany, before your first meeting.
Every bill that moved yesterday, summarized in a sentence and ranked by impact. The Albany Scorecard follows on Sundays.
Free. Unsubscribe in one click. Want alerts on specific bills? Create an account.
Who cares
Headline styles
Share Resident Info in Emergencies
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
No co-sponsors yet.
History
- Referred to housing, construction and community development
- Referred to rules
Full text
2 pagesUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
6918
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
December 20, 2019
Introduced by Sen. MAYER -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Rules
AN ACT to amend the multiple residence law and the multiple dwelling law, in relation to requiring owners and agents of multiple residences and multiple dwellings to provide names and contact information of residents to emergency personnel
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. The multiple residence law is amended by adding a new section 16 to read as follows:
§ 16. Multiple residence emergency information. In the case of an emergency affecting a multiple residence, the owner or agent of such multiple residence shall provide emergency service personnel, including but not limited to local police and fire departments, with the names and contact information of all affected residents or occupants of such multiple residence as is required to ascertain the safety of such residents or occupants. For the purposes of this section, an emergency shall include but not be limited to fires, gas leaks, building collapses, natural disasters, acts of terrorism and other events where the physical safety of residents must be accounted for by ascertaining their whereabouts.
§ 2. The multiple dwelling law is amended by adding a new section 15 to read as follows:
§ 15. Multiple dwelling emergency information. In the case of an emergency affecting a multiple dwelling, the owner or agent of such multiple dwelling shall provide emergency service personnel, including but not limited to local police and fire departments, with the names and contact information of all affected residents or occupants of such multiple dwelling as is required to ascertain the safety of such residents or occupants. For the purposes of this section, an emergency shall include but not be limited to fires, gas leaks, building collapses, natural
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD13880-01-9
S. 6918 2
disasters, acts of terrorism and other events where the physical safety of residents must be accounted for by ascertaining their whereabouts.
§ 3. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall have become a law.
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to amend the multiple residence law and the multiple dwelling law, in relation to requiring owners and agents of multiple residences and multiple dwellings to provide names and contact information of resi- dents to emergency personnel
Purpose
The purpose of this bill is to insure that emergency services are able to determine the safety of the residents of a building after a fire.
Summary of provisions
Section 1 amends the multiple residence law by adding a new section 16, which provides for owners or agents of multiple residences to provide emergency personnel names and contact information of affected residents in the case of an emergency.
Section 2 amends the multiple dwelling law by adding a new section 15, which provides for owners or agents of multiple dwelling to provide emergency personnel names and contact information of affected residents in the case of an emergency.
Section 3 sets the effective date.
Justification
On August 11, 2019, a fire in a Yonkers Apartment building displaced eighty-six people displaced from their homes. The fire caused excessive damage to the five-story building and took 60 firefighters. Luckily, no one was injured by the fire but during the blaze emergency responders were unable to determine who was safely out of the building. When emer- gency personnel contacted the building ownership to determine if every- one was safely evacuated, it was difficult to get a list of who was living in the building and their contact.
In the case of an emergency, first responders are best equipped to do their job and prevent the loss of life when they are fully informed. When triaging an emergency preventing the loss of life or injury is critical but when the information required to do so is with held this task in even more difficult.
This bill seeks to help preserve the life and health of residents of multiple dwelling/residence building by enabling emergency personnel to have access to the information they need.
Legislative history
New bill
Fiscal implications
None
Effective date
This act shall take effect thirty (30) days after becoming law.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.