§ 248 — Single room occupancy

New York § 248

• Jurisdiction: New York
• Law MDW: Multiple Dwelling
• Title 2-A: Single Room Occupancy
• Art. 7: Tenements

Text

§ 248. Single room occupancy. 1. It shall be unlawful to occupy any\nframe multiple dwelling for single room occupancy. It shall be unlawful\nto occupy any other existing class A dwelling or part thereof as a\nrooming house or furnished room house or for single room occupancy\nunless such dwelling or part shall conform to the provisions of this\nsection and to such other provisions of this chapter as were applicable\nto such dwelling before such conversion. This section shall not be\nconstrued to prohibit the letting by a family of one or more rooms\nwithin their apartment to not more than a total of four boarders,\nroomers or lodgers provided, however, that every room in such apartment\nshall have free and unobstructed access to each required exit from such\napartment as required by the provisions of paragraphs a, b and c of\nsubdivision four of this section. A dwelling occupied pursuant to this\nsection shall be deemed a class A dwelling and dwelling units occupied\npursuant to this section shall be occupied for permanent residence\npurposes, as defined in paragraph a of subdivision eight of section four\nof this chapter.\n 2. Any such dwelling may be so occupied without increasing the number\nof stairs.\n 3. The number of rooms shall not be increased nor shall the light or\nventilation of any room be impaired.\n 4. a. No room in any apartment shall be so occupied unless each room\ntherein shall have free and unobstructed access to each required means\nof egress from the dwelling without passing through any sleeping room,\nbathroom or water-closet compartment.\n b. There shall be access to a second means of egress within the\napartment without passing through any public stair or public hall. On\nand after July first, nineteen hundred fifty-seven every tenement used\nor occupied for single room occupancy in whole or in part under the\nprovisions of this section and which does not have at least two means of\negress accessible to each apartment and extending from the ground story\nto the roof, shall be provided with at least two means of egress, or, in\nlieu of such egress, every stair hall or public hall, and every hall or\npassage within an apartment, shall be equipped on each story with one or\nmore automatic sprinkler heads approved by the department. Elevator\nshafts in such tenements shall be completely enclosed with fireproof or\nother incombustible material and the doors to such shafts shall be\nfireproof or shall be covered on all sides with incombustible material.\n c. Where access to a required means of egress is provided through a\nroom, such access to such room shall be through a clear opening at least\nthirty inches wide extending from floor to ceiling and such opening\nshall not be equipped with any door or door frame, or with any device by\nmeans of which the opening may be closed, concealed or obstructed.\n d. All doors which open to any public hall or required stair hall and\nthe door assemblies shall be fireproof with the doors self-closing.\n e. All doors opening from any room to any hall or passage within an\napartment shall be self-closing and all transoms within an apartment\nshall be permanently closed. All plain glass shall be removed from such\ndoors and transoms and replaced with wire glass, wood or other\nnon-shatterable material satisfactory to the department.\n f. Directly over the opening to every required means of egress within\nan apartment, there shall be a sign of a type approved by the department\nmarked "Fire Exit" and lighted in red at all times to indicate clearly\nthe location of the means of egress, and on the walls of any hall or\npassage within the apartment leading to such means of egress there shall\nbe maintained at all times arrows to indicate clearly the direction and\nlocation of the fire exit.\n g. Every hall or passage within an apartment shall be unobstructed and\nwell lighted at all times with a minimum of one foot-candle of light.\n h. All wood wainscoting except a flat base not exceeding ten inches in\nheight shall be removed from every hall or passage within an apartment.\n 5. In every such dwelling which is not fireproof every hall or passage\nwithin an apartment shall be equipped with a sprinkler system, which\nshall be extended so as to have at least one sprinkler head in every\nroom. The construction and arrangement of such sprinkler system shall\ncomply with the requirements of the department.\n 6. There shall be provided in each such dwelling an adequate and\nreliable fire alarm system, approved by the fire commissioner by means\nof which alarms of fire or other danger may be instantly communicated to\nevery portion of the dwelling. Where, throughout the dwelling, a\nclosed-circuit, automatic thermostatic fire-detecting system is\ninstalled which actuates an interior fire alarm system, or where,\nthroughout the dwelling, an approved-type automatic sprinkler system is\ninstalled which actuates an interior fire alarm system by the flow of\nwater through such sprinkler system, a watchman need not be provided as\nrequired in subdivision fifteen of this section.\n 7. There shall be a fire-retarded bulkhead in the roof connecting\ndirectly with the highest portion of any stairway to the roof, which\nbulkhead shall contain a fireproof door and assembly with the door\nself-closing. The stairs leading to such bulkhead shall be fireproof or\nfire-retarded as required for public stairways in the other parts of\nsuch dwelling.\n 8. a. Every wash basin, bath, shower, sink and laundry tub shall be\nprovided with an adequate supply of hot and cold water.\n b. When the number of occupants of such a dwelling is eleven or more,\nthere shall be provided for them in such dwelling at least one laundry\ntub and facilities for drying clothes.\n 9. Cooking shall be permitted only in kitchens and cooking spaces\ncomplying with the provisions of section thirty-three. Any gas fixture\nin such spaces shall be connected with permanent, rigid piping. The use\nof any movable cooking apparatus in any sleeping room is unlawful.\n 10. a. There shall be a central heating system adequate to heat every\nsleeping room in a dwelling to the temperature requirements prescribed\nby subdivision one of section seventy-nine of this chapter.\n b. The use of any movable heating apparatus in any sleeping room is\nunlawful.\n c. Every boiler room shall be constructed in accordance with the\nprovisions of section sixty-five and shall be adequately ventilated.\n 11. a. No room may be occupied for sleeping purposes unless it has a\nwindow or windows with an aggregate glazed area of at least ten per\ncentum of the total floor area of such room. Each such window shall be\nat least twelve feet in area and so constructed that at least half of\nits area may be opened.\n b. Any room on a top story may be lighted and ventilated by a skylight\nof the same area as required for windows and arranged to provide an\nopening of at least six square feet for ventilation.\n c. In every sleeping room, except a room on the top story so lighted\nand ventilated, there shall be at least one window meeting the\nrequirements of section two hundred thirteen, except as otherwise\nspecified in this subdivision, opening upon a street or upon a yard,\ncourt or shaft meeting the requirements of section two hundred twelve,\nbut in no case shall such a court or shaft be less than twenty-eight\ninches in width.\n d. Every room shall be adequately lighted by electricity. The use of\ngas or any other type of open flame lighting is unlawful.\n 12. No room may be occupied for sleeping purposes by more than two\nadults considering children of twelve years or more as adults and two\nchildren between the ages of two and eleven years inclusive as the\nequivalent of one adult. Children under two years of age need not be\nconsidered as occupants.\n 13. Every room rented for single room occupancy and all furniture and\nbedding therein shall be thoroughly cleansed before occupancy and every\nsleeping room at least once a week thereafter. When bed linens are\nprovided they shall be changed at least once every week. When the rent\nincludes the use of towels, at least one bath towel and two hand towels\nshall be provided every week for each occupant. Such cleansing and\nservice shall be the exclusive obligation of the person from whom the\noccupant rents such room.\n 14. Except as provided in subdivision thirteen, the owner shall\nmaintain the dwelling in conformity with section eighty relating to\ncleanliness.\n 15. There shall be a competent manager living on the premises, who\nshall be responsible for the conduct, operation and maintenance of the\ndwelling, and, except as provided in subdivision six of this section,\nthere shall also be on the premises at all times a competent watchman in\ncharge of the dwelling.\n 17. In each such dwelling a register shall be kept, which shall show\nthe name, signature, residence, date of arrival and date of departure of\neach occupant and the room occupied by him.\n