§ 50-A — Entrances: doors, locks and intercommunication systems

§ 50-a. Entrances: doors, locks and intercommunication systems. 1.\nEvery entrance from the street, passageway, court, yard, cellar, or\nsimilar entrance to a class A multiple dwelling erected or converted\nafter January first, nineteen hundred sixty-eight, except an entrance\nleading to the main entrance hall or lobby which main entrance hall or\nlobby is equipped with one or more automatic self-locking doors, shall\nbe equipped with automatic self-closing and self-locking doors and such\ndoors shall be locked at all times except when an attendant shall\nactually be on duty. Every entrance from the roof to such a dwelling\nshall be equipped with a self-closing door which shall not be\nself-locking and which shall be fastened on the inside with movable\nbolts, hooks or a lock which does not require a key to open from inside\nthe dwelling.\n 2. Every class A multiple dwelling erected or converted after January\nfirst, nineteen hundred sixty-eight containing eight or more apartments\nshall also be equipped with an intercommunication system. Such\nintercommunication system shall be located at an automatic self-locking\ndoor giving public access to the main entrance hall or lobby of said\nmultiple dwelling and shall consist of a device or devices for voice\ncommunication between the occupant of each apartment and a person\noutside said door to the main entrance hall or lobby and to permit such\napartment occupant to release the locking mechanism of said door from\nthe apartment.\n 3. On or after January first, nineteen hundred sixty-nine, every class\nA multiple dwelling erected or converted prior to January first,\nnineteen hundred sixty-eight, shall be equipped with automatic\nself-closing and self-locking doors, which doors shall be kept locked\nexcept when an attendant shall actually be on duty, and with the\nintercommunication system described in paragraph two of this section,\nprovided that tenants occupying a majority of all the apartments within\nthe structure comprising the multiple dwelling affected request or\nconsent in writing to the installation of such doors and\nintercommunication system on forms which shall be prescribed by the\ndepartment, except that in the event a majority of tenants in occupancy\nrequest or consent on or after January first, nineteen hundred\nsixty-eight, to the installation of such doors or intercommunication\nsystem such installation shall be started within ninety days, but need\nnot be completed until six months after the owner's receipt of requests\nor consents by a majority of the tenants, except that in any such\nmultiple dwelling owned or operated by a municipal housing authority\norganized pursuant to article thirteen of the public housing law, such\ninstallation need not be completed until one year after the owner's\nreceipt of requests or consents by a majority of the tenants. If the\ndwelling is subject to regulation and control of its residential rents\npursuant to the local emergency housing rent control act, the local city\nhousing rent agency shall upon the filing of executed forms containing\nthe required requests or consents, prescribe the terms under which the\ncosts of providing such doors and intercommunication systems may be\nrecovered by the owner from the tenants. In any multiple dwelling built\npursuant to the provisions of the redevelopment companies law in which\nresidential rents are limited by contract, the costs of providing such\ndoors and intercommunication systems may be recovered by the owner from\nthe tenants. The terms under which such costs may be recovered shall be\nthe same as those prescribed by the local city housing rent agency in\nthe city in which the multiple dwelling is located for dwellings subject\nto regulation and control of rent pursuant to the local emergency\nhousing rent control act. Such costs shall not be deemed to be "rent" as\nthat term is limited and defined in the contract.\n 4. All such self-closing and self-locking doors, and\nintercommunication systems shall be of a type approved by the department\nand by such other department as may be prescribed by law and shall be\ninstalled and maintained in a manner prescribed by the department and by\nsuch other department.\n 5. Every owner who shall fail to install and maintain the equipment\nrequired by this section, in the manner prescribed by the department,\nand by such other department as may be prescribed by law, and any person\nwho shall wilfully destroy, damage, or jam or otherwise interfere with\nthe proper operation of, or remove, without justification, such\nequipment or any part thereof shall be guilty of a misdemeanor as\nprovided in subdivision one of section three hundred four of the\nmultiple dwelling law and shall be punishable as provided therein.\n