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.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A2664
SPONSOR: Weprin TITLE OF BILL: An act to amend the multiple dwelling law, in relation
to granting the commissioner of buildings of the city of New York the
power to waive provisions of the multiple dwelling law with regard to
the construction or alteration of multiple dwellings in such city
PURPOSE: This proposed legislation would authorize the Commissioner
of Buildings of the City of New York to vary or modify a provision or
requirement of the Multiple Dwelling Law in its application to the
construction or alteration of multiple dwellings in New York City, where
strict compliance with such law would cause practical difficulties or
unnecessary hardships.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section one amends the Multiple Dwelling Law (MDL) by adding a new
section 15 to provide that in a city of one million or more, the Commis-
sioner of buildings of such city is authorized to vary or modify any
provision of the MDL when compliance with the strict letter of the MDL
produces undue hardship and a variation or modification would be neither
contrary to the spirit and intent of the MDL nor contrary to the preser-
vation of public health, safety, and welfare.
Section two 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 Build-
ings 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 (MDL), 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
MDL.
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 MDL, the State Tenement Law of 1901 or 1929, or the building Codes
of 1938. These are mostly wood-framed, non-fireproof buildings. The MDL
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 conse-
quences.
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 practi-
cal 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 Depart-
ment could grant a waiver of the MDL, 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 MDL.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY: 2012: S.5484 - 3rd Reading 2011: S.5484 - Passed
Senate
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS: It is not anticipated that this legislation will
have any significant fiscal impact on the State
EFFECTIVE DATE: This act shall take effect immediately.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
2664
2015-2016 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
January 20, 2015
___________
Introduced by M. of A. WEPRIN -- read once and referred to the Committee
on Housing
AN ACT to amend the multiple dwelling law, in relation to granting the
commissioner of buildings of the city of New York the power to waive
provisions of the multiple dwelling law with regard to the
construction or alteration of multiple dwellings in such city
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The multiple dwelling law is amended by adding a new
2 section 15 to read as follows:
3 § 15. Variations. Notwithstanding any inconsistent provision of this
4 chapter, for multiple dwellings erected, to be erected or altered in any
5 city with a population of one million or more, where compliance with the
6 strict letter of this chapter causes any practical difficulties or any
7 unnecessary hardships, the commissioner of buildings of such city shall
8 have the power, provided the spirit and intent of this chapter are main-
9 tained and public health, safety and welfare are preserved, to vary or
10 modify any provision or requirement of this chapter.
11 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD04407-01-5
