BILL NUMBER:S5484

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

SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
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.

REASONS FOR SUPPORT:
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 consequences.

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 practical 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 Department 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.

Accordingly, the Mayor urges the earliest possible favorable
consideration of this proposal by the Legislature.