BILL NUMBER:S4589

TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in
relation to requiring operational smoke detecting devices in one
family and two family dwellings

PURPOSE:

To require operational smoke detecting devices in one family and two
family dwellings

SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section one of this bill adds new subdivision (c) to Section 27-979 of
the Administrative Code of New York City. Subdivision (c) provides
that owners of one family and two family dwellings - occupancy group
J-3 - built prior to January 1, 1982 must provide the commissioner
with proof of purchase of approved and operational smoke detecting
devices. This proof of purchase, containing the name, place of
residence of the purchaser and the address of the dwelling for which
the device or devices were purchased, can be mailed to the
commissioner, and the commissioner may request more information in
accordance with rules and regulations.

              

Section two of this bill provides that this act shall take effect on
the one hundred and eightieth day after having become law.

JUSTIFICATION:

On March 21, 2015 a house fire in Midwood, Brooklyn led to the deaths
of 7 children - Eliane, 16; Rivkah, 11; and Sara, 6; and boys David,
12; Yeshua, 10; Moshe, 8; and Yaakob, 5 - leaving only the mother and
one sibling still alive. Investigators of the fire found only one
smoke detector in the home, and it was in the basement, two floors
below where the children slept. The children could have been woken up
by smoke detectors had they installed one on the first floor of the
home.

This bill requires that residents prove purchase of smoke detectors
because there is an endemic problem in New York City relating to the
absence of smoke detectors in residencies. Working smoke detectors are
found in fewer than 30% of fatal fires. The New York City Fire
Department recommends that smoke detectors be placed in basements, but
also in the living rooms and near bedrooms. By requiring that families
purchase these detectors, more lives can be saved and tragedies like
the one in Midwood can be avoided.

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

This is a new bill.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None to the State.


EFFECTIVE DATE:

This act shall take effect on the one hundred and eightieth day after
having become law.