BILL NUMBER:  S1666

 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 OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL :

To 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 of this bill amends the Multiple Dwelling Law by adding a
new section 15 to provide that in a city of one million or more, the
Commissioner of buildings of such city is authorized to vary or modify
any provision of the Multiple Dwelling Law when compliance with the
strict letter of the Multiple Dwelling Law produces undue hardship and
a variation or modification would be neither contrary to the spirit
and intent of the Multiple Dwelling Law nor contrary to the
preservation of public health, safety, and welfare.
              

Section two of this bill 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 Buildings 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, in order to address unique circumstances in the
construction or alteration of buildings in New York City that may
cause practical difficulties in complying with provisions of the
Multiple Dwelling Law.

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 Multiple Dwelling Law, the State Tenement Law of 1901 or 1929,
or the building Codes of 1938, which are mostly wood-framed,
non-fireproof buildings. The Multiple Dwelling Law 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
Multiple Dwelling Law, 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 Multiple Dwelling Law.

 PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY :

2016: S.1073 - Passed the Senate
2015: S.1073 - Passed the Senate
2014: S.3584 - Passed the Senate
2013. S.3584 - Passed the Senate
2012: S.5484 - 3rd Reading Calendar
2011: S.5484 - Passed the Senate

 FISCAL IMPLICATIONS :

None to the State.

 EFFECTIVE DATE :
This act shall take effect immediately.