NY State Senate Bill 2023-S5563

Senate Bill S5563

2023-2024 Legislative Session

Requires the New York city department of sanitation to remove any snow or ice accumulation in front of any fire hydrants

download bill text pdf

Current Bill Status - In Senate Committee Cities 1 Committee

Introduced
- In Committee Assembly
- In Committee Senate
- On Floor Calendar Assembly
- On Floor Calendar Senate
- Passed Assembly
- Passed Senate
Delivered to Governor
Signed By Governor

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Actions

View Actions

	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Jan 03, 2024	referred to cities 1
Mar 08, 2023	referred to cities 1

2023-S5563 (ACTIVE) - Details

Current Committee:: Senate Cities 1
Law Section:: New York City Administrative Code
Laws Affected:: Amd §15-205, NYC Ad Cd
Versions Introduced in Other Legislative Sessions:: 2013-2014: S6956
2015-2016: S1134
2017-2018: S4556
2019-2020: S5373
2021-2022: S5508

2023-S5563 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Amends the provision requiring owners, lessees or tenants to remove any obstructions in front of fire hydrants to require the New York city department of sanitation to remove any snow or ice accumulation in front of any such fire hydrants.

2023-S5563 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S5563

SPONSOR: COMRIE
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in
relation to requiring the department of sanitation to remove any snow or
ice accumulation in front of fire hydrants

 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:

The purpose of this bill is to require the New York city department of
sanitation to remove any snow or ice accumulation in front of any fire
hydrants.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section one amends section 15-205 of the administrative code of the city
of New York law by requiring the department of sanitation to clear snow
and ice accumulation in front of fire hydrants.

Section two sets forth the effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

During the winter of 2013-2014, the city of New York experienced an
unusually active snow season with numerous storms and record breaking
amount of snowfalls, presenting unprecedented challenges as a result.
Among these challenges, snow covered fire hydrants presented a major
public safety concern.

Sanitation plow trucks that clear snow on the city streets often deposit
snow onto the curbside and sidewalk, resulting in an accumulation of
snow on and around the fire hydrants. For firefighters responding to
emergencies where time is of the essence, snow and ice covered fire
hydrants can present an extremely hazardous obstacle.

Currently, section 15-205 of the New York city administrative code
requires property owners, lessees or tenants to clear snow or ice from
the fire hydrant in front of their property. However, locating and
clearing snow covered fire hydrants can be an extremely difficult and
costly task for some individuals and potentially hazardous for senior
citizens and persons with disabilities.

Any snow and ice covered fire hydrant severely limits firefighters'
ability to put out a fire and presents a major threat to public safety,
a risk that we cannot afford to take. This legislation would address
such safety concerns by shifting the responsibility for clearing snow
and ice accumulation in front of fire hydrants to the department of
sanitation, which can utilize equipment and manpower to effectively
remove the snow and ice from city owned. fire hydrants.

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

A7571 of 2017-18: Referred to Cities.

S4556 of 2017-18: Referred to Cities.

2022: S5508
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:

Yet to be determined.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.

2023-S5563 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   5563
 
                        2023-2024 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                               March 8, 2023
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen.  COMRIE -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Cities 1
 
 AN ACT to amend the administrative code of the  city  of  New  York,  in
   relation  to requiring the department of sanitation to remove any snow
   or ice accumulation in front of fire hydrants

   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section  1.  Section  15-205 of the administrative code of the city of
 New York, as amended by local law number 149 of the city of New York for
 the year 2016 and paragraph 2 of subdivision b as amended by  local  law
 number  80 of the city of New York for the year 2020, is amended to read
 as follows:
   § 15-205 Obstruction of fire hydrants. a. For  the  purposes  of  this
 section,  the  term  "fire hydrant street area" means, with respect to a
 fire hydrant, any space that is located:
   1. In a street; and
   2. Between the center of such street and a line that (i) is 20 feet in
 length, (ii) has such hydrant at its center point and (iii) runs  paral-
 lel to the curb nearest such hydrant.
   b.  1.  It  shall be unlawful in any manner to obstruct the use of any
 fire hydrant, or to throw or pile, or allow any snow  or  ice  or  other
 material  or  thing  to be thrown or piled (i) upon a fire hydrant, (ii)
 within two feet of a fire hydrant or (iii) within a fire hydrant  street
 area.  All material or things found obstructing any fire hydrant [may be
 forthwith] SHALL BE removed by the officers or employees of the  depart-
 ment,  at the risk, cost and expense, of the [owner, lessee or tenant of
 the premises fronting such hydrant] DEPARTMENT OF SANITATION.
   2. No newsstand may be located within ten feet from either side  of  a
 fire  hydrant, except that this prohibition shall not apply to any news-
 stand which was first licensed by the department of consumer and  worker
 protection  before August 1, 1979, where the person who held the license
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD03914-01-3

 S. 5563                             2
 
 for such newsstand on August 1, 1991 continues to be  the  licensee  for
 such  newsstand;  provided,  however,  that  where a newsstand which was
 first licensed before August 1, 1979 is reconstructed in its entirety or
 in  substantial  part,  which  reconstruction  was commenced on or after
 August 1, 1991, such newsstand shall be subject to such prohibition.
   c. All snow and ice accumulating within a space  identified  in  para-
 graph 1 of subdivision b of this section shall be removed by the [owner,
 lessee  or  tenant of the premises fronting such space within four hours
 after the snow ceases to fall, except that (i)  such  owner,  lessee  or
 tenant  shall  not  be  required  to  remove  snow and ice from the fire
 hydrant street area or from the property of such owner, lessee or tenant
 and (ii) the time between 9:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. shall not be  included
 in the aforementioned period of four hours] DEPARTMENT OF SANITATION.
   d. Notwithstanding section 15-216, a violation or knowing violation of
 this  section  shall  be punishable in the same manner as a violation of
 subdivision a of section 16-123, except  that  a  knowing  violation  of
 subdivision b of this section may in addition be punishable by imprison-
 ment not to exceed one day.
   e.  In  addition  to  the department, the department of sanitation may
 enforce the provisions of this section.
   § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.

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