§ 36. Municipal improvements in streets, buildings not on mapped
streets. 1. A city having a population of less than one million. No
public municipal street utility or improvement shall be constructed by
any city having a population of less than one million in any street or
highway until it has become a public street or highway and is duly
placed on the official map or plan. No permit for the erection of any
building shall be issued unless a street or highway giving access to
such proposed structure has been duly placed on the official map or
plan, which street or highway shall have been suitably improved to the
satisfaction of the planning board in accordance with standards and
specifications approved by the appropriate city departments as adequate
in respect to the public health, safety and general welfare for the
special circumstances of the particular street or highway or alternately
that a performance bond sufficient to cover the full cost of such
improvement as estimated by such board shall be furnished to the city by
the owner. Such performance bond shall be issued by a bonding or surety
company approved by the corporation counsel of the city, or by the owner
with security acceptable to the legislative body, and shall also be
approved by such corporation counsel as to form, sufficiency and manner
of execution. The term, manner of modification and method of enforcement
of such bond shall be determined by the planning board in substantial
conformity with section thirty-three of this article. The applicant for
such a permit may appeal from the decision of the administrative officer
having charge of the issue of permits to the board of appeals or other
similar board, in any city which has established a board having the
power to make variances or exceptions in zoning regulations for: (a) an
exception if the circumstances of the case do not require the structure
to be related to existing or proposed streets or highways and/or (b) an
area variance pursuant to section eighty-one-b of this chapter, and the
same provisions are hereby applied to such appeals and to such board as
are provided in cases of appeals on zoning regulations. The board may in
passing on such appeal make any reasonable exception and issue the
permit subject to conditions that will protect any future street or
highway layout. Any such decision shall be subject to review under the
provisions of article seventy-eight of the civil practice law and rules.

2. A city having a population of one million or more. No public
municipal street utility or improvement shall be constructed by any city
having a population of one million or more in any street or highway
until it has become a public street or highway and is duly placed on the
official map or plan, with the exception that a city may construct
improvements and provide services to any public way (mapped or unmapped)
if the public way has been open and in use to the public for a minimum
of ten years. The existence of the public way must be attested to by
documents satisfactory to the municipality, such as reports of city
agencies providing municipal services. No certificate of occupancy shall
be issued in such city for any building unless a street or highway
giving access to such structure has been duly placed on the official map
or plan, which street or highway, and any other mapped street or highway
abutting such building or structure shall have been suitably improved to
the satisfaction of the department of transportation of the city in
accordance with standards and specifications approved by such department
as adequate in respect to the public health, safety and general welfare
for the special circumstances of the particular street or highway, or,
alternately, unless the owner has furnished to the department of
transportation of such city a performance bond naming the city as
obligee, approved by such department, to the full cost of such
improvement as estimated by such department, or other security approved
by such department, that such improvement will be completed within the
time specified by such department. If such improvement has not been
installed within the time specified by such department, such department
may declare such performance bond or other security to be in default and
shall collect, in the name of the city, the sum remaining payable
thereunder. Upon receipt of the proceeds thereof, the city shall install
such improvement. If the cost of such improvement exceeds the sum
remaining payable under such bond or other security, the owner shall be
liable for and shall pay to the city, the amount of such excess. Where
the enforcement of the provisions of this section would entail practical
difficulty or unnecessary hardship, and where the circumstances of the
case do not require the structure to be related to existing or proposed
streets or highways, the applicant for such a certificate of occupancy
may appeal from the decision of the administrative officer having charge
of the issuance of certificates of occupancy to the board of standards
and appeals or other similar board of such city having power to make
variances or exceptions in zoning regulations, and the same provisions
are hereby applied to such appeals and to such board as are provided in
cases of appeals on zoning regulations. The board may in passing on such
appeal make any reasonable exception and issue the certificate of
occupancy subject to conditions that will protect any future street or
highway layout. Any such decision shall be subject to review under the
provisions of article seventy-eight of the civil practice law and rules.
No permit shall be granted for the erection of any building or structure
in such city unless the owner has furnished to the commissioner of
transportation of such city a policy of liability insurance, marked
paid, in such amounts as may be fixed by such department, insuring,
indemnifying and saving the city harmless from any claims, suits,
demands, causes of action and judgments by reason of personal injuries
sustained by any person or persons, including death, and from any
claims, suits, demands, causes of action and judgments for damages to
property, occurring on any such street or highway giving access to or
abutting such structure, up to the date of the issuance of the
certificate of occupancy or up to the date of the completion of the
improvement of such street or highway as required by or pursuant to this
section, whichever is later. In the event that the owner is covered by
such a policy of liability insurance, the department of transportation
may accept a certificate of endorsement extending such policy to include
and cover the city. Every permit issued for the erection of any such
building or structure shall contain a statement that no certificate of
occupancy will be issued with respect to such building or structure
unless a street or highway giving access to such structure has been duly
placed on the official map or plan, which street or highway and any
other mapped street or highway abutting such building or structure shall
have been suitably improved to the satisfaction of the department of
transportation of the city in accordance with standards and
specifications approved by such department as adequate in respect to the
public health, safety and general welfare for the special circumstances
of the particular street or highway or, alternately, unless the owner
has furnished to the department of transportation a performance bond
naming the city as obligee, approved by such department, sufficient to
cover the full cost of such improvement as estimated by such department,
or other security approved by such department, that such improvement
will be completed within the time specified by such department.

3. Notwithstanding any provision of law, rule or regulation to the
contrary, a certificate of occupancy for a one or two family residential
dwelling which is otherwise in compliance with all applicable laws shall
be issued by the department of buildings of the city of New York for any
building abutting an unmapped street without a review by the board of
standards and appeals in the following circumstances: (a) if the
corporation counsel of the city of New York has issued an opinion
determining that the public way has been open and in use to the public
for a minimum of ten years and has been attested to by documents
satisfactory to the municipality, that the unmapped street abutting such
building or structure shall have been suitably improved to the
satisfaction of the department of transportation of the city of New York
in accordance with standards and specifications approved by such
department as adequate in respect to the public health, safety and
general welfare for the special circumstances of the particular unmapped
street, and that such building or structure is equipped with an
automatic fire sprinkler, or (b) if the department of buildings of the
city of New York determines that such one or two family residential
dwelling is located within the same block and fronting on the same
unmapped street in question as another building or structure that
successfully appealed to the board of standards and appeals and has been
issued a certificate of occupancy and provided the unmapped street
fronting such one or two family residential dwelling has been suitably
improved to the standards and specifications of such department of
transportation, and further provided that such one or two family
residential dwelling is equipped with an automatic fire sprinkler
system. Nothing contained in this subdivision shall limit the
jurisdiction of the board of standards and appeals to determine the
application of the zoning resolution.