Title MDW, Multiple Dwelling

§ 28. Two or more buildings on same lot. 1. If any separate multiple dwelling is erected after April eighteenth, nineteen hundred twenty-nine, upon the rear of a lot which has another multiple dwelling on the front or upon the front of a lot which has another multiple dwelling o…

§ 280. Legislative findings. The legislature hereby finds and declares that a serious public emergency exists in the housing of a considerable number of persons in cities having a population of over one million, which emergency has been created by the increasing number of conver…

§ 281. Definition of "interim multiple dwelling". 1. Except as\nprovided in subdivision two of this section, the term "interim multiple\ndwelling" means any building or structure or portion thereof located in\na city of more than one million persons which (i) at any time was\noc…

§ 282. Establishment of special loft unit. 1. In order to resolve complaints of owners of interim multiple dwellings and of residential occupants of such buildings qualified for the protection of this article, and to act upon hardship applications made pursuant to this article, …

§ 282-a. Applications for coverage of interim multiple dwellings and residential units. 1. Where any occupant has filed an application for coverage pursuant to this article and has received a docket number from the loft board, it shall be unlawful for an owner to cause or intend…

§ 283. Occupancy permitted. Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter or any other law, code, rule or regulation, occupancy for residential purposes of residential units covered by this article is permitted, if such occupancy is in compliance with this article. Nothing…

§ 284. Owner obligations. 1. (i) The owner of an interim multiple dwelling (A) shall file an alteration application within nine months from the effective date of chapter three hundred forty-nine of the laws of nineteen hundred eighty-two, and (B) shall take all reasonable and ne…

§ 285. Owner protection. 1. Notwithstanding the provisions of section three hundred two or three hundred twenty-five of this chapter, the owner of an interim multiple dwelling may recover rent payable from residential occupants qualified for the protection of this article on or …

§ 286. Tenant protection. 1. It shall not be a ground for an action or proceeding to recover possession of a unit occupied by a residential occupant qualified for the protection of this article that the occupancy of the unit is illegal or in violation of provisions of the tenant…

§ 287. Alternative compliance. In any case in which a local building code or this chapter provides an alternative means of meeting the fire and safety standards of article seven-B of this chapter, an owner of an interim multiple dwelling may, to the extent permitted by such loca…

§ 288. Definitions. As used in this article, the following terms shall have the following meanings: 1. The term "community district" shall refer to a community district as established pursuant to chapter sixty-nine of the New York city charter. 2. The term "inhabited basement dw…

§ 289. Basement and cellar local laws and regulations. 1. Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter to the contrary, in a city with a population of one million or more, the local legislative body may, by local law, establish a pilot program to address, (a) the legaliza…

§ 29. Painting of courts and shafts. The exterior surface of all walls of all courts and shafts of multiple dwellings, except of outer courts opening on a street, and courts having dimensions of at least fifty percent in excess of the minimum set forth in section twenty-six, sha…

§ 290. Tenant protections in inhabited basement dwelling units and inhabited cellar dwelling units. 1. The program authorized by this article shall require an application to make alterations to legalize an inhabited basement dwelling unit or inhabited cellar dwelling unit be acc…

§ 3. Application to cities, towns and villages. 1. This chapter shall apply to all cities with a population of three hundred twenty-five thousand or more. 2. The legislative body of any other city, town or village may adopt the provisions of this chapter and make the same applic…

§ 30. Lighting and ventilation of rooms. 1. The provisions of this\nsection shall apply only to multiple dwellings erected after April\neighteenth, nineteen hundred twenty-nine, and shall apply to all such\ndwellings unless otherwise expressly limited.\n 2. Except as in this sec…

§ 300. Permits. 1. It shall be unlawful to commence the construction or alteration of a multiple dwelling or any part or section thereof, or of any building or structure on the same lot with such a dwelling, or the alteration or conversion of a building for use as a multiple dwe…

§ 301. Certificate of compliance or occupancy. 1. No multiple dwelling\nshall be occupied in whole or in part until the issuance of a\ncertificate by the department that said dwelling conforms in all\nrespects to the requirements of this chapter, to the building code and\nrules …

§ 302. Unlawful occupation. 1. a. If any dwelling or structure be occupied in whole or in part for human habitation in violation of section three hundred one, during such unlawful occupation any bond or note secured by a mortgage upon said dwelling or structure, or the lot upon …

§ 302-a. Abatement of rent in the case of serious violations.\n 1. The provisions of this section shall apply to all cities with a\npopulation of four hundred thousand or more.\n 2. a. A "rent impairing" violation within the meaning of this section\nshall designate a condition i…

§ 302-b. Removal of violations by mortgagees. 1. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, where a receiver has been appointed in foreclosure proceedings instituted by a mortgagee with respect to any multiple dwelling, such mortgagee may advance to such receiver funds necessar…

§ 302-c. Right of tenant to offset payments for heat failure; certain\ncases. 1. Any tenant acting alone or together with other tenants of a\nmultiple dwelling employing an oil fired heating device for which the\nowner is responsible and wherein there exists a lack of heat due t…

§ 303. Enforcement. 1. Except as herein otherwise provided, the provisions of this chapter shall be enforced by the department charged with the enforcement of laws, ordinances and regulations in relation to multiple dwellings. 1-a. For the purpose of enforcing the provisions of …

§ 304. Penalties for violations. 1. Except as otherwise in this\nsection specifically provided, every person who shall violate or assist\nin the violation of any provision of this chapter shall be guilty of a\nmisdemeanor punishable, for a first offense, by a fine of not exceedi…

§ 305. Violation of local laws and regulations. Any owner, architect, builder, contractor, sub-contractor, construction superintendent or their agents who shall, in the construction or alteration of any building or structure intended to be occupied as a multiple dwelling, knowin…

§ 306. Judicial procedure and orders. 1. In case any multiple dwelling or structure or any part thereof or the lot on which it is situated is constructed, altered, converted or maintained in violation of any provision of this chapter or of any order or notice of the department, …

§ 307. Liens. Every fine imposed by judgment under section three hundred four upon an owner shall be a lien upon the premises in relation to which the fine is imposed from the time of the filing of a certified copy of said judgment in the office of the clerk of the county in whi…

§ 308. Notice of pendency of action. 1. In any action or proceeding instituted by the department the plaintiff or petitioner may file in the county clerk's office of the county where the premises affected by such action or proceeding are situated, a notice of the pendency of suc…

§ 309. Repairs, vacation and demolition of buildings. 1. a. The term "nuisance" shall be held to embrace public nuisance as known at common law or in equity jurisprudence. Whatever is dangerous to human life or detrimental to health, and whatever dwelling is overcrowded with occ…

§ 309-a. Multiple dwelling; apartment prohibitions for certain employees. 1. No janitor, superintendent, manager, custodian, or the like, of a multiple dwelling shall be permitted to reside in an apartment unit in the multiple dwelling in which he is employed if the rental of su…

§ 31. Size of rooms. 1. The provisions of this section, except subdivision six, shall apply only to multiple dwellings erected after April eighteenth, nineteen hundred twenty-nine, and shall apply to all such dwellings unless otherwise expressly limited. 2. Except as in this sec…

§ 310. Board of appeals. 1. As used in this section "board" shall mean the agency of a city constituted as a board and authorized by law both to grant variances of the zoning resolution and to make rules supplemental to laws regulating construction, maintenance, use and area of …

§ 32. Alcoves. 1. Every alcove, except a lawful cooking space, opening from any room in any multiple dwelling erected after April eighteenth, nineteen hundred twenty-nine, shall be separately lighted and ventilated as provided for other rooms in section thirty. It shall have a f…

§ 325. Registry of owner, agent and lessee. 1. Every owner of a multiple dwelling, every lessee of a whole dwelling and every agent or other person having control of such a dwelling, shall file in the department a notice containing his name, address and a description of the prem…

§ 326. Service of notices, orders and summonses. 1. Every notice, order or summons relative to a dwelling shall be served five days before the time for compliance therewith. The posting of a copy of such notice, order or summons in a conspicuous place in such dwelling, together …

§ 327. Indexing names; fees for searches. 1. The names and addresses filed in accordance with section three hundred twenty-five shall be indexed under the direction of the registrar of records of the department in such a manner that all of those filed in relation to each dwellin…

§ 328. Central Violations Bureau. 1. In cities having a population of one million or more, the department shall establish a central violations bureau which shall establish and maintain currently an index showing and a file containing, with respect to each building located in the…

§ 329. Certificate of inspection visits. In a city of over one million population the department shall issue without fee to all owners of multiple dwellings located in such city, a certificate of inspection visits upon which shall appear the title in bold print "CERTIFICATE OF I…

§ 33. Cooking spaces. 1. Every space which is intended, arranged or designed for cooking or warming of food shall be either a kitchen or kitchenette. The term "kitchen" shall mean such a space eighty square feet or more in floor area. The term "kitchenette" shall mean such a spa…

§ 34. Rooms in basements and cellars. 1. In any multiple dwelling\nerected after April eighteenth, nineteen hundred twenty-nine, every room\nin a cellar or basement shall have a permit as provided in subdivision\nfive of section three hundred and, except as provided in subdivisi…

§ 35. Entrance doors and lights. In every multiple dwelling erected after April eighteenth, nineteen hundred twenty-nine, every door giving access to an entrance hall from outside the dwelling shall contain at least five square feet of glazed surface. The width of every such doo…

§ 351. Lien. A multiple dwelling shall be subject to a penalty of one thousand dollars if it or any part of it shall be used as a house of prostitution or assignation with the permission of the owner, and such penalty shall be a lien upon the dwelling and lot upon which it is si…

§ 352. Recovery of premises. If a multiple dwelling, or any part thereof, shall be used as a house of prostitution or assignation with the permission of the lessee or his agent, the lease shall be terminable at the election of the lessor, and the owner shall be entitled to recov…

§ 353. Permission of owner or lessee. A multiple dwelling shall be deemed to have been used for the purposes specified in the last two sections with the permission of the owner, agent or lessee thereof in the following cases: 1. If summary proceedings for the removal of the tena…

§ 354. Rules of evidence. In any action to establish a lien or in any action or proceeding for a fine, penalty or other punishment for a violation of any of the provisions of this, article, proof of the ill-repute or the ill-fame of the premises which are the subject-matter of t…

§ 355. Title of action or proceeding and parties. Any action or proceeding referred to in this article shall be brought against the premises as defendant. Such premises may be described in the title of the action or proceeding by their street number or by any other method suffic…

§ 356. Jurisdiction and procedure. Any action or proceeding referred to in this article shall be brought in the supreme court, county court or other court of competent jurisdiction in the county in which the premises are situated. At or before the commencement of the action or p…

§ 357. Judgment. The judgment in such action or proceeding, if in favor of the plaintiff, shall establish the penalty sued for as a lien upon such premises, subject only to taxes, assessments, water rates, mortgages and mechanics' liens as may exist thereon prior to the filing o…

§ 358. Sale of premises. At any time after the entry of any judgment establishing a lien upon such premises the department, if there be no stay pending appeal, may apply to the court for leave to sell such premises. Upon such application the court may order such premises sold at…

§ 359. Receivership. Whenever the lien or liens established by judgment pursuant to this article shall amount to one thousand dollars or more, and there be no stay pending appeal, the department shall appoint a receiver of the rents and profits of such premises. Such receiver sh…