§ 27-2040 Lights near entrance ways and in yards and courts of multiple dwellings.

   a.   The owner of a multiple dwelling shall install and maintain one or more lights at or near the outside of the front entrance way of the building which shall in the aggregate provide not less than one hundred watts incandescent illumination or its equivalent for a building with a frontage up to twenty-two feet, and two hundred watts incandescent illumination or its equivalent or a building with a frontage in excess of twenty-two feet. In the case of a multiple dwelling with a frontage in excess of twenty-two feet and front entrance doors with a combined width in excess of five feet, the owners shall install at least two lights, one on each side of the entrance way, with an aggregate illumination of three hundred watts incandescent illumination or its equivalent. If the minimum level of illumination is maintained, the owner may determine details of location, design and installation of lighting fixtures, subject, however, to regulations of the department with respect to the maximum height above or distance from the entrance way of such fixtures, and the electrical and other safety of their installation. The lights required by this subdivision shall be kept burning from sunset on each day to sunrise on the day following.

   b.   The owner of a multiple dwelling shall install and maintain in every yard and court one or more lights of at least one hundred watts of incandescent illumination or its equivalent, in such locations as the department may prescribe. The lights required by this subdivision shall be kept burning from sunset on each day to sunrise on the day following.

Article 11: Protective Devices and Fire Protection

§ 27-2041 Peepholes.

In every dwelling the owner shall provide and maintain a peephole in the entrance door of each dwelling unit. Such peephole shall be located, as prescribed by the department, in such a place that the person in each dwelling unit may view from the inside any person immediately outside the entrance door. However, such peephole need not be installed in any tenant-occupied one- or two-family home where it is possible to see from the inside any person immediately outside the entrance door. This section shall not apply to hotels, apartment hotels, college or school dormitories, or owner-occupied dwelling units in one- and two-family homes.

§ 27-2041.1 Self-closing doors.

   a.   It shall be the duty of the owner of a multiple dwelling, which is required to be equipped with self-closing doors pursuant to section 28-315.10, or any other applicable law, to keep and maintain such doors in good repair.

   b.   Any owner required to keep and maintain self-closing doors pursuant to subdivision a of this section who fails to keep or maintain such doors shall be liable for a class C immediately hazardous violation. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, the time within which to correct such violation shall be 14 days after service of the notice of violation.

   c.   The department shall conduct a re-inspection of a self-closing door violation no later than 20 days after the expiration of the correction period specified in subdivision b, notwithstanding any submission of a certification of correction. The department shall make reasonable efforts to conduct a re-inspection of a self-closing door violation that was issued for a door that opens into an interior corridor and is an entrance door to a dwelling unit, and shall notify the occupant of such dwelling unit of efforts to re-inspect the door within the re-inspection period specified in this subdivision, including information on how to reschedule the re-inspection if the department was unable to access the door for re-inspection.

   d.   Notwithstanding the civil penalties set forth in subdivision (a) of section 27-2115, the civil penalty for a violation of subdivision a of this section shall be not less than two hundred fifty dollars nor more than five hundred dollars and, in addition, two hundred fifty dollars per day from the date set for correction until the violation is corrected.

(L.L. 2018/111, 6/9/2018, eff. 6/9/2019; Am. L.L. 2022/063, 6/1/2022, eff. 7/16/2022 and 1/1/2023)

Editor's note: Pursuant to Section 5 of L.L. 2022/063, subdivision c takes effect on January 1, 2023.

§ 27-2041.2 Self-closing doors; required inspections.

   a.   General. The department shall develop a process, to be implemented by July 1, 2023, to periodically inspect certain self-closing doors in class A multiple dwellings in accordance with this section.

   b.   Multiple dwellings to be inspected. The department shall establish by rule criteria for annually selecting 300 class A multiple dwellings to be inspected pursuant to this section. Such criteria shall include, but need not be limited to, buildings identified in consultation with the fire department. Notwithstanding the criteria established by the department, the annual selection of multiple dwellings to be inspected pursuant to this section shall not include any building that: (i) is currently the subject of a court order appointing or a proceeding brought by the department seeking the appointment of an administrator pursuant to article 7-A of the real property actions and proceedings law, or (ii) has been included in the alternative enforcement program pursuant to section 27-2153 and has not been discharged from such program. Any multiple dwelling inspected under this section shall not be subject to inspection under this section again for at least five years.

   c.   Inspection process. Self-closing doors shall be inspected and tested in accordance with this section and applicable rules of the department promulgated pursuant to this section. The commissioner shall develop criteria to be used during the inspection of a self-closing door.

   d.   Inspection requirements. At each inspection conducted pursuant to subdivision c of this section, the department shall inspect self-closing doors in common areas, public spaces, hallways and corridors and reasonably accessible self-closing dwelling unit doors.

   e.   Annual report on self-closing doors. 

      1.   No later than September 30, 2024, for the period of the prior fiscal year, and annually thereafter, the commissioner shall submit to the mayor and the speaker of the council and shall post conspicuously on the department's website a report regarding self-closing doors inspected by the department pursuant to this section.

      2.   The report shall include a table in which each separate row references a building inspected by the department pursuant to this section in the previous year. Each such row shall include the following information, as well as any additional information the commissioner deems appropriate, set forth in separate columns:

         (a)   The address of the building where such inspection was attempted;

         (b)   The building or property owner at the time of inspection;

         (c)   The date on which an inspection of such building occurred;

         (d)   The number of floors contained in such building;

         (e)   Whether or not the building was accessed;

         (f)   The number of self-closing door violations issued as a result of the inspection; and

         (g)   The number of self-closing door violations that were corrected by the owner.

(L.L. 2022/071, 7/3/2022, eff. 7/3/2022)

§ 27-2042 Mirrors in elevators.

The owner of a multiple dwelling in which there are one or more self-service elevators shall affix and maintain in each such elevator a mirror which enables persons to view its interior before entering the same. The mirror shall meet such requirements as the department shall by regulation prescribe.