2023 New York Laws › MDW - Multiple Dwelling › Article 3 - Multiple Dwellings--General Provisions › Title 1 - Light and Air › 34 - Rooms in Basements and Cellars.

§  34.  Rooms  in  basements  and cellars. 1. In any multiple dwelling
erected after April eighteenth, nineteen hundred twenty-nine, every room
in a cellar or basement shall have a permit as provided  in  subdivision
five of section three hundred and, except as provided in subdivision six
of this section, shall comply with the following conditions:
a.  Such  rooms  shall be everywhere at least eight feet high from the
floor to the ceiling, except that in a basement room  as  many  as  four
beams  twelve  inches  or less in width and extending six inches or less
below the ceiling may be disregarded.
b. Except as otherwise provided in paragraph f, the ceiling  of  every
such room in the front part of the dwelling, or in an apartment or suite
extending  to  the  front  part, shall be at every point of such room at
least four feet six inches above the curb level  directly  in  front  of
such  point  on  the street in front of the dwelling; and the ceiling of
every other such room, unless the yard of the dwelling is sixty feet  or
more in depth or extends to a street along its entire width, shall be at
every point of such room at least two feet above the curb level directly
in  front  of  such  point on the street in front of the dwelling. Every
yard or court upon which any such cellar or basement room  or  apartment
opens shall, conform to the requirements of subdivision eight of section
twenty-six.  Every such room, except as otherwise provided in paragraphs
e and f, shall be an integral part of an apartment or  suite  containing
at  least one room with a window opening directly upon a street or yard.
Except as provided in paragrahs e and f, and  if  the  yard  of  such  a
dwelling  is  less than sixty feet in depth there shall be not more than
one apartment or suite in any cellar therein and any such  apartment  or
suite  shall  contain  not  more than five rooms, shall be supplied with
water closet and bath accommodations, and shall not open upon any  court
less  than  five feet in width. Every part of such an apartment or suite
shall either be within twenty-five feet of  the  inner  surface  of  the
front or rear wall of the dwelling or have a window opening upon a court
of  at  least  the dimensions prescribed in section tweny-six, but never
less than ten feet wide.
c. Every  such  cellar  or  basement  room  shall  have  access  to  a
water-closet   constructed   and   arranged  as  prescribed  in  section
seventy-six.
d. Every such room shall have a window or windows complying  with  the
requirements  of  section  thirty. The aggregate area of windows in each
such room, except  as  provided  in  paragraph  f,  shall  be  at  least
one-eighth of the horizontal area of the room. Each such window shall be
constructed  so that the upper half of its area can be opened, and shall
open upon a street, court or yard. The underside of the top stop-bead of
each such window shall be within  twelve  inches  of  the  ceiling.  One
window  in  each  such room shall have an area of at least twelve square
feet.
e. In addition to a janitor's apartment three rooms or less  may  also
be  provided in the cellar of such a dwelling exclusively for the use of
persons regularly and continuously employed in the maintenance  of  such
dwelling.  Every  such room shall be completely separated from any other
room or private hall and shall comply with all the provisions respecting
a janitor's apartment except those relating to  water-closet  and  bath,
but  there  shall  be at least one water-closet and bath accessible from
each such room without passing through a janitor's apartment.  No  other
rooms  in  such  a  cellar  shall  be  occupied  for  living or sleeping
purposes, except  as  permitted  in  paragraphs  b  and  f.  Whenever  a
janitor's apartment in the cellar of such a dwelling, or a room therein,
is  expressly  excepted  from  a  requirement  in  any provision of this

chapter, such exception shall apply also to  any  cellar  room  lawfully
occupied as in this paragraph provided.
f.  (1) When the lot of such a dwelling abuts upon two or more streets
and the difference in level between the highest and the lowest points of
the curbs adjoining the lot is more than ten  feet,  a  room  below  the
highest  curb  point  may  be used for living purposes provided it opens
upon a street or upon a lawful court or  yard  which  connects  directly
with a street or, if the floor of such room is not more than twelve feet
below  the  highest  curb  point,  upon  an  interior court with a least
dimension of not less than thirty feet if such court is  situated  on  a
lot line, and otherwise with a least dimension not less than fifty feet.
Every  such room shall be at least nine feet high from finished floor to
finished ceiling. When any such room or an apartment containing it faces
a street, the ceiling of the room at every point shall be at least  four
feet six inches above the curb level of such street directly in front of
such  point. For the purpose of determining the required dimensions of a
court or yard  of  any  dwelling  subject  to  the  provisions  of  this
sub-paragraph,  the  height  of such dwelling shall be measured from the
lowest point of such court or yard.
(2) When the lot of such a multiple dwelling does not run through from
street to street and there is a difference  in  level  exceeding  twenty
feet  between the highest point of the curb in front of the dwelling and
the lowest point of the curb on a street directly in  the  rear  of  the
dwelling which street is within one hundred twenty-five feet of the rear
line of the lot, a room below the level of the highest point of the curb
in  front  of the dwelling may be used for living purposes provided such
room opens upon a yard or a court adjoining a yard.  The  floor  of  any
such  room shall be at least six inches above the level of every part of
every yard and court upon which such room opens and of the curb  on  the
street  in  the rear of such dwelling and also of all intervening ground
between the rear street and the rear lot line. Every such room shall  be
at  least  nine  feet  high from finished floor to finished ceiling. The
required dimensions of a yard, or of a court adjoining a yard, on  which
such  a  room  opens  in  any dwelling subject to the provisions of this
sub-paragraph, shall be  determined  by  the  height  of  such  dwelling
measured from the lowest point of such yard or court.
(3) In any portion of a multiple dwelling arranged for living purposes
below  the  curb  level  under authority of either of the sub-paragraphs
above there  shall  be  no  wood  beams,  wood  lintels  or  other  wood
structural  members, nor shall any wood or other inflammable material be
used in any partitions, furrings or ceilings.
2. Every multiple dwelling erected after  April  eighteenth,  nineteen
hundred  twenty-nine,  whenever  the department shall deem it necessary,
shall have all walls below the ground level  and  all  cellar  or  lower
floors   damp-proofed   and   water-proofed.   Such   damp-proofing  and
water-proofing shall run throughout the cellar or other lowest floor and
through and up the walls as high as the ground level.
3. Every cellar and basement  in  every  multiple  dwelling  shall  be
properly lighted and ventilated to the satisfaction of the department.
4. In every multiple dwelling the cellar walls and ceilings, except in
rooms  occupied  as  provided  in  paragraph  f of subdivision one or in
subdivision six, shall either be constructed of  light-colored  material
or  be thoroughly whitewashed or painted a light color by the owner, and
shall be so  maintained.  Such  whitewash  or  paint  shall  be  renewed
whenever necessary, as may be determined and required by the department.
5.  Notwithstanding  any  provisions of this section or of subdivision
five of section three hundred, an apartment or room in  a  cellar  which
was  occupied for living purposes at any time on or after October first,

nineteen hundred fifty-two may thereafter continue to  be  occupied  for
such  purposes  until  July  first,  nineteen  hundred  sixty-seven,  in
accordance with the conditions imposed by subdivision  five  of  section
two hundred sixteen.
6.  An  apartment in a cellar or basement of any multiple dwelling may
be used for living purposes provided all of the following conditions are
complied with:
a. Such apartment has at least one half of its height and all  of  its
window  surfaces  above every part of an "adequate adjacent space." Such
"adequate adjacent space" shall be open to the sky,  shall  be  properly
drained to the satisfaction of the department, and shall be a continuous
surface area outside the dwelling not less than thirty feet in its least
dimension  and  abutting at same level, or directly below, every part of
the exterior walls of such apartment and of every other apartment on the
same floor. Such "adequate adjacent  space"  shall  include  only  space
which  is located on the same lot or plot as the dwelling or on a street
or public place or space.
b. Every living room of such apartment is everywhere  at  least  eight
feet  high from the floor to the ceiling in dwellings erected after July
first, nineteen hundred fifty-seven, and seven feet in dwellings erected
prior thereto.
c. All parts of the exterior walls of the  dwelling  which  are  below
ground level and on the same floor as such apartment or above such floor
are  dampproof  to  the  satisfaction of the department and the floor of
such apartment is dampproof and waterproof.
d. The yard and every court of the dwelling containing such  apartment
are adequately drained to the satisfaction of the department.
e. If any part of the apartment is below the "adequate adjacent space"
referred  to in paragraph a of this subdivision, all ceilings, walls and
partitions of such apartment are fire-retarded or the rooms  and  spaces
within  such  apartment  are  protected  by  a  sprinkler  system to the
satisfaction of the department.
f. Such apartment and every part of the floor on which it is  situated
meet  all of the requirements which would be in effect for such floor if
none of the rooms thereon were used for living purposes.
g. Such apartment complies with all of the requirements for apartments
in the same dwelling which are not in a cellar or basement.
h. The floor on which such apartment is situated, if a  cellar,  shall
nevertheless  be  counted as a story for the purpose of all requirements
except those relating to the height of the dwelling.