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New York New York City Administrative Code(new) - Article 1 - § 27-2004 Definitions

Legal Research Home > New York Laws > New York New York City Administrative Code(new) (ADC) > New York New York City Administrative Code(new) - Article 1 - § 27-2004 Definitions


 
    §  27-2004  Definitions.  a.  The  following  terms,  as  used in this
  chapter, shall have the following meanings:
    1. The term department shall mean the department, bureau, division  or
  other agency charged with the enforcement of this title.
    2.  Wherever the word or words occupied, is occupied, used, or is used
  appear, such word or words shall be construed  as  if  followed  by  the
  words "or is intended, arranged or designed to be used or occupied".
    3. A dwelling is any building or structure or portion thereof which is
  occupied in whole or in part as the home, residence or sleeping place of
  one or more human beings.
    4. A family is
    (a) A single person occupying a dwelling unit and maintaining a common
  household with not more than two boarders, roomers or lodgers; or
    (b)   Two   or   more   persons  related  by  blood,  adoption,  legal
  guardianship, marriage or domestic  partnership;  occupying  a  dwelling
  unit and maintaining a common household with not more than two boarders,
  roomers or lodgers; or
    (c)  Not  more  than three unrelated persons occupying a dwelling unit
  and maintaining a common household; or
    (d) Not more than three unrelated persons occupying a dwelling unit in
  a congregate housing or shared  living  arrangement  and  maintaining  a
  common household; or
    (e) Members of a group home; or
    (f)  Foster  children  placed in accordance with provisions of the New
  York state social services law, their foster parents, and other  persons
  related   to   the   foster  parents  by  blood,  marriage  or  domestic
  partnership; where all residents occupy and maintain a common  household
  with not more than two boarders, roomers or lodgers; or
    (g)  Up  to  seven  unrelated students enrolled at a single accredited
  college or university occupying a student apartment,  as  such  term  is
  defined  in  the  New  York city building code, and maintaining a common
  household pursuant to a lease, sublease, or occupancy agreement directly
  with such college or university, provided that:
    (i) The entire structure in which the  dwelling  unit  is  located  is
  fully  sprinklered  in  accordance  with  chapter 9 of the New York city
  building code; and
    (ii)  Such  occupancy  does  not  exceed  the  maximums  contained  in
  subdivision a of section 27-2075; and
    (iii)  Prior to commencement of such occupancy, and on an annual basis
  thereafter such college or university has submitted a fire  safety  plan
  containing  fire safety and evacuation procedures for such dwelling unit
  that is acceptable to the fire commissioner and in compliance  with  any
  rules promulgated by the fire commissioner; and
    (iv)   The  dwelling  unit  complies  with  additional  occupancy  and
  construction  requirements  as  may  be  established  by  rule  by   the
  department of housing preservation and development or its successor.
    A  common  household  is deemed to exist if every member of the family
  has access to all parts of the dwelling unit.  Lack  of  access  to  all
  parts  of the dwelling unit establishes a rebuttable presumption that no
  common household exists.
    5. "Person," for the purposes of article four of subchapter  three  of
  this  chapter,  means any adult or child over the age of four years. The
  term "person" as used in subchapters four and five of  this  code  shall
  include the owner, mortgagee or vendee in possession, assignee of rents,
  receiver,  executor, trustee, lessee, agent or any other person, firm or
  corporation directly or indirectly in control  of  a  dwelling  or  part
  thereof.  Whenever a multiple dwelling shall have been declared a public
  nuisance to any extent pursuant to section 27-2114  of  article  one  of

  subchapter  five  of  this  chapter and such declaration shall have been
  filed as therein provided, the term "person" shall be deemed to include,
  in addition to those mentioned hereinabove, all the officers,  directors
  and  persons  having  an interest in more than ten percent of the issued
  and outstanding stock of the owner  as  herein  defined,  as  holder  or
  beneficial  owner  thereof, if such person be a corporation other than a
  banking organization as defined in section two of  the  banking  law,  a
  national  banking  association,  a federal savings and loan association,
  the mortgage facilities corporation, savings banks life insurance  fund,
  the savings banks retirement system, an authorized insurer as defined in
  section  one  hundred  seven of the insurance law, or a trust company or
  other corporation organized under the laws of this state all the capital
  stock of which is owned by at least twenty savings banks or by at  least
  twenty  savings and loan associations or a subsidiary corporation all of
  the capital stock of which is owned  by  such  trust  company  or  other
  corporation.
    6.  A  private  dwelling  is  any  building  or structure designed and
  occupied for residential purposes by not more than two families. Private
  dwellings shall also be deemed to include  a  series  of  one-family  or
  two-family  dwelling  units  each  of  which faces or is accessible to a
  legal street or public thoroughfare,  if  each  such  dwelling  unit  is
  equipped as a separate dwelling unit with all essential services, and if
  each  such  unit  is  arranged  so  that  it  may be approved as a legal
  one-family or two-family dwelling.
    7. A multiple dwelling is a dwelling which is either  rented,  leased,
  let  or  hired  out, to be occupied, or is occupied, as the residence or
  home of three or more families living independently  of  each  other.  A
  multiple dwelling shall also include residential quarters for members or
  personnel  of  any  hospital staff which are not located in any building
  used primarily for hospital use, but any  building  which  was  erected,
  altered  or  converted prior to July first, nineteen hundred fifty-five,
  to be occupied by such members or personnel or is so  occupied  on  such
  date  shall not be subject to the requirements of this code only so long
  as it continues to be so occupied if there are local laws applicable  to
  such building and such building is in compliance with such local laws. A
  multiple  dwelling  does not include (i) a hospital, convent, monastery,
  asylum or public institution; or (ii) a fireproof building  used  wholly
  for commercial purposes except for not more than one janitor's apartment
  and  not more than one penthouse occupied by not more than two families.
  For the purposes of this chapter, multiple dwellings  are  divided  into
  two classes: "class A" and "class B."
    8.    (a)  A  class A multiple dwelling is a multiple dwelling that is
  occupied for permanent residence  purposes.  This  class  shall  include
  tenements,   flat   houses,  maisonette  apartments,  apartment  houses,
  apartment  hotels,  bachelor  apartments,  studio   apartments,   duplex
  apartments,  kitchenette  apartments,  garden-type  maisonette  dwelling
  projects, and all other  multiple  dwellings  except  class  B  multiple
  dwellings.  A class A multiple dwelling shall only be used for permanent
  residence purposes. For the purposes of  this  subparagraph,  "permanent
  residence purposes" shall consist of occupancy of a dwelling unit by the
  same natural person or family for thirty consecutive days or more, and a
  natural  person or family so occupying a dwelling unit shall be referred
  to herein  as  the  permanent  occupants  of  such  dwelling  unit.  The
  following  uses  of  a  dwelling unit by the permanent occupants thereof
  shall not be deemed to be inconsistent with occupancy of  such  dwelling
  unit for permanent residence purposes:
    (1)  (A)  occupancy  of  such  dwelling  unit  for  fewer  than thirty
  consecutive days by other natural persons living within the household of

  the permanent occupant such as house guests or lawful boarders,  roomers
  or lodgers; or
    (B)  incidental  and  occasional  occupancy  of such dwelling unit for
  fewer than thirty consecutive days by other  natural  persons  when  the
  permanent  occupants are temporarily absent for personal reasons such as
  vacation or medical  treatment,  provided  that  there  is  no  monetary
  compensation paid to the permanent occupants for such occupancy.
    (2)   In   a   class  A  multiple  dwelling  owned  by  an  accredited
  not-for-profit college or university or leased  by  such  a  college  or
  university under a net lease for a term of forty-nine years or more, the
  use  of  designated  dwelling  units for occupancy for fewer than thirty
  consecutive days shall not be inconsistent with the  occupancy  of  such
  multiple dwelling for permanent residence purposes if:
    (A)  No  more than five percent of the dwelling units in such multiple
  dwelling but not less than one dwelling unit, are  designated  for  such
  use  and  the  designation  of  a  unit  once made may not be changed to
  another unit;
    (B) A list of the designated dwelling units certified by an authorized
  representative of the college or university is kept on the  premises  by
  the  owner  or net lessee and made available upon request for inspection
  by the department or the fire department of such city;
    (C) Only designated dwelling units on the certified list are used  for
  occupancy for fewer than thirty consecutive days and only by (i) natural
  persons,  other than persons whose only relationship with the college or
  university is as a student, for  whom  the  college  or  university  has
  undertaken to provide housing accommodations such as visiting professors
  and  academics, graduate students with research or teaching fellowships,
  researchers and persons presenting  academic  papers,  interviewing  for
  positions  of  employment  or  having  other  similar  business with the
  college or university, or (ii)  natural  persons  for  whom  a  hospital
  affiliated  with  such  college  or university has undertaken to provide
  housing accommodations  such  as  patients,  patients'  families  and/or
  accompanying  escorts,  medical professionals and healthcare consultants
  or persons having other similar business with such hospital. A log shall
  be maintained on the premises of the names and addresses of such persons
  and the duration and reason for their stay. Such log shall be accessible
  upon request for inspection by the department and the fire department of
  such municipality;
    (D) No rent or other payment is collected for such occupancy; and
    (E) The fire department of such city shall require  the  filing  of  a
  fire safety plan or other appropriate fire safety procedure.
    (b) A garden-type maisonette dwelling project is a series of attached,
  detached  or  semi-detached dwelling units which are provided as a group
  collectively with all essential services such as, but  not  limited  to,
  water  supply and house sewers, and which units are located on a site or
  plot not less than twenty thousand square  feet  in  area  under  common
  ownership  and erected under plans filed with the department on or after
  April eighteenth, nineteen hundred fifty-four, and which units  together
  and in their aggregate are arranged or designed to provide three or more
  apartments.
    9.  A  class  B  multiple  dwelling  is  a  multiple dwelling which is
  occupied, as a rule, transiently, as the more or less temporary abode of
  individuals or families who are lodged with or without meals. This class
  includes  hotels,  lodging  houses,  rooming  houses,  boarding  houses,
  boarding  schools,  furnished  room  houses,  lodgings, club houses, and
  college and school dormitories.
    10. A converted dwelling  is  a  dwelling  (i)  erected  before  April
  eighteenth,  nineteen  hundred twenty-nine, to be occupied by one or two

  families living independently of each other and subsequently occupied as
  a multiple dwelling or (ii) a dwelling three stories or less  in  height
  erected  after  April  eighteenth,  nineteen  hundred twenty-nine, to be
  occupied  by  one or two families living independently of each other and
  subsequently occupied by not more than three families  in  all,  with  a
  maximum  occupancy of two families on each floor in a two story building
  and one family on each floor in a  three  story  building.  A  converted
  dwelling  occupied as a class A multiple dwelling is a class A converted
  dwelling;  every  other  converted  dwelling  is  a  class  B  converted
  dwelling.
    11.  A  tenement  is any building or structure or any portion thereof,
  erected before April eighteenth, nineteen hundred twenty-nine, which  is
  occupied,  wholly or in part, as the residence of three families or more
  living independently of each other and  doing  their  cooking  upon  the
  premises and includes apartment houses, flat houses and all other houses
  so  erected  and occupied, except that a tenement shall not be deemed to
  include any converted dwelling.  An  old  law  tenement  is  a  tenement
  existing  before  April  twelfth,  nineteen hundred one, and recorded as
  such in the tenement house department before April eighteenth,  nineteen
  hundred  twenty-nine,  except that it shall not be deemed to include any
  converted dwelling.
    12. A hotel is an inn having thirty or more sleeping rooms.
    13. Dwelling unit  shall  mean  any  residential  accommodation  in  a
  multiple dwelling or private dwelling.
    14.  Apartment  shall  mean  one  or more living rooms, arranged to be
  occupied as a unit separate from all other rooms within a dwelling, with
  lawful sanitary facilities and a lawful kitchen or kitchenette  for  the
  exclusive use of the family residing in such unit.
    15.  Rooming  unit  shall mean one or more living rooms arranged to be
  occupied as a unit separate from all other living rooms, and which  does
  not  have  both lawful sanitary facilities and lawful cooking facilities
  for the exclusive use of the family residing in such  unit.  It  may  be
  located  either  within  an  apartment  or within any class A or class B
  multiple dwelling. A rooming unit shall not include a living room  in  a
  class  B  hotel or any other dwelling complying with section sixty-seven
  of the multiple dwelling law and  so  classified  and  recorded  in  the
  department.
    16.  Rooming  house  shall mean a class B converted dwelling with more
  than half of the rooms in rooming units.
    17. Single room occupancy is the occupancy by one or two persons of  a
  single  room,  or  of  two  or  more  rooms  which  are joined together,
  separated from all  other  rooms  within  an  apartment  in  a  multiple
  dwelling,  so  that  the occupant or occupants thereof reside separately
  and independently of  the  other  occupant  or  occupants  of  the  same
  apartment.  When  a  class A multiple dwelling is used wholly or in part
  for single room occupancy, it remains a class A multiple dwelling.
    18. A lodging house is a multiple dwelling,  other  than  a  hotel,  a
  rooming house or a furnished room house, in which persons are housed for
  hire  for  a  single  night, or for less than a week at one time, or any
  part of which is let for any person to sleep in for any term less than a
  week.
    19. Public hall shall mean a hall, corridor  or  passageway  within  a
  building but outside of all apartments and suites of private rooms.
    20.  Public  part  of  a dwelling includes a public hall and any space
  used in common by the occupants of two or more apartments or  rooms,  or
  by  persons who are not tenants, or exclusively for mechanical equipment
  of such dwelling or for storage purposes.

    21. Living room shall mean any room within a dwelling  unit  except  a
  dining  space,  kitchenette, bathroom or water closet compartment, foyer
  or private hall, corridor or passageway.
    22. The floor area is the clear area of the floor contained within the
  partitions or walls enclosing any room, space, foyer, hall or passageway
  of any dwelling.
    23.  Dining  space  shall  mean a space with fifty-five square feet or
  less of floor area, which has such permanent fittings as the  department
  requires,  located  off  a living room, foyer or kitchen. A dining space
  includes a dining bay, dining recess or dinette.
    24. Foyer shall mean a space within a  dwelling  unit  in  a  multiple
  dwelling  used  as an entrance hall from the public hall, which is not a
  living room when its floor area does not exceed either: (a) ten  percent
  of  the  total floor area of the dwelling unit; or (b) twenty percent of
  such floor area, if every living room is at least twenty percent  larger
  than the required minimum room size.
    25.  Kitchen  shall  mean  a  living room used for cooking with eighty
  square feet or more of floor area.
    26. Kitchenette shall mean a space used for  cooking  with  less  than
  eighty square feet of floor area.
    27.  Dormitory  shall  mean  a space occupied for sleeping purposes by
  three or more persons who are not members  of  a  family  maintaining  a
  common household in:
    a.  A  lodging  house,  except  for an apartment occupied solely by an
  owner, janitor or superintendent; or
    b. A college or school dormitory legally recorded  and  classified  in
  the  department  prior to May fifteenth, nineteen hundred fifty-four, or
  converted to  such  use  prior  to  April  thirtieth,  nineteen  hundred
  fifty-six; or
    c.  A  dwelling  owned  and  operated  by  a  religious, charitable or
  educational organization for the purposes enumerated in section  27-2077
  of article four of subchapter three of this chapter; or
    d.  A  dwelling owned, operated or used for the purposes enumerated in
  section 27-2077 of article four of subchapter three of this chapter.
    28. Premises shall mean land and improvements or appurtenances or  any
  part thereof.
    29. Structure shall mean a building or construction of any kind.
    30.  Alteration, as applied to a building or structure, shall mean any
  change or rearrangement in the  structural  parts  or  in  the  existing
  facilities  of  any  such  building  or  structure,  or  any enlargement
  thereof, whether by extension on any side or by any increase in  height,
  or  the  moving  of  such  building  or  structure  from one location or
  position to another.
    31. A multiple dwelling is  fireproof  if  the  walls  and  structural
  members   thereof   meet  the  fire-resistive  standards  set  forth  in
  subdivision twenty-five of section four of the  multiple  dwelling  law.
  Any  other  multiple  dwelling  is nonfireproof. A part of a dwelling is
  fireproof if it meets the standard set forth in  the  multiple  dwelling
  law for the corresponding part of a fireproof dwelling.
    32.  Fire-retarded shall mean either covered with metal lath plastered
  with two or more coats of mortar or otherwise protected against fire  in
  a   manner  approved  by  the  department  with  materials  of  standard
  fire-resistive ratings of at least one hour. Fireproofing  shall  always
  be accepted as meeting any requirement for fire-retarding.
    33.  A  rear  yard  is  an  open space on the same lot with a dwelling
  between the extreme rear line of the lot and the extreme  rear  wall  of
  the  dwelling.  A  side  yard is a continuous open space on the same lot

  with a dwelling between the wall of a dwelling and a  line  of  the  lot
  from the street to a rear yard or rear line of a lot.
    34.  A  court  is an open space other than a side or rear yard, on the
  same lot as a dwelling. A court not extending to the street or rear yard
  is an inner court. A court extending to the street or rear  yard  is  an
  outer court.
    35. A story is a space between the level of one finished floor and the
  level of the next higher finished floor, or, if the top story, the space
  between  the  level  of  the  highest  finished floor and the top of the
  highest roof beams, or, if the first story, the space between the  level
  of  the  finished  floor and the finished ceiling immediately above. For
  the purpose of measuring height by stories in multiple dwellings erected
  after April eighteenth, nineteen  hundred  twenty-nine,  one  additional
  story  shall  be added for each twelve feet or fraction thereof that the
  first story exceeds fifteen feet in height, and for each twelve feet  or
  fraction  thereof  that  any  story above the first story exceeds twelve
  feet in height.
    36. Except as otherwise provided, the curb level, for the  purpose  of
  measuring  the  height of any portion of a building, is the level of the
  curb at the center of the front of the building;  except  that  where  a
  building faces on more than one street, the curb level is the average of
  the  levels  of  the  curbs  at  the center of each front. Where no curb
  elevation has been established the mean level of  the  land  immediately
  adjacent  to  the  building  prior  to  any  excavation or fill shall be
  considered the curb level, unless the city engineer shall establish such
  curb level or its equivalent.
    37. A cellar in a dwelling is  an  enclosed  space  having  more  than
  one-half  of  its  height  below  the  curb level. A cellar shall not be
  counted as a story.
    38. A basement is a story partly below the curb level  but  having  at
  least  one-half  of its height above the curb level. A basement shall be
  counted as a story.
    39. A shaft is an enclosed space extending through one or more stories
  of a building connecting a series of openings therein, or any  story  or
  stories  and the roof, and includes exterior and interior shafts whether
  for air, light, elevator, dumbwaiter or any other purpose.
    40. A stair is a flight or flights of steps together with any landings
  and parts of public halls through which it is necessary to pass in going
  from one level thereof to another.
    41. A firestair is a fireproof stair,  enclosed  in  fireproof  walls,
  within  the body of the building which it serves, to which access may be
  had only through self-closing fireproof doors.
    42. A firetower is a fireproof stair,  enclosed  in  fireproof  walls,
  without  access  to the building from which it affords egress other than
  by a fireproof self-closing door opening on a communicating  balcony  or
  other outside platform at each floor level.
    43.  A  fire  escape  is a combination of outside balconies and stairs
  providing an unobstructed means of egress from  rooms  or  spaces  in  a
  building.
    44.  Window dimensions shall always be taken between stop beads or, if
  there are no stop beads, between the sides, head and sill  of  the  sash
  opening.
    45. The term "owner" shall mean and include the owner or owners of the
  freehold of the premises or lesser estate therein, a mortgagee or vendee
  in  possession,  assignee of rents, receiver, executor, trustee, lessee,
  agent, or any other person, firm or corporation, directly or  indirectly
  in  control  of a dwelling. Whenever a multiple dwelling shall have been
  declared a public nuisance to any extent pursuant to section 27-2114  of

  article  one  of  subchapter  five  of this chapter and such declaration
  shall have been filed, as therein provided,  and  for  the  purposes  of
  section 27-198 of article nineteen of subchapter one and section 27-2093
  of  article  one of subchapter four of this code, the term "owner" shall
  be deemed to include, in addition to those  mentioned  hereinabove,  all
  the  officers, directors and persons having an interest in more than ten
  per cent of the issued and outstanding stock  of  the  owner  as  herein
  defined,  as  holder  or  beneficial  owner  thereof, if such owner be a
  corporation other than a banking organization as defined in section  two
  of  the  banking  law, a national banking association, a federal savings
  and loan association, the mortgage facilities corporation, savings banks
  life insurance fund, the savings banks retirement system, an  authorized
  insurer as defined in section one hundred seven of the insurance law, or
  a  trust  company  or other corporation organized under the laws of this
  state all the capital stock of which is owned by at least twenty savings
  banks or  by  at  least  twenty  savings  and  loan  associations  or  a
  subsidiary  corporation  all  of  the capital stock of which is owned by
  such trust company or other corporation.
    46. Summer resort dwelling shall mean a dwelling, located in a  summer
  resort  community,  which  is  occupied  in  whole or in part for living
  purposes only for a seasonal period of the year between June  first  and
  September thirtieth, other than by the family of the owner or the family
  of a caretaker.
    47. This code shall mean the housing maintenance code.
    48.  Except where otherwise provided, the term "harassment" shall mean
  any act or omission by or on behalf of an owner that (i)  causes  or  is
  intended  to  cause  any  person  lawfully  entitled  to  occupancy of a
  dwelling unit to vacate such dwelling unit or to surrender or waive  any
  rights  in  relation to such occupancy, and (ii) includes one or more of
  the following:
    a. using force against, or making  express  or  implied  threats  that
  force will be used against, any person lawfully entitled to occupancy of
  such dwelling unit;
    b. repeated interruptions or discontinuances of essential services, or
  an  interruption  or  discontinuance  of  an  essential  service  for an
  extended duration or of such significance as to substantially impair the
  habitability of such dwelling unit;
    c. failing to comply with the provisions of subdivision c  of  section
  27-2140 of this chapter;
    d. commencing repeated baseless or frivolous court proceedings against
  any person lawfully entitled to occupancy of such dwelling unit;
    e.  removing  the  possessions  of  any  person  lawfully  entitled to
  occupancy of such dwelling unit;
    f. removing the door at the entrance to  an  occupied  dwelling  unit;
  removing, plugging or otherwise rendering the lock on such entrance door
  inoperable; or changing the lock on such entrance door without supplying
  a  key  to the new lock to the persons lawfully entitled to occupancy of
  such dwelling unit; or
    g. other repeated  acts  or  omissions  of  such  significance  as  to
  substantially  interfere  with  or disturb the comfort, repose, peace or
  quiet of any person lawfully entitled to occupancy of such dwelling unit
  and that cause or are intended to cause any person lawfully entitled  to
  occupancy  of  a  dwelling  unit  to  vacate  such  dwelling  unit or to
  surrender or waive any rights in relation to such occupancy.
    b. Except as otherwise provided herein, all terms used in this chapter
  shall be construed in a manner consistent with their use in the multiple
  dwelling law.
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Last modified: February 19, 2012