214. Size of rooms. 1. In every tenement erected after April twelfth, nineteen hundred one, the sizes of living rooms shall meet the following requirements:
a. In each apartment there shall be at least one living room containing at least one hundred twenty square feet of clear floor area, and every other living room except a kitchen shall contain at least seventy square feet of clear floor area.
b. Every living room which contains less than eighty square feet of clear floor area or which is located in the cellar or basement shall be at least nine feet high, and every other living room at least eight feet high; these measurements to be taken from finished floor to finished ceiling.
c. Every living room shall have a least horizontal dimension of at least six feet and, if the tenement was erected after April eighteenth, nineteen hundred twelve, of at least seven feet; except that the minimum horizontal dimension of any kitchen and of a maid's or servant's sleeping room in a fire-proof tenement in which one or more passenger elevators are operated, shall be six feet.
2. In any tenement, apartments containing three or more rooms may have dining bays, which shall not exceed fifty-five square feet in floor surface area and shall not be deemed separate rooms or subject to the requirements for separate rooms or alcoves. Every such dining bay shall be equipped with such appropriate permanent fittings as may be required by the department and shall also be provided with at least one window opening directly upon a street or upon a yard or court which was lawful on April eighteenth, nineteen hundred twenty-nine. The area of such window shall be one-eighth at least of the floor surface area of such dining bay. No dining bay shall be permitted in any apartment containing less than three rooms.
Last modified: February 3, 2019