Int. No. 174
By Council Members Leffler, Spigner, Malave-Dilan, Linares, Miller, Robles, Wooten, Fusco,Stabile, Watkins, Freed, Koslowitz and Abel; also Council Members Cruz, Foster, Harrison, Marshall, Michels and O'Donovan.
A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York in relation to establishing a temporary interagency task force to determine whether existing laws, rules, practices, and procedures provide sufficient public safety in publicly-and-privately owned buildings.
Be it enacted by the Council as follows:
Section 1. Declaration of legislative intent. The council finds that the failure to comply with building code and fire prevention code requirements on the part of many establishments in the city continues to pose a serious threat to the health, safety and welfare of the city's residents and visitors and is perilous to property. The critical nature of this problem was brought to light in recent years by the collapse of the wall of a six-story apartment building located at 142 West 140th Street in Manhattan, in which three people perished; the building collapse on East 54th Street in Manhattan; and the series of firefighter deaths that occurred earlier this year due to existing dangerous structures. Another important factor is the number of distressed properties that contain a high number of housing maintenance code violations.
The council recognizes that the disregard of building and fire prevention code requirements is not only limited to residential buildings but affects all commercial properties, day care and senior citizen centers as well, all of which are equally likely to have violations that would be perilous to their occupants. In addition, the council believes that the city's antiquated electrical codes, which are operative in older dwellings, and the increased reliance on the self-certification procedures to ensure code compliance requires an extensive study to ensure the safety of the city's residents.
The Council recognizes that with the increased frequency of building collapses and the death of the firefighters, that there may exist an apparent failure on the city's part to ensure public safety in private and public managed buildings; that this failure may in part be due to an apparent gap in communications between vitally important agencies such as the fire department, the police department, the department of housing preservation and development, the department of buildings and the department of sanitation. This was especially evident during the April 11, 1995 hearing by the committee of housing and buildings called as a result of the building collapse on 142 West 140th Street, Manhattan. At this hearing a memorandum dated March 24, 1995 from the commissioner of the department of buildings to the commissioner of the department of housing preservation and development, was produced which stated that the "Department of Buildings will provide training to the Department of Housing Preservation and Development inspectors so that they can identify potential structural and hazardous problems in buildings, and when appropriate, refer them to the Department of Buildings for further review". In addition it was stated, by the commissioner of the department of buildings, that a computer link-up with the department of housing preservation and development was underway so that referrals can be electronically received by the department of buildings BIS computer system. However, the council has yet to see the effects of these initiatives.
The Council hereby declares that it is imperative that a temporary interagency task force be established that shall examine the above mentioned issues and foster greater communication and coordination among the various agencies involved.
§2. Temporary task force on dangerous buildings.
a. There is hereby established a temporary task force to study the building code, electrical code and fire code which shall consist of ten members. The mayor shall appoint five members, one of whom shall serve as chairperson, and the speaker of the council shall appoint five members. Such task force shall have a duration of one year. The members of the commission shall be appointed within thirty days of the effective date of this section. Each member shall serve without compensation for the duration of the task force. The task force shall be composed of representatives of the police department, the fire department, the department of buildings, the department of housing preservation and development, the department of sanitation and the city council.
b. The task force may appoint an executive director to serve at its pleasure and may employ or retain such other employees and consultants as are necessary to fulfill its functions within appropriations for such purposes.
c. Within one month of the appointment of the last member of the task force, the task force shall establish separate study groups within the task force to study the current building, fire and electrical codes.
d. Within nine months of the appointment of the last member of the task force, the task force shall issue an interim report to the mayor and the council. The interim report shall make specific recommendations with respect to the areas listed below and shall include an assessment of the fiscal implications of such recommendations:
1. Identification of all unsafe structures;
2. Methods to secure unsafe and abandoned structures;
3. Interaction between and among the city agencies cited herein regarding unsafe buildings;
4. Amendments to building, fire and electrical codes that address out-dated provisions;
5. Methods to update applicable procedures which address illegal occupancies; and
6. Procedures to cure building, electrical and fire prevention code violations in both city and non-city owned properties and recover the cost of such repairs from the property owner.
§3. This local law shall take effect thirty days after it shall have been enacted into law.