BILL NUMBER: S6458
SPONSOR: CLEARE
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the executive law and the administrative code of the
city of New York, in relation to establishing a private right of action
for tenants alleging a failure to keep and maintain self-closing doors
 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
This bill seeks to provide tenants with a private right of action in the
event of a failure to keep and maintain self-closing doors.
 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section I amends section 382 of the executive law by adding a new subdi-
vision enabling a lawful occupant of a dwelling or a group of such occu-
pants in a building to pursue action in the event of failure to keep and
maintain self-closing doors before any court of competent jurisdiction.
Should the court find the owner of the alleged building in violation of
such uniform code, the court shall provide compensatory damages, puni-
tive damages at the discretion of the court as well as damages of one
thousand dollars at the election of each occupant and reasonable attor-
neys' fees and court costs to the occupants. Furthermore, the court
shall issue an order to the owner to rectify the conditions related to
such self-closing doors. The provisions of this subdivision do not
relieve occupants of their obligation to pay rent for which such occu-
pants are otherwise liable to an owner and are in addition to any other
remedies that may be provided for under common law or by other law or
rule. These provisions do not create any private right of action against
a local government or any agency or employee thereof.
Section II amends the administrative code of the city of New York by
adding a new section 272114-a, which enables a lawful occupant of a
dwelling unit or a group of such occupants in a building to pursue
action in the event of failure to keep and maintain self-closing doors
before any court of competent jurisdiction. Should the court find the
owner of the alleged building in violation of such uniform code, the
court shall provide compensatory damages, punitive damages at the
discretion of the court as well as damages of one thousand dollars at
the election of each occupant and reasonable attorneys' fees and court
costs to the occupants. Furthermore, the court shall issue an order to
the owner to rectify the conditions related to such self-closing doors.
The provisions of this subdivision do not relieve occupants of their
obligation to pay rent for which such occupants are otherwise liable to
an owner and are in addition to any other remedies that may be provided
for under common law or by other law or rule. These provisions do not
create any private right of action against a local government or any
agency or employee thereof.
Section III sets forth the effective date.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
As horrific incidents such as the Twin Parks apartment fire have shown,
fire safety and the prevention of residential fires must be prioritized
in order to protect occupants from such avoidable endangerment. In the
deadly Bronx fire, malfunctioning self-closing doors were linked to the
fast spread of the fire throughout the building.
Self-closing doors are crucial in minimizing the spread of fires and
poor maintenance of such doors is a fire hazard. Self-closing doors are
already required by both the New York State executive law and the New
York City Administrative Code. Unfortunately, there is too often poor
enforcement of these laws which leads to unsafe conditions for New York
residents without any other course of action. Under this legislation,
tenants would have a private right to action in the case of a failure to
keep and maintain self-closing doors.
 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
This is a new bill in the Assembly.
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
To be determined.
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall have
become a law.

Statutes affected:
S6458: 382 executive law