N.Y. Multiple Dwelling Law § 242: Cellar and basement stairs in non-fireproof tenements

§ 242. Cellar and basement stairs in non-fireproof tenements. 1.

Cellar stairs in non-fireproof tenements erected after April twelfth,

nineteen hundred one, which are occupied by three families or more on

any story or which are five stories or more in height, shall be governed

by the provisions of section one hundred fifty for non-fireproof

multiple dwellings erected after April eighteenth, nineteen hundred

twenty-nine. In all other non-fireproof tenements erected after April

twelfth, nineteen hundred one, any stair leading to a cellar may be

located inside the building, provided it is enclosed with fireproof

walls and is provided with fireproof doors and assemblies at both the

top and bottom, with the doors self-closing.

2. In old-law tenements exceeding a basement and three other stories

in height and provided with an inside cellar stair communicating between

the entrance story and a cellar or lower story, the opening to such

stair if located underneath the main stair leading to the upper stories

shall be enclosed from the level of the entrance story up to the

underside of the first flight of such main stairs. The soffit of such

first flight of main stairs and the partitions forming such enclosure

shall be fire-retarded or covered with twenty-six gauge metal. The

opening to such enclosure shall be provided with a fireproof door and

assembly with the door self-closing.