New York Laws
Title 1 - Light and Air
34 - Rooms in Basements and Cellars.

(2) When the lot of such a multiple dwelling does not run through from
street to street and there is a difference in level exceeding twenty
feet between the highest point of the curb in front of the dwelling and
the lowest point of the curb on a street directly in the rear of the
dwelling which street is within one hundred twenty-five feet of the rear
line of the lot, a room below the level of the highest point of the curb
in front of the dwelling may be used for living purposes provided such
room opens upon a yard or a court adjoining a yard. The floor of any
such room shall be at least six inches above the level of every part of
every yard and court upon which such room opens and of the curb on the
street in the rear of such dwelling and also of all intervening ground
between the rear street and the rear lot line. Every such room shall be
at least nine feet high from finished floor to finished ceiling. The
required dimensions of a yard, or of a court adjoining a yard, on which
such a room opens in any dwelling subject to the provisions of this
sub-paragraph, shall be determined by the height of such dwelling
measured from the lowest point of such yard or court.
(3) In any portion of a multiple dwelling arranged for living purposes
below the curb level under authority of either of the sub-paragraphs
above there shall be no wood beams, wood lintels or other wood
structural members, nor shall any wood or other inflammable material be
used in any partitions, furrings or ceilings.
2. Every multiple dwelling erected after April eighteenth, nineteen
hundred twenty-nine, whenever the department shall deem it necessary,
shall have all walls below the ground level and all cellar or lower
floors damp-proofed and water-proofed. Such damp-proofing and
water-proofing shall run throughout the cellar or other lowest floor and
through and up the walls as high as the ground level.
3. Every cellar and basement in every multiple dwelling shall be
properly lighted and ventilated to the satisfaction of the department.
4. In every multiple dwelling the cellar walls and ceilings, except in
rooms occupied as provided in paragraph f of subdivision one or in
subdivision six, shall either be constructed of light-colored material
or be thoroughly whitewashed or painted a light color by the owner, and
shall be so maintained. Such whitewash or paint shall be renewed
whenever necessary, as may be determined and required by the department.
5. Notwithstanding any provisions of this section or of subdivision
five of section three hundred, an apartment or room in a cellar which
was occupied for living purposes at any time on or after October first,

nineteen hundred fifty-two may thereafter continue to be occupied for
such purposes until July first, nineteen hundred sixty-seven, in
accordance with the conditions imposed by subdivision five of section
two hundred sixteen.
6. An apartment in a cellar or basement of any multiple dwelling may
be used for living purposes provided all of the following conditions are
complied with:
a. Such apartment has at least one half of its height and all of its
window surfaces above every part of an "adequate adjacent space." Such
"adequate adjacent space" shall be open to the sky, shall be properly
drained to the satisfaction of the department, and shall be a continuous
surface area outside the dwelling not less than thirty feet in its least
dimension and abutting at same level, or directly below, every part of
the exterior walls of such apartment and of every other apartment on the
same floor. Such "adequate adjacent space" shall include only space
which is located on the same lot or plot as the dwelling or on a street
or public place or space.
b. Every living room of such apartment is everywhere at least eight
feet high from the floor to the ceiling in dwellings erected after July
first, nineteen hundred fifty-seven, and seven feet in dwellings erected
prior thereto.
c. All parts of the exterior walls of the dwelling which are below
ground level and on the same floor as such apartment or above such floor
are dampproof to the satisfaction of the department and the floor of
such apartment is dampproof and waterproof.
d. The yard and every court of the dwelling containing such apartment
are adequately drained to the satisfaction of the department.
e. If any part of the apartment is below the "adequate adjacent space"
referred to in paragraph a of this subdivision, all ceilings, walls and
partitions of such apartment are fire-retarded or the rooms and spaces
within such apartment are protected by a sprinkler system to the
satisfaction of the department.
f. Such apartment and every part of the floor on which it is situated
meet all of the requirements which would be in effect for such floor if
none of the rooms thereon were used for living purposes.
g. Such apartment complies with all of the requirements for apartments
in the same dwelling which are not in a cellar or basement.
h. The floor on which such apartment is situated, if a cellar, shall
nevertheless be counted as a story for the purpose of all requirements
except those relating to the height of the dwelling.