NYC Housing Maintenance Code § 27-2044 · cited Jun 27, 1967 – Aug 6, 2026
6,094 NYC housing violations have been issued under NYC Housing Maintenance Code § 27-2044, which is 0.1% of every HPD violation attributed to a section. 1,881 are still open, 1,868 of them past the legal deadline on the notice.
The median legal deadline on a § 27-2044 notice is 26 days. The median violation that got fixed took 210 days to reach “violation closed”, measured across 3,083 closed violations.
The most common orders written under this section, in HPD’s own wording.
| BROOKLYN | 1,356 | |
|---|---|---|
| BRONX | 275 | |
| QUEENS | 118 | |
| MANHATTAN | 76 | |
| STATEN ISLAND | 56 |
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§ 27-2044 Fire protection in certain old law tenements.
a. In every old law tenement which is less than four stories in height: (1)Every door opening into any entrance hall or stair, or into any public hall connected therewith, shall be self-closing; every glazed opening or glazed panel in such a door shall be glazed with wire glass, and every transom opening upon any public hall shall be glazed with wire glass firmly secured in a closed position; and (2)Every interior sash, or opening other than a door, in the walls or partitions of any such hall, and every window in any such hall not opening to the outer air, shall be removed and the openings closed up and fire-retarded; and (3)The ceiling of the cellar, or if there is no cellar, of the basement or other lowest story, shall be fire-retarded unless such ceiling already has been plastered or covered in a manner satisfactory to the department with plasterboard or gypsumboard at least one-half inch in thickness.
b. In every old law tenement which is four stories or more in height: (1)On all stories above the third story, every apartment door opening into any stair or into any public hall connected therewith, unless such stair or public hall is protected by an approved sprinkler system shall have a fire resistance rating of at least one hour. Existing door frames in good condition may be retained. All such doors shall comply with this requirement, not later than November second, nineteen hundred seventy-three. (2)For all stories below the fourth story, any application for an alteration permit for alterations to be made in an apartment below the fourth story shall include the provision that every door of such apartment opening into any entrance hall, stair or into any public hall connected therewith, unless such entrance hall, stair or public hall is protected by an approved sprinkler system, shall have a fire resistance rating of at least one hour. Existing door frames in good condition may be retained. (3)Where apartment doors having a fire resistance rating of at least one hour are required, every transom opening upon any entrance hall, stair or public hall connected therewith shall be sealed and fireretarded. All other transoms opening upon any entrance hall, stair or public hall connected therewith shall be glazed with wire glass and permanently sealed in a closed position. (4)All doors opening into any entrance hall, stair or into any public hall connected therewith shall be self-closing; every glazed opening or glazed panel in such a door shall be glazed with wire glass.
Current through Local Law 2026/116, enacted July 11, 2026 · enacted municipal law, in the public domain · official publication
NYC Housing Maintenance Code § 27-2044, "Fire protection in certain old law tenements", is cited on a violation when an HPD inspector finds the condition it covers. In every old law tenement which is less than four stories in height: (1)Every door opening into any entrance hall or stair, or into any public hall connected therewith, shall be self-closing; every glazed opening or glazed panel in such a door shall be glazed with wire glass, and every transom opening upon any public hall shall be glazed with wire glass firmly secured in a closed position; and (2)Every interior sash, or opening other than a door, in the walls or partitions of any such hall, and every window in any such hall not opening to the outer air, shall be removed and the openings closed up and fire-retarded; and (3)The ceiling of the cellar, or if there is no cellar, of the basement or other lowest story, shall be fire-retarded unless such ceiling already has been plastered or covered in a manner satisfactory to the department with plasterboard or gypsumboard at least one-half inch in thickness.
Each notice carries its own deadline set by the violation's hazard class. Across 6,094 § 27-2044 notices, the median legal deadline was 26 days from the notice date.
Measured across 3,083 § 27-2044 violations that reached "violation closed", the median took 210 days from the notice date, against a median legal deadline of 26 days.
91 of 6,094 § 27-2044 notices (1.5%) are marked rent-impairing by HPD. When a rent-impairing violation goes unrepaired, New York's Multiple Dwelling Law § 302-a can let tenants deposit rent with the court instead of paying the owner. The specifics depend on the case.
1,881 § 27-2044 violations are open as of Aug 7, 2026, and 1,868 of them are already past the legal deadline on the notice.
Counted from HPD’s Housing Maintenance Code Violations dataset. Each notice is attributed to a section by HPD’s own order number where one is on record, otherwise by the section its notice text cites. 11,131,117 of the city’s 11,136,167 HPD notices are attributed that way; the share above is a share of those. Figures recomputed Aug 7, 2026.
Browse open § 27-2044 records in the live feed · All violation codes
In the glossary: Housing Maintenance Code · order number · Class C violation · rent-impairing · all terms