§ 2-20 Health, Safety and Utility Equipment.
RCNY § 2-20
(a)Introduction. Buildings may be required to have a variety of equipment related to particular health, safety and utility maintenance. These types of installations can be mandated by the Fire and Building Codes (e.g., fire alarm bells and Siamese connections) or by utilities (e.g., gas and electricity meters). Other equipment is not required by law but is commonly used for safety reasons (e.g., window security bars, security cameras, lighting and intercom panels). Given the relatively small and/or discrete nature of these types of installations, their physical requirements and constraints, and their ubiquitous presence throughout the city, these types of equipment can be installed without having a significant effect on architectural features or detracting from such features or the building or, in the case of buildings in historic districts, from adjacent buildings or the streetscape.
(b)General Installation Criteria. LPC Staff may issue an approval for work on individual landmarks, buildings in historic districts and scenic landmarks to install health, safety and utility equipment, such as the examples listed below in subdivision (c), if the proposed work meets all of the following relevant criteria: (1) The installation will not occur on or in front of a primary facade unless there is no feasible alternative for the installation or the location is mandated by another law or rule. In making a determination that there is no feasible alternative, LPC Staff will consider whether the need for such equipment on the primary facade is necessitated by recent or related discretionary interior renovations; (2) The equipment will be attached in a manner that minimizes damage to, or loss of, any significant architectural features and will be installed at mortar joints or through plain brick, stone or wood to the greatest extent possible; (3) If the installation is proposed to be made through areaway or sidewalk paving, the installation will not be installed through historic paving unless there is no feasible alternative; (4) If the installation is required by applicable law or rule it will be as small as feasible; (5) The finish of the equipment if not otherwise required by law or rule, will match the surrounding building material or will not call undue attention to its presence; (6) If the installation requires a conduit: there will be no visible conduit or, if this is not feasible, a maximum of approximately ten (10) inches of visible conduit will be permitted; the conduit will not be placed on decorative surfaces; the visible conduit will be painted to match the background surface and will be secured into mortar joints where possible; and, if there are multiple proposed or existing installations, the proposed installation of conduit will, to the maximum extent feasible, combine and minimize the amount of conduit; (7) The installation will be either not visible from a public thoroughfare or as minimally visible as possible (e.g., beneath a band course, underneath a stoop, behind an areaway wall or fence, or behind plantings). Unless the installation meets the requirements of paragraph (1) of this subdivision, the installation will be on a secondary facade; and (8) The proposed installation will not call undue attention to itself or detract from any significant architectural feature(s) of the building or of adjacent buildings if the work is occurring in a historic district, by virtue of its size or proximity to any such features or buildings.
(c)Certain Types of Equipment and Additional Criteria. The following are the types of installations addressed by this section, including, where appropriate, installation criteria that are in addition to the general criteria set forth in subdivision (b) of this section: (1) Utility meters, including electrical, gas and water meters.
(2)Fire alarm bells.
(3)Light fixtures and intercom panels. These installations must be installed within the door opening or adjacent to the door opening, and will be limited to a maximum of two light fixtures and one intercom panel per door opening, except that an intercom panel may also be installed on a fence or wall in front of the entranceway.
(4)Security cameras. These installations must be as small and as limited in number as feasible, with no more than two (2) security cameras for every twenty-five (25) feet of street frontage for small residential or commercial buildings of six (6) stories or less and with a street frontage of forty (40) feet or less, and no more than three (3) security cameras for every twenty-five (25) feet of street frontage for larger commercial, residential and institutional buildings. In every case the security camera(s) will be located to avoid a cluttered or haphazard appearance, and must be attached in a manner and location that minimizes their visible impact.
(5)Hookups for temporary generators and boilers, electrical boxes, inverter boxes.
(6)Mailboxes and mail key lockboxes. These installations must be installed within or adjacent to the door opening. If a building has a stoop, the mailbox may be attached to a gate or door underneath the stoop or, provided the installation meets the requirements of paragraphs (1), (2), (3), (4), (5) and (8) of this subdivision, to the facade of the building or stoop adjacent to the doorway underneath the stoop. A mailbox may also be attached to an areaway fence, or may be free-standing in the areaway if the attachment does not damage original or historic fabric or call undue attention to itself or detract from significant features of the building or adjacent building.
(7)Exterior Siamese connections/standpipes, oil fill pipes, boiler and dryer vents, water spigots.
(8)Rooftop security fences installed between properties. These installations may be installed only on small commercial buildings or large commercial or residential buildings, provided that they: (i) Will not cause damage to any significant architectural feature of any facade or the roof; (ii) Will be as low as is practicable and allowed by the Fire Code or the Building Code; (iii) Will not be installed in front of or below a cornice where there is a continuous cornice line; and (iv) Will either not be visible or will be minimally visible, or the visibility will be in the context of other rooftop features and will not call undue attention to itself or detract from the significant architectural features of the building or adjacent buildings.
(9)Certain heating, venting or air-conditioning equipment ("HVAC"). HVAC (including air intakes or exhausts at basement, cellar or areaway windows, walls or floors) that, due to existing structural or other physical constraints, must be installed below the second story at or in front of the primary facade or visible secondary facade. Staff may decide not to approve such installation if staff determines that the structural or other condition necessitating such installation was the result of recent or related discretionary interior changes.
(10)Window security bars installed at cellar, basement or parlor floor windows. These installations may be installed on any building, provided they: (i) Will not cause damage to any significant architectural feature of any facade; (ii) Will match historic ironwork or be of a simple design and will not call undue attention to themselves or detract from the significant architectural features of the building; (iii) Will fasten to the window frame or surround at limited attachment points, and will not include continuous perimeter framing.
(11)Security gates at door openings below or under stoops. These installations can be installed on any building, provided that they: (i) Will not cause damage to, or detract from, any significant architectural feature of any facade; (ii) Will match historic ironwork or be of a simple design and will not call undue attention to itself or detract from the significant architectural features of the building; (iii) Will fasten to the door surround at limited attachment points, and will not include continuous perimeter framing.
(iv)If replacing a grandfathered door where no door existed originally or historically, a new door may be approved if it maximizes the amount of transparency, with or without new ironwork, in keeping with the appearance of open gates below stoops.
(12)Detachable flood protection barriers. Penetrations through plain areas of the facade (excluding decorative masonry or metalwork, and cast iron) at discrete locations for mechanical fastening of flood barriers, with plugs finished to match the surrounding material, and permanent posts at service and garage door openings and loading bays, with associated hardware finished to match the surrounding material or otherwise neutral in finish, may be installed, provided the installation does not call undue attention to itself or detract from the building or streetscape. (Amended City Record 12/20/2018, eff. 1/19/2019)
