BILL NUMBER:  S1357

 TITLE OF BILL :

An act to amend the penal law, in relation to establishing the crime
of illegal conversion or alteration of real property

 SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS :

Section 1 of the bill amends the penal law to add two new sections
145.75 and 145.80.

Section 2 of the bill sets forth an effective date on the first
November next succeeding the date on which it shall have become law.

 JUSTIFICATION :

Improper and illegal conversions 11(1 alterations occur through-out
the state, endangering residents, business owners, employees,
construction workers, and emergency service responders, primarily
firefighters.

Firefighters have been trapped and subsequently seriously injured or
killed while fighting fires in illegally converted buildings in New
York City in recent years, including a January 2005 fire in a Bronx
apartment building with units containing illegal partitions where two
              

firefighters died and four were injured while fighting the fire.
Again in August 2006, a fire in a Bronx discount store where
renovations had been professionally certified five years prior and
were subsequently poorly implemented, killed two firefighters and
injured over twenty others when the store's floor collapsed as
firefighters entered the building, trapping the men underneath large
quantities of debris. The fire collapse was later attributed to the
building's rotting steel support beams.

Additional tragic events in New York City include a 2009 fire in an
illegally converted building that caused the deaths of 3 people and a
2011 fire in an illegally converted building that seriously injured 6
civilians and 5 firefighters. In late 2011, a police officer was
fatally wounded while trying to apprehend a suspect in an illegally
converted apartment building which many believe created an extremely
dangerous situation for police on the scene.

In a process where not all applications and submissions are reviewed
by local officials and private professionals are often empowered and
trusted to certify project and development plans, it is crucial that
there exist the utmost accountability for the ramifications of the
actions of the parties involved, including the engineers, architects
and landlords.

Greater accountability and stricter obedience to the laws, rules and
regulations regarding conversions and alterations would result in less
dangerous emergency situations and rescue operations for first
responders and a less hazardous environment for those actually
performing the construction-related work.

 LEGISLATIVE HISTORY :

2015-16: S.889-A
2013-14: S.682
2011-12: S.7274

 FISCAL IMPLICATIONS :

Yet to be determined.

 EFFECTIVE DATE :
This act shall take effect on the first November next succeeding the
date on which it shall have become law.