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NYC Admin Code › Chapter 2: Housing Maintenance Code › Subchapter 3: Physical and Occupancy Standards for Dwelling Units › Article 1: Lighting and Ventilation

§ 27-2061 Lighting and ventilation of living rooms in old law tenements

a. Required windows. Every living room in an old law tenement shall either have a window opening:

(1) On a street; or

(2) On a yard at least four feet in depth; or

(3) On a court or shaft at least twenty square feet in area open to the sky without a roof or skylight; or

(4) Above the roof of an adjoining building; or it shall meet the requirements of the multiple dwelling law. In the event that a window opens above the roof of an adjoining building and the light and air from the adjoining lot is thereafter diminished in any way, the department may determine that such a room is a noncomplying room and require compliance with the requirements of the multiple dwelling law. For a room located on the top story, a ventilating skylight opening to the outer air may be substituted for a window. At least one-half of every required window shall open.

b. Dining space. A dining space shall have at least one window which:

(1) Opens on a street, yard or legal court, and

(2) Has an area not less than one-eighth the floor area of such dining space.

Source
NYC Admin Code, as published by American Legal Publishing, the City's official publisher
Last amended
No amendment date in the official history
Checked
Matched the official code on October 1, 2026

Official text. How it applies depends on your facts; this is not legal advice.Other laws and court decisions can change how a section applies to you, so treat the text as a starting point.