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I am planning on buying a building in carroll gardens and moving into the rear 1st floor apt. The building is a 4 story building with 2 units per floor, one unit in the rear and one unit in the front. The building is 25′ x 50′ on a 100′ lot. The first floor has a hall (5′ wide) on the west wall that leads from the front door to the backyard. I am planning on widening the 1st floor rear apt to take up the hall leading to the backyard, this will block others units from accessing the backyard, but they will be able to walk up to their units via the stairs. The building has fire escapes on the rear and the front. My question is; does the fire code require this hall to be open to allow all of the rear units an escape route to the street if they come down the rear fire escape? (Somehow I doubt the logic that people that escaped to the rear yard should run back into a burning building to get to the street.)

thanks in advance