2 Family Home Cellar Egress

Hi all, Building is a 2 Family Home with 4 stories (Garden, Parlour, 3rd, 4th) plus cellar. Cellar currently has a stairway exit out the front underneath the parlor level staircase as well as a stairway in the back that opens into the garden level apartment. My question is: Am I allowed to remove the stairway from the cellar to the garden level apartment? I’m NOT trying to make my cellar habitable, or a rec room, or any of that, just to free up space for storage down there. So, does this cellar require two means of egress, or is the single stairway at the front of the cellar (which opens onto the street) adequate? I’ve attached a floor plan which I hope makes it clear what I’d like to do. Thanks!

samueldnewman

in Building Code 10 years and 10 months ago

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fexleycb | 10 years and 10 months ago

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The front hatch is a very standard one in the front garden – right in front of the house. The sort that almost every Brooklyn brownstone has. There was some sort of coal shoot or ventilation shaft in the back of the house – that allowed a bit of light and air in but did not provide a means of egress. I dug this out and had concrete stars constructed going down into the basement.

samueldnewman | 10 years and 10 months ago

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Not exactly similar, no, although I have also considered removing the stairway from the garden level to the parlor level. Can you tell me a little more about the hatch? Where does it open into on the outside and inside? Thanks! Sam

fexleycb | 10 years and 10 months ago

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Sorry – I just re-read your post and see that you DON’T have access to the cellar from the rear garden. Seems that our situation are not similar in this regard.

fexleycb | 10 years and 10 months ago

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I have a two family four story brownstone plus basement. Its configured as a triplex over a garden floor-thru. The garden apartment has no stairway going to the basement and no stairway going to the parlor floor. The basement can be accessed from the front garden – through a hatch – and through the rear garden – via stairs. I went through proper channels when configuring the house like this – filing with DOB etc. There was no objection. I don’t know what the building code says but neither my architect nor the DOB seemed to have any problem with it. I know many other people who have configured their house this way.