§ 216. Rooms in basements and cellars. No room in the basement or\ncellar of any tenement shall be occupied for living purposes unless\nthere is a written permit therefor as provided in subdivision five of\nsection three hundred and it either is part of an apartment which\ncomplies with the conditions of subdivision six of section thirty-four\nor complies with the following conditions:\n 1. a. There shall be appurtenant to every such room a water-closet\nconstructed and accessible in accordance with the provisions of section\nseventy-six for dwellings erected after April eighteenth, nineteen\nhundred twenty-nine.\n b. Every such room and all cellars and basements shall be lighted and\nventilated to the satisfaction of the department.\n 2. If such room is in a tenement erected after April twelfth, nineteen\nhundred one:\n a. Such room shall be at least nine feet high in every part from floor\nto ceiling.\n b. Every part of the ceiling of such room shall be at least four feet\nsix inches above the curb level of the street in front of such part when\nsuch room or the apartment containing it is located in the front part of\nthe dwelling, and at least two feet above such curb level in front of\nthe dwelling when such room or the apartment containing it is located in\nthe rear of the dwelling and the yard is less than sixty feet in depth\nand does not extend to a street along its entire width.\n c. The level of any yard or court upon which such a room or apartment\nopens shall conform to the requirements of subdivision eight of section\ntwenty-six.\n d. Every such room shall have a window opening upon a street, yard or\ncourt, and shall be an integral part of an apartment containing a room\nwith a window opening directly upon a street or yard or upon an outer\ncourt at least eighteen feet in width and not more than thirty feet in\ndepth or upon a larger outer court whose depth does not exceed its width\nby more than one-half.\n e. Except when the yard is sixty feet or more in depth there shall be\nnot more than one apartment in any cellar. It shall contain not more\nthan five rooms and bath, and no such room shall open upon any court\nless than five feet six inches in width. Every part of such apartment\nshall either be located within twenty-five feet of the inner line of the\nfront or rear wall of the dwelling or have a window opening upon a court\nwhich is at least twelve feet in width. No other rooms in the cellar\nshall be occupied for living purposes.\n f. The area of every window in such a room shall be at least twelve\nsquare feet, and the total area of windows in every such room shall be\nat least one-eighth of the total floor area of the room. At least half\nof each window shall be made to open, and the top of each window shall\nbe within twelve inches of the ceiling.\n g. All walls enclosing such room shall be dampproof and its floor\ndampproof and waterproof. The dampproofing and waterproofing shall run\nthrough and up the walls to the ground level.\n h. The entire cellar, or lowest story if there be no cellar, shall be\nproperly constructed so as to prevent dampness or water from entering.\n 3. If such room is in the cellar of any old-law tenement either the\nconditions enumerated in subdivision two or the following conditions\nshall be complied with:\n a. Such room shall be at least eight feet high in every part from\nfloor to ceiling.\n b. Every part of the ceiling of every such room shall be at least four\nfeet above the surface of the street in front of every part of such\nroom, or at least half the height of such room shall be everywhere above\nthe highest level of the ground outside of and adjoining every part of\nthe exterior wall of such room for a distance of thirty feet measured at\na right angle to the outer surface of such wall.\n c. Such adjoining ground shall be effectively drained and shall be\nopen and unoccupied in every part.\n d. Such room shall have a window or windows opening directly
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