QUESTION
How many self-closing door violations have been issued since the Twin Parks fire, and what are the inspection procedures?
1:23:29
·
7 min
The Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) issued over 30,000 self-closing door violations in fiscal year 22 and almost 50,000 in fiscal year 23, focusing on public area violations post-Twin Parks fire.
- HPD inspectors are now more focused on public area violations, with a significant increase post-Twin Parks fire.
- The increase in violations issued is mostly due to violations in public areas.
- HPD's inspection procedures include posting notices in buildings to inform tenants of identified self-closing door violations and encourage reporting.
- Inspectors do not undergo entire building checks upon finding a violation but follow a process including proactive inspections based on specific criteria.
- The discussion highlights HPD's efforts to improve building safety regarding self-closing doors, including the adjustment of inspection focus and tenant empowerment through notices.
Eric Dinowitz
1:23:29
Can you talk a little bit about the number of violations that have been issued since since the Twin Parks fire regarding self closing doors.
Kevin Woods
1:23:42
The fire department, when we inspect the building, we don't inspect the interior of apartments.
1:23:50
As far as self closing goes.
1:23:51
But we So
Eric Dinowitz
1:23:51
let me just I'm sorry.
1:23:52
I'm continuing all this.
Kevin Woods
1:23:53
But we do receive data from HPD regarding that.
1:23:58
So they share monthly data with the fire department, with the FDNY, our data scientists.
1:24:05
We have a program called Ribbis.
1:24:07
It's a risk based inspection program.
1:24:10
Our data scientists review, they look ways to improve the formulas.
1:24:15
So we concluded that some categories are useful.
1:24:18
We we can't put this into our this program all at once.
1:24:23
Some categories are useful, but we have discovered that they are already included in the algorithm with the 311 data, so it would be a duplication of effort.
1:24:33
So what we do with our risk based system, it incorporates a number of indicators into an algorithm.
1:24:41
And we did excuse
AnnMarie Santiago
1:24:42
me, for a second chief.
1:24:43
Do you do you just want the number of violations?
1:24:45
Because that's HPD.
1:24:47
Right?
Eric Dinowitz
1:24:48
Well, yeah, well, I'm I'm talking about 3 of you, but I did wanna thank FDA and why, but that's for all 3 of you.
1:24:52
So HPD, yeah, how many violations?
AnnMarie Santiago
1:24:55
So in fiscal year 22, we issued 30,000 plus self closing door violations.
1:25:03
And in the last fiscal year fiscal year 23, we issued almost 50,000.
Eric Dinowitz
1:25:08
And what was the increase due to?
AnnMarie Santiago
1:25:11
Mostly 2 violations in public areas.
1:25:14
So after the Twin Parks fire, we really refocused on those violations.
1:25:21
We had always basically since 2017 really focused on apartment doors.
1:25:27
And so in fiscal year 22, 40% of the violations were for public areas and 60% were for apartments.
1:25:36
And in 23, 63% were for public areas.
Eric Dinowitz
1:25:40
And what does that look like?
1:25:42
What do those how do you know?
1:25:44
Mhmm.
1:25:44
To inspect those public areas.
AnnMarie Santiago
1:25:47
The inspector's procedure now requires them any public area that they walk through.
1:25:52
If a door is required to be there, it's required to be working properly.
Eric Dinowitz
1:25:57
So And so so for example, you would get a complaint for a specific apartment.
Oswald Feliz
1:26:03
Mhmm.
Eric Dinowitz
1:26:04
But as you're walking as the inspector's walking through the building, they will walk through, let's say, a staircase and notice the door is not closing?
Joann Ariola
1:26:10
Correct.
Eric Dinowitz
1:26:11
And does that trigger if there's one staircase that does not close, does that trigger the inspector to go through the entire building?
AnnMarie Santiago
1:26:18
No, not at this time.
1:26:20
Our inspectors have a significant number of complaints to respond to.
1:26:26
And so stopping at each one and going through the entire building would be extremely time consuming, but we do have this proactive inspection process now, as you know, to look at whole buildings.
Eric Dinowitz
1:26:42
You may not remember this, but I do remember this.
1:26:44
You do remember
AnnMarie Santiago
1:26:45
this.
1:26:45
About
Eric Dinowitz
1:26:47
proactive for us, please?
AnnMarie Santiago
1:26:48
Yes, sir.
Eric Dinowitz
1:26:49
And for those of you who don't know 2 years ago, I was You remember?
1:26:53
I was asking 2 years ago, do you proactively inspect the buildings?
1:26:57
And I think the answer was yes.
1:26:58
And as we discussed, it turned out that it wasn't actually proactive.
1:27:03
It was just always in response to something.
1:27:05
So can you define what proactive officially means to the department now?
AnnMarie Santiago
1:27:09
So as of a local law that the council passed, we are required to look and identify buildings specifically for inspection for this purpose, proactively regardless of whether we have issued previous violations or not, but we don't.
1:27:28
It's not random.
1:27:30
It's not a random proactive inspection.
1:27:32
As I laid out in my testimony and as we have in our rules, there's a process for selecting these buildings, criteria that we use to identify them.
Eric Dinowitz
1:27:42
So I wanna And that is and it's not complaint driven.
AnnMarie Santiago
1:27:46
It is not complaint driven.
Eric Dinowitz
1:27:47
So that is proactive.
AnnMarie Santiago
1:27:49
Correct.
Eric Dinowitz
1:27:49
But I wanna go back to what an actual inspect thank you for that.
1:27:52
I wanna go back to what an actual inspection looks like.
1:27:55
I'm an inspector.
1:27:56
I get a complaint about I mean, I continue I get a complaint about an individual apartment.
1:28:02
I happen to be going through the building and notice the staircase that I may happen to go through does not have a self closing door.
1:28:10
But there is no requirement or nothing that goes off, you're not training the inspector to say, well, you know, if one self closing door in a public space doesn't work, perhaps There's more than 1.
1:28:21
There's not
AnnMarie Santiago
1:28:21
Yes.
1:28:22
So what we do do whenever we're gonna issue a self violence self closing door violation in a building.
1:28:29
When the inspector is leaving that building, they post a notice in the hallway.
1:28:34
Before they leave that advises the tenants that HPD has identified at least one door in the building that does not have a self closing door.
1:28:42
Whether that is the apartment door or whether that's a public area door and ask the tenants if either their door, their apartment door or any door that they know of, and the building is not self closing, that they should report it to the landlord.
1:28:54
And if the landlord fails to respond, that they should file a complaint regarding that door.
Eric Dinowitz
1:29:00
What languages are those in?
AnnMarie Santiago
1:29:02
I believe I actually, we have a copy of that.
1:29:06
I believe that there are indications in multiple languages that advise the tenant that they can get all of the details of the notice.
Eric Dinowitz
1:29:15
And before I and before I see it, I would love to see it, and before I do, is it your estimation that that the font is AND THE WRITING IS ACCESSIBLE TO ALL WHO MIGHT LIVE IN THE BUILDING.
1:29:30
WE
AnnMarie Santiago
1:29:31
HOPE SO.
1:29:31
So the copy that you can receive today, sir, is a is a regular size 8 by 11.
1:29:37
But the actual posting is a bigger document.
Eric Dinowitz
1:29:40
Okay.
AnnMarie Santiago
1:29:40
So we can get you an actual
Eric Dinowitz
1:29:42
I I will note that the FDNY does send out mailings that are not accessible for with with their print material.
1:29:53
And there's actual legislation we're working on to to address that.
1:29:57
And so I'd love to see that because I am hoping HPD does not make the same error, especially when it comes to safety.
1:30:03
So you you only go you if you happen to find one, there is not nothing in a protocol to say, hey, you're walking to an apartment.
1:30:09
Just check one of the staircase doors.
1:30:11
Check one the doors, there's no protocol there.
1:30:13
It's if they happen to be walking through.
1:30:15
And then if they happen to be walking through, they will not inspect any of the other staircases, but sort of put the onus on the tenants to to see the the posting.
1:30:26
Right.
1:30:27
Is that that's an accurate description?
AnnMarie Santiago
1:30:29
Again, council member, we our inspectors have limited time to get to all of the complaints that we're receiving proactively from tenants who have identified an issue in a place, and we are trying to use our resources in the best way to make sure that we can both respond to tenants and beyond alert for hazards that are in our line of travel, in our response to that.
1:30:56
Complaint.