It's been one of those little annoyances that we've all learned to put up with in New York City. But finally, one elected official is doing something about it: missing addresses on side entrances of buildings.
[perfectpullquote align="right" cite="" link="" color="" class="" size=""]"A significant amount of the buildings in the City do not have signage, making it difficult for cab drivers, deliverymen, emergency services and everyday people to find their destinations quickly. In some cases, this can mean a life or death matter if it's an emergency."[/perfectpullquote]
It happens most often in Manhattan, where you miss a building entrance because the address is in the front of the building but not on the side.
On Monday, City Councilmember Jumaane Williams held a hearing to discuss a new bill, Intro 179, that will require street numbers/addresses be place on the side entrances of buildings.
Williams, who is chair of the Committee on Housing and Buildings, presented testimony from elected officials, members of the real estate industry and interested members of the public.
Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer first introduced Int. No. 179 in 2004, while she was in City Council. Currently Borough Presidents are responsible for determining building street numbers and regulating the display of the numbers.
The bill was reintroduced by Williams upon the request of Brewer. Intro 179 would require street numbers be placed on every side of a building that contains an entrance primarily utilized for day-to-day pedestrian ingress or egress. It would also increase the civil penalty for failing to post street numbers from twenty-five dollars to two hundred and fifty dollars and the daily penalty from five dollars to fifty dollars.
"This common sense bill has the ability to make life easier for countless of New Yorkers," said Williams. "A significant amount of the buildings in the City do not have signage, making it difficult for cab drivers, deliverymen, emergency services and everyday people to find their destinations quickly. In some cases, this can mean a life or death matter if it's an emergency.
"No emergency responder should ever have to waste precious seconds or minutes, trying to find the exact location of a distressed person or persons, and having numbers at each pedestrian entrance will facilitate their responses and potentially save lives."
Fines for noncompliance are $25 after a 30-day notice period has elapsed, with a $5 fine for each additional day for noncompliance.The bill would bump the penalty from $25 to $250 with an additional $50 per day until the violation is fixed.
"Many residential buildings and businesses don't clearly display their address numbers, and the existing fines are trivial. That makes this bill an important step both for public safety and quality of life, and I thank Council Member Williams for his partnership on it," Brewer said.
