Law, Landlord and Locks, Oh My

mypasswordwontwork wrote: Thanks, again. I am useless with DIY and I don't know how to do anything. Do you know where I could find somebody to do something for my windows? Like adding a decent lock or really anything. One of my back windows leads to a fire escape. It is a third floor window but it still makes me nervous. How easy would it be to put a bar in there or some kind of "gate" (I don't know the proper names for these things)? I'm actually considering doing this as soon as tomorrow.

If you go to home depot, you'll see that there are a ton of window locking stuff that you just drill in. You can go there and pick up the packages. if you're open to it, the precinct should have a free security survey where they send an officer to your house to evaluate the weak areas and make recommendations on what to do in your location.

You can hire a handyman to install stuff for you (make sure you hire a reputable person so that you're not exposing yourself and your apartment to exactly what you're trying to prevent :-))

You could also call a locksmith. I believe they do more than install deadbolts and may also install window locks and stuff. I have used Miguel's Locksmith for my deadbolt, but not for anything else.

The costs with a handyman or a locksmith for their labor will be high, so if you have a friend who is DIY capable, that's the way to go.

This DIY site has examples of window locks:
http://www.diynetwork.com/diy/sf_locks_security_systems/article/0,2037,DIY_14246_2579201,00.html

window locks:
http://www.ronhazelton.com/tips/Window_Locks.htm

additional home safety info:
http://www.nsc.org/pubs/fsh/archive/summr99/burglar.htm

Again, thank you Diamond. Only one of my friends is good with the DIY. Unfortunately he has a crush on me and slight stalker issues, so might not be the best choice for this. Maybe I just need to bite the bullet and pay a 'professional'?

apollonia666 wrote: Man, I wish Tenant.net weren't so godawfully disorganized and hard to search for information.

Related question to the topic: Do any of you know whether, if your building has two external doors, landlords are required to have locks on both? My building has two outer entry doors with a small vestibule in between, and there's no lock on the outer one. I'm about to start bugging them to finally install an outer lock after the elevator incident I posted about last week on the CH board, and it would be good to know whether it's something they're supposed to have in place already.

did you try the message boards? I have pretty good luck there -- it's divided by type of building/type of rent protection. If your question wasn't asked already, just post a thread.

http://www.tenant.net/phpBB2/

I found this under
http://tenant.net/Other_Laws/MDL/mdl03.html

NYS Multiple Dwelling Law wrote:
Sec. 50-a. Entrances: doors, locks and intercommunication
systems.

1. Every entrance from the street, passageway, court, yard,
cellar, or similar entrance to a class A multiple dwelling
erected or converted after January first, nineteen hundred
sixty-eight, except an entrance leading to the main entrance
hall or lobby which main entrance hall or lobby is equipped
with one or more automatic self-locking doors, shall be
equipped with automatic self-closing and self-locking doors
and such doors shall be locked at all times except when an
attendant shall actually be on duty. Every entrance from the
roof to such a dwelling shall be equipped with a self-
closing door which shall not be self-locking and which shall
be fastened on the inside with movable bolts, hooks or a
lock which does not require a key to open from inside the
dwelling.

highlights are mine of course

3. On or after January first, nineteen hundred sixty-nine,
every class A multiple dwelling erected or converted prior
to January first, nineteen hundred sixty-eight, shall be
equipped with automatic self-closing and self-locking doors,
which doors shall be kept locked except when an attendant
shall actually be on duty, and with the intercommunication
system described in paragraph two of this section, provided
that tenants occupying a majority of all the apartments
within the structure comprising the multiple dwelling
affected request or consent in writing to the installation
of such doors and intercommunication system on forms which
shall be prescribed by the department, except that in the
event a majority of tenants in occupancy request or consent
on or after January first, nineteen hundred sixty-eight, to
the installation of such doors or intercommunication system
such installation shall be started within ninety days, but
need not be completed until six months after the owner's
receipt of requests or consents by a majority of the
tenants, except that in any such multiple dwelling owned or
operated by a municipal housing authority organized pursuant
to article thirteen of the public housing law, such
installation need not be completed until one year after the
owner's receipt of requests or consents by a majority of the
tenants. If the dwelling is subject to regulation and
control of its residential rents pursuant to the local
emergency housing rent control act, the local city housing
rent agency shall upon the filing of executed forms
containing the required requests or consents, prescribe the
terms under which the costs of providing such doors and
intercommunication systems may be recovered by the owner
from the tenants. In any multiple dwelling built pursuant to
the provisions of the redevelopment companies law in which
residential rents are limited by contract, the costs of
providing such doors and intercommunication systems may be
recovered by the owner from the tenants. The terms under
which such costs may be recovered shall be the same as those
prescribed by the local city housing rent agency in the city
in which the multiple dwelling is located for dwellings
subject to regulation and control of rent pursuant to the
local emergency housing rent control act. Such costs shall
not be deemed to be "rent" as that term is limited and
defined in the contract.

4. All such self-closing and self-locking doors, and
intercommunication systems shall be of a type approved by
the department and by such other department as may be
prescribed by law and shall be installed and maintained in a
manner prescribed by the department and by such other
department.

5. Every owner who shall fail to install and maintain the
equipment required by this section, in the manner prescribed
by the department, and by such other department as may be
prescribed by law, and any person who shall wilfully
destroy, damage, or jam or otherwise interfere with the
proper operation of, or remove, without justification, such
equipment or any part thereof shall be guilty of a
misdemeanor as provided in subdivision one of section three
hundred four of the multiple dwelling law and shall be
punishable as provided therein.

fire department will smash your lock - they won't care if there's a key available or not. seriously. if there's a fire in a building and they have to get into all apartments, they'll smash all the doors in. it's their job.

yup. that's exactly what happened in my very first apt, and it was just smoke carried in through the airshaft.
we were lucky the neighbor stuck their dog in our place to guard . . . we were out of town.
:shock: