Partition Breakdown

Safety issues

As New York aggressively enforces a long existent but widely ignored code,walls are falling across Manhattan,radically altering the housing landscape for scores of young professionals. Thousands of renters are being told that the walls that have been put up over the years without approval from the Department of Buildings must come down. And new renters are being informed that if they wish to divide a space,they will need to rely on bookshelves or partial walls that dont reach the ceiling.

The impact has already been dramatic, said Gordon Golub,the senior managing director for rentals at Citi Habitats. Landlords are all trying to come to some sort of conclusion as to what they are going to do in allowing any walls or a different sort of wall that might go up,and it is affecting brokers and customers.

Manhattan apartments are as varied as the roommates who decide to share a place. Because of this,there are no rules that apply universally. But in all cases,temporary walls must not block exit routes or interfere with the ventilation and sprinkler systems. And there are minimum requirements for room size.

After tenants complaints and subsequent inspections by both the Fire Department and the Department of Buildings,a review of all its apartments was initiated and moved swiftly to eliminate all walls that were not up to city code. It was determined that partition walls previously installed in some apartments were not in compliance with the New York City Building Code.

City officials note that it has long been illegal to install a floor-to-ceiling wall without a permit from the Department of Buildings,even though landlords as well as tenants have often disregarded this requirement. But the strict enforcement at Stuyvesant Town has prompted many landlords to get into compliance.

Weak substitute

The Manhattan Skyline Management Corporation,which manages thousands of luxury apartments across Manhattan,including the Rivergate,has been examining its entire portfolio to establish where walls were erected. The company has already informed hundreds of residents that even if they installed walls with the buildings approval,or moved into an apartment that already had such walls,they will have to rip them out if they are not up to code.

In a statement,the company said that because the Department of Buildings had greatly restricted the use of walls to subdivide rooms,previously installed walls which were believed to be legally installed have to be removed.

The company is offering tenants who erected walls with its approval 700 to help defray the cost of erecting new dividers,like bookshelves. But for many residents,a bookshelf or a partial wall is no substitute.

No more cost-saving

Its not only inconvenient,but heartbreaking,since we love our apartment just the way it is, said Daniela Zakarya,25,and a broker at the Real Estate Group of New York. Zakarya,who moved with her college roommate into a Gramercy-area apartment a year ago,said the wall had been in place at the time. She was informed in April by her landlord whom she did not want to identify since she is still negotiating a solution that the wall had to come down.

A week later it was removed,and now the living room has become the second bedroom while the roommates decide what to do next. It is a cataclysmic change and is the future of Manhattan share situations, she said.

Zakarya quickly realized she was not alone. Many of her clients are young professionals looking to share places in doorman buildings where the average rent for a one-bedroom ranges from 3,000 to 3,500. As she has shown apartments in recent weeks,she said some potential renters have been surprised to find that the cost-saving room-splitting arrangements their friends made just a year ago are no longer an option.

And the bookshelves,screens and partitions replacing walls inevitably result in a loss of privacy. Everyone who wishes to save money on rent and convert their apartments may need to get used to this, Zakarya said.

Permit needed

Tony Sclafani,a spokesman for the Department of Buildings,said the citys regulations had not changed. He emphasised that a work permit had always been required to add a wall. The addition of a partition,pressurised wall,or other floor-to-ceiling divider,even if intended as a temporary installation,results in a change to the layout of an apartment, he said.

To get a work permit,one must hire an architect or engineer to prepare plans of the proposed layout and other construction details as well as to apply for plan approval,Sclafani said. After the plan is approved,the contractor must get a work permit.

After the work is complete,the architect or engineer must inspect it and then sign off on the job at the Department of Buildings.

Meanwhile,many renters new to the city find themselves in a position similar to that of Sabharwal,the Duke graduate. I heard that if you have a month,that is plenty of time to find something, he said. But in light of the crackdown on temporary walls,his options seem more limited and he might have to reassess his 1,600 budget. It is a whole different experience than my friends had, he said.