The moratorium on violations for accessory signs has been extended to February 9, 2025.

Accessory signs that meet all of the following criteria will not receive violations:

• Existed prior to February 9, 2019,
• 150 square feet or less,
• 1,200 pounds or less, and
• Not an imminent threat to public health and safety

The sign violation moratorium does not override required sign applications and permits. All signs must comply with the Zoning Resolution, the Rules of the City of New York, and the Construction Codes.

For more information see the recent DOB Service Notice regarding the Sign Moratorium.

Local Law 75 of 2009 enacted new requirements for security grille visibility. Security grilles must always follow the current Construction Codes and are not permitted to comply with prior versions of the code.

Additionally, security grilles must always follow the current Construction Codes and are not permitted to comply with prior versions of the code.

Specific rules for grilles installed for business and storage occupancies on or after July 1, 2011 must comply with 2022 Building Code section 1010.1.4.4. These grilles must provide at least 70% visibility when fully closed for business and mercantile occupancies.

All security grilles for business and mercantile occupancies must comply with the new requirements by July 1, 2026.

Beginning in 2024, most buildings over 25,000 square feet will be required to meet new energy efficiency and greenhouse gas emissions limits under Local Law 97.

Landlords could face penalties due to lack of resources to fund and coordinate compliance according to a report by Level Infrastructure and REBNY.

Read more here.

This week, the Department of Buildings (DOB) released a Service Notice establishing new emissions limits based on the Environmental Protection Agency’s Energy Star Portfolio Manager (ESPM) property types. Previously limits were based on NYC Building Code occupancy groups.

Owners of covered buildings must submit annual building emissions reports by May 1^st every year to DOB as required by Local Law 97 of 2019. The report for the first compliance calendar year of 2024 is due to DOB by May 1, 2025. The reports for calendar years 2024 & 2025 have the option of using ESPM property types or Building Code occupancy groups, if certain conditions are met. Building emissions limits must use ESPM property types beginning with the report for calendar year 2026.

Covered buildings include, with some exceptions:

• buildings greater than 25,000 gross square feet;
• two or more buildings greater than 50,000 gross square feet total on the same tax lot, or;
• two or more condo buildings greater than 50,000 gross square feet total governed by the same board of managers.

For more information, see the DOB’s Greenhouse Gas Emission Reporting page for more information about Local Law 97 of 2019 compliance.

On February 1, 2023, Governor Kathy Hochul announced her highlights of the fiscal year 2024 executive budget, including an extension of the 421(a) deadline.

The current 421(a) property tax abatement program requires that construction be commenced by June 15, 2022 and initial Temporary Certificate of Occupancy (TCO) 0btained by June 15, 2026. Governor Hochul is proposing to extend the completion deadline to June 2030, allowing developers four more years to complete their buildings. This extension is expected to assist many projects to move forward including an estimated 32,000 units of housing.

DOB published a Service Notice today, January 31, 2023, announcing a change to foundation filings. Foundation filings in DOB NOW: Build no longer require an Energy Submission, effective January 26, 2023. If an Energy Submission was previously uploaded for foundation filings via DOB NOW: Build, it has been removed from the system.

The new requirement for Waste Management Plans went into effect on April 1, 2022 and states plans are required for buildings with 150 dwelling units or more. Waste Management Plans must be submitted to the Department of Buildings and Department of Sanitation at the same time as construction plans. The Waste Management Plan must include storage of refuse, recyclables, and composted material for 150% of the anticipated volume between regularly scheduled collections.

For the full requirements see the adopted rule as well as DSNY’s informational page.

Beginning January 1, 2022, Local Law 126 of 2021 (Intro No. 2261-A) will require owners of parking structures to hire a NYS licensed and registered professional engineer to inspect the structure at least once every six years and file a report with the Department of Buildings documenting the results of the inspection that include:

• buildings, or portions of a building, used for parking or storing motor
  vehicles, including space inside or under a building
• open parking garages and enclosed parking garages as defined in the NYC
  Building Code.

For more information see NYC DOB’s press release.

NYC Parks launched a brand new interactive NYC Tree Map. This map details nearly one million trees managed by the city including trees located within the parks. The color and size of the dots on the Tree Map represent each tree’s location, species, and trunk circumference. The map also contains information about the maintenance status and ecological contribution of each tree.

The new NYC Tree Map builds on the Street Tree Map which was launched in 2016 and provides information on the City’s street trees.

Starting February 1, 2023, DOB will only accept official SST cards that have been issued through the NYC DOB Training Connect platform. These SST cards are required for all construction and demolition workers on the larger and more complex work sites across the City, which are required by law to have site safety supervision.

For more information see the DOB service alert.