Sarah's Pitch

In the wake of 9/11, it would seem prudent that every high-rise buiding in New York City would be well-equipped for emergencies of a catastrophic scale ... but this is not exactly the case. And when it comes to high-rise residence buildings, it can't be farther from the truth. In actuality, high-rise residences - where many New Yorkers conceivably spend a great majority of their time - are not required by the city to have an evacuation procedure on hand. The regulations for fire safety and evacuations are greatly relaxed for residences versus commercial buildings.

The Cooperator, a co-op and condo monthly newsletter for New York City residents, states, "At the very least, simple building layouts should mark floor plans so residents know how to get to the nearest exit. Exit signs—with a battery back-up that should last at least 90 minutes past a power outageEmergency-Kits-for-Business-Traveler , according to city code—should mark stairwells and doorways. And all residential buildings should have fire alarms. Beyond those things, however, the city of New York doesn’t require that residential buildings formulate or maintain an emergency management or evacuation plan."


I intend to find out why high-rise residential buildings are not required to meet the same standards of commercial buildings by going through New York City's buiding codes department. I also intend to find out if some of New York's highest high-rise residences (like the newly constructed Time Warner Building) have created evacuation procedures for its residents in spite of the city's lack of requirement to do so. I will interview property owners and managers on their plan (or lack thereof) for safe evacuations in case of emergency. I will interview residents on their expectations for such an occurence. And I will get in touch with a member of the building codes department to see if more stringent requirements are on the horizon. I also intend to interview Charles Jennings, Ph.D., a city and regional planning expert who wrote a dissertation on residential fires and gave a presentation on the need to protect the residences in high-rise buildings the year before 9/11 occurred.