“Tear Down This Wall” Dept. Of Bldgs Adopts Reagan’s Line

As the ripples from a tragic event in the Bronx involving two firefighters who perished after leaping from a building have finally hit Manhattan, the landscape of renting in the City is likely to change.  Pressurized walls, so common to the students and young professionals who want to live close to the action or work now face the possibility of being torn down.   After the fire when the landlords were found guilty of manslaughter for allowing illegal walls, other building owners are taking notice and minimizing risk by making people remove temporary walls that have not been approved by the Department of Buildings.

Turns out most pressurized walls are installed illegally as landlords have looked the other way and tenants hire wall installation companies.  The problem is that legally speaking you are supposed to have an architect or engineer come to draw up plans, then submit those plans to the Dept. of Bldgs.  This of course is very costly for a would-be $700 wall.  However, now that condoning illegal walls carries potentially severe punishment, landlords are no longer allowing them. 

Of course, people can still share the apartment, but instead of a fairly secure sense of privacy, tenants are being told that bookshelves and screen dividers are all they can use.  This has not been met well by tenants, and business is still booming for the wall installers.

How will this all net out?  Well, if denying full walls turns off potential sharers, then this will force people to spread out into the less desirable areas thus increasing the rent in said locations.  With higher rent can come gentrification and renovations to old apartments.  This too can cause clashes of personality with old stalwarts of the community and displaced renters alike.  Too soon to tell how this will all shake out.

Have you been affected by this change?  If so, please post thoughts on your solution and what you did.

Read the full article from the New York Times