17 • TIMES, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2015 TAKING STAIRWAY TO SAFETY Board 2 Approves City’s Zoning Proposal For Stronger Stairwells The Department of City Planning (DCP) and the Department of Buildings (DOB), along with the FDNY, have proposed a city-wide Zoning Text Amendment that will facilitate and make effective additional safety measures that are a part of NYC’s 2014 Building Code. As part of the 2014 update to the NYC Construction Codes, new safety measures were incorporated for highrise non-residential buildings. These safety measures are intended to enhance public safety during an emergency where the entire building must be evacuated. The safety recommendations came about after a study conducted by the National Institute of Standards and Technology of the World Trade Center attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. The recommended changes to building codes include: decreasing the time it takes to evacuate an entire building in an emergency; increasing the ability of first responders to access building occupants; and providing greater redundancy in escape routes to ensure that, if one route becomes unavailable, there is still adequate capacity to evacuate the building. These recommendations were adopted into the NYC Building Code as part of the 2014 NYC Construction Codes (Local Law 141 of 2013). However, the law stipulates that these safety provisions will only become effective once a text amendment is approved to exempt the space occupied by these features from counting towards zoning floor area. The proposed text amendment states the safety measures will only affect new, non-residential buildings that surpass 420 feet in height, or mixed use buildings that contain a non-residential space above 420 feet. DOB records shows that from 1997- 2014, only 29 non-residential buildings over 420 feet tall were constructed, so not many existing buildings will be affected. Newly constructed buildings will have to adhere to Building Code Section 403.5.2, which is a new provision requiring one of the following options be incorporated into the design of all new non-residential buildings greater than 420 feet in height. The options are: construct all passenger elevators as “occupant self-evacuation elevators” with emergency generators capable of running all of them simultaneously; increase the width of required fire exit stairwells by 25 percent and provide “occupant self-evacuation elevators” with emergency generators to power a portion of them; or provide one additional emergency exit stairway than is normally required based on the number of occupants. The proposed text amendment is being referred to 11 community boards (eight in Manhattan, two in Queens and one in Brooklyn), the three affected Borough Presidents and the Manhattan and Queens Borough Boards. Board 2 unanimously voted “yes” to approve the stairwell text amendment, moving it one step closer to passing. by Anthony Giudice Members of Community Board 2 voted on a proposed stairwell text amendment at their board meeting last Thursday, Feb. 5, at Sunnyside Community Services. Commanding officer of the 108th Precinct, Capt. John F. Travaglia and Community Board 2 Chair Patrick O’Brien address the community at Board 2’s monthly meeting last Thursday, Feb. 5 at Sunnyside Community Services. 12 Queens RadioShacks In Shutdown Mode by Cristabelle Tumola, Liam LaGuerre and Robert Pozarycki RadioShack is tuning out a dozen of its Queens locations as the struggling electronics retailer looks to turn around its fortunes—but its Ridgewood, Maspeth and Middle Village locations were spared. The nearly century-year old electronics retailer, which has been suffering serious economic setbacks in recent years, filed for bankruptcy last Thursday, Feb. 5, and will close 1,784 of its approximately 4,000 stores across the country. In Queens, 12 of 28 total stores will be slashed. The stores will close in three waves, but Queens customers should expect the targeted locations to shut their doors only in the second and third phases, by Mar. 31. Even so, the Ridgewood location at 57- 36 Myrtle Ave., Middle Village shop at 69-18 Metropolitan Ave. and Maspeth store at 70-01 Grand Ave. will stay open. General Wireless Inc., an affiliate of RadioShack’s leading shareholder Standard General L.P., will buy between 1,500 to 2,400 stores, the retailer said. General Wireless and cellphone carrier Sprint have formed a deal to establish mini- Sprint stores in up to 1,750 of these purchased locations. These locations will close their doors by Feb. 28: • Floral Park; 250- 36 Jericho Tpke. • Jamaica; 175-51 Hillside Ave. • Flushing; 133-46 Whitestone Expwy. • Kew Gardens; 85- 15 126th St. • Rego Park; 96-50 Queens Blvd. • East Elmhurst; 75-43 31st Ave. The following shops will shut down by no later than Mar. 31: This RadioShack location on Bell Boulevard in Bayside is among 12 RadioShacks across Queens scheduled to close their doors in the weeks ahead. • Woodhaven; 92-11 Jamaica Ave. • Elmhurst; 89-23 Queens Blvd. • Queens Village; 219-13 Jamaica Ave. • Ozone Park; 102-44 Atlantic Ave. • Bayside; 39-07 Bell Blvd. • Jackson Heights; 37-52 82nd St.
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