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In NYC a basement that is more then 50% below ground is legally a 'cellar'. My house has a cellar but I call it a basement. With all this discussion about legalizing basement apartments that distinction is sometimes lost. IIRC when the city first proposed legalizing basement apartments a few years ago there was some talk of finding a way to legalize cellar apartments too. Good luck with that.
It's funny because many of the houses by me are built similarly but could be technically a basement or a cellar. Some people have huge slopes to their garages and others do not. This changes how much you are above or below curb level. You still have a door to go in and out and the exact same layout with an exit out of the back and a rear window as well but there's a possibility the grade of your slope changes the "official" designation.
What if the water levels rose over the first floor of many homes.
Would that be grounds for calling them uninhabitable?
It is tragic when people die period.
The focus should not be the basements but the poor weather reporting.
If adequate weather systems were in place people could have been warned
ahead of time to immediately go to higher grounds.
This is why Chuck Schumer is looking to fund 300 million dollars in upgrading
local weather monitoring to avoid future catastrophes like this one.....
Years ago many if not all homes were built with some sort of "cellar" door that provided access to that area. Could be on side of house or around back, and usually were two metal doors (or wood), at at about a 45 degree angle to house.
I remember a few very old houses in my old Brooklyn neighborhood had those doors, usually in the back of the house.
What if the water levels rose over the first floor of many homes.
Would that be grounds for calling them uninhabitable?
It is tragic when people die period.
The focus should not be the basements but the poor weather reporting.
If adequate weather systems were in place people could have been warned
ahead of time to immediately go to higher grounds.
This is why Chuck Schumer is looking to fund 300 million dollars in upgrading
local weather monitoring to avoid future catastrophes like this one.....
Why does Schumer need another 300 million?? How does he even come up with that number? There was well over a week of warning from all the news outlets from TV, Radio, online, and (GASP) Print media. The warnings were blaring out over the cities Emergency alert broadcast system. Everyone knew the storm was coming, everyone heard the flash flood warnings. The problem is that no one in the tri-state area has ever experienced flash flooding, combine that with the city blasting out these Emergency broadcasts every time there might be heavy rain with flash flooding that doesn't happen, and the sense of urgency isn't the same anymore.
You see them a lot in areas with older housing stock (such as North Shore) where plenty of homes went up in 1800's or 1900's but before 1960's.
Those doors are great for giving access to cellar or basement and moving large items in and out. Getting a boiler, water heater, furnace, washing machine, dryer, fridge, freezer, furniture, etc... no problems. You can get creative and rig up some sort of platform and simply slide things down into cellar/basement, or haul them up and how.
Main problem back in day was how to lock those doors securely, and they were always a weak security point especially those early ones where doors were made of wood.
Newer models have interior locks that you need a key to open from outside. Some old timers just chained doors closed and secured with a pad or combination lock.
What if the water levels rose over the first floor of many homes.
Would that be grounds for calling them uninhabitable?
It is tragic when people die period.
The focus should not be the basements but the poor weather reporting.
If adequate weather systems were in place people could have been warned
ahead of time to immediately go to higher grounds.
This is why Chuck Schumer is looking to fund 300 million dollars in upgrading
local weather monitoring to avoid future catastrophes like this one.....
The focus should be on morons who insist in living in areas mother nature did not intend them to live. Humans sue and blame each other but Nature doesn't care. We see millions of people die every year in 3rd world flood plains like Bangladesh, Philippines, Brazil, Nigeria, etc. The USA should know better. We have plenty of room to move inland away from flood zones. Unlike those other countries. Also see Hurricane Katrina in 2006.
Eleven people died in similar circumstances during Hurricane Ida. The tragedy has brought renewed focus on the Basement Apartment Pilot Conversion Program, which was designed to tackle the thorny problem of making such apartments safer. The program passed in 2018 but Covd hit as it was getting up and running. As a result, the city’s 2019 budget cut the pilot program by 92%, from nearly $12 million to $90,000.
“That was disappointing, especially in the light of Hurricane Ida, which was a wake-up call to the danger of these apartments,” Barron said.
The units exist for a reason. Their occupants are often undocumented New Yorkers who work for less than minimum wage. “In my district, the median income is $37,000 for a family of three,” Barron said. “But the people in these apartments are even below that threshold—or they’re unemployed and desperate for housing.”
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