Distinction between basement and cellar explained. The Department of Buildings issued Supreme Company LLC a notice of violation for failing to file a required report concerning the periodic inspection of the exterior walls of its building at 1659 York Avenue in Manhattan’s Upper East Side. Supreme contested the NOV at a hearing before an ALJ, claiming that it was exempt from the filing requirement since its building did not exceed six stories. Supreme’s architect stated that the certificate of occupancy showed that the building had six stories plus a cellar. Buildings claimed the lowest floor was not a cellar, but rather a basement.

Pursuant to the City’s Building Code, cellars were not counted as stories when measuring the height of a building. Basements, on the other hand, were counted as stories. The Building Code defined “cellar” as a portion of a building that is partly or wholly underground and has one-half or more of its clear height below the grade plane. “Basement” was defined as a story partly below the grade plane and having less than one-half its clear height below the grade plane.  (more…)