2006 New York Code - Yards And Courts.

 
    §  212.  Yards and courts. 1. No tenement shall be enlarged or its lot
  diminished in any way which would leave any yard or court  less  in  any
  dimension  than the minimum dimensions prescribed for yards or courts in
  section twenty-six.
    The restrictions of this subdivision  shall  not  apply  to  tenements
  erected  after  April  twelfth,  nineteen hundred one, on lots which run
  through from one street to another street and do not exceed one  hundred
  feet in depth.
    2.  Any  court  constructed  on  or after December fifteenth, nineteen
  hundred sixty-one in a tenement to  ventilate  any  room,  public  hall,
  water-closet   compartment  or  bathroom  shall  be  of  the  dimensions
  prescribed  in  section  twenty-six,  and  such  court  shall  under  no
  circumstances be roofed or covered over at the top. Every such court, if
  an  inner  court,  shall  be  provided  at  the  bottom with one or more
  horizontal air-intakes constructed as provided in section twenty-six.
    3. Any shaft or court constructed  after  April  eighteenth,  nineteen
  hundred  twenty-nine,  which  is  used  to  light  or ventilate any room
  occupied for living purposes in any old-law tenement shall be  at  least
  twenty-five  square  feet  in area and four feet in width in every part,
  and shall under no circumstances be roofed or covered over at  the  top.
  Every  such  shaft  shall  be  provided  at the bottom with a horizontal
  air-intake or duct at least  four  square  feet  in  area  communicating
  directly with a street or yard and so arranged as to be easily cleaned.
    4.  In  every  old-law tenement there shall be a door at the bottom of
  every shaft and inner court giving access to  the  shaft  or  court  and
  whenever  the  shaft or inner court is less than two hundred square feet
  in area or ten feet in any dimension, such door and its  assembly  shall
  be fireproof with the door self-closing. Where a window or door existing
  on  April  eighteenth, nineteen hundred twenty-nine, gives proper access
  to such  a  shaft  or  court,  such  window  or  door  shall  be  deemed
  sufficient.