In 1980, Grace Gold, a Barnard College freshman, was killed when
a piece of terra cotta masonry fell on the Upper West Side. Her
death resulted in the adoption of Local Law 10, the first New York
City law that required periodic inspections of street-side
façades of all buildings in New York City that are taller
than six stories. Then, in 1998, the partial collapse of a building
on Madison Avenue resulted in an expansion of the requirements of
Local Law 10 – and its recodification as Local Law 11 –
to encompass all building façades (other than those within
12 inches of a neighboring building) for buildings of more than six
stories. In 2013 and 2015, these rules were further expanded to
include balconies, balcony railings, greenhouses and other
"appurtenances". Now, in 2020, the death of Erica
Tishman, an architect, from falling debris in the Times Square area
has resulted in a series of additional inspection requirements for
buildings taller than six stories. These
