Governor Dewey Signs “Flophouse” Bill Governor Thomas E. Dewey of New York State signed the Desmond Bill imposing standards of safety for a type of lodging house characterized as “A flophouse.” These have been unregulated heretofore. This type of building was involved in a disastrous loss of life as the result of a fire in New York City last December. Among the safety standards mandated for non-fireproof lodging houses of the type descriped are limitations on the use of wood construction and specifications regarding door and window openings, fire-retarding measures, the maintenance of automatic sprinkler systems, etc. The number of lodgers is limited to twenty-two for each full multiple of twentytwo inches in the smallest clear width of each means of egress, other than a fire escape, and to twenty for each regulation fire escape accessible on each floor if it is above the entrance floor. All lodging houses must…
