The way I understand NYS renting laws, for you to rent an apartment out, first it needs to be on record and zoned. Secondly, you need to have a second stairway or fire escape for a third floor. Basically, what is going on now is someone is moving into our attic, which until now lacked running water and I dont believe has a kitchen in any way. The house is zoned for 3 apartments, which are currently occupied (with two downstairs, and myself on the second floor), and the attic / third floor lacks a second way of escaping. Lastly, the way electric is setup, technically speaking, the attic is ours, since it is listed as having to give us the second and third floor. And of course, there are only three registered addresses for the post office, so my guess is its not zoned for 4 apartments. So basically, we have no idea what is going on upstairs, and the landlord has become more and more useless. Of course, safety is a major, major concern. Who should I go about contacting if anyone knows?
Go to city hall, the zoning department and file an anonymous complaint. It works, you might need to do it a few times. Violations make the city money, so they tend to move fast.
