Yonkers, NY Outdoor Cooking: BBQ & Propane Rules (2026)
Key Facts
- Banned locations
- terraces, fire escapes, halls, cellars
- Trigger
- Fire Dept finds a fire hazard
- Mechanism
- elimination order, § 59-41
- Enforcing agency
- Yonkers Fire Department
- Related standard
- § 59-44 open-flame hazards
Summary
Yonkers City Code § 59-41H lets the Fire Department order the elimination of any barbecue apparatus or cooking appliance used on a building's terraces, fire escapes, halls or cellars, or anywhere else it creates a fire hazard, reaching exactly where propane grills end up in multifamily buildings.
The Fire Department shall issue an order to eliminate dangerous or hazardous conditions whenever any of the officers, members or inspectors of the Fire Department find in any building or upon any premises dangerous or hazardous conditions or materials as follows: ... H. The use of barbecue apparatus or any cooking appliances on building terraces, fire escapes, halls or cellars or any other place that constitutes a fire hazard.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: rev 4745274; v31 updated 2025-10-28; through 10-28-2025).
Full Breakdown
Section 59-41 sits in the Fire Code's enforcement article and empowers Fire Department officers, members and inspectors to issue an order eliminating dangerous or hazardous conditions whenever they find one on an inspection. " In a city of multifamily buildings, that reaches propane and charcoal grills kept on a balcony, a fire-escape landing, a shared hallway or a cellar storage area, wherever the Fire Department finds the setup constitutes a hazard given its location and any exit or egress it might block. The order mechanism is not self-executing: an inspector documents the condition and the Fire Department issues the elimination order to the building's owner, tenant or responsible party, who must then remove the grill or cooking appliance from the flagged location.
This sits alongside the general standards in § 59-44, which separately bar open flames and combustible-surface hazards inside multiple residences, reinforcing that Yonkers treats open-flame cooking equipment as a building fire-safety issue rather than leaving grill placement to individual tenants.
Violations & Fines
Ignoring a Fire Department elimination order issued under § 59-41 exposes the owner and any person who assisted the violation to the code-enforcement, civil and criminal remedies set out in Article II, including the enhanced Class II offense tier used elsewhere in Chapter 59: fines of $200 to $1,000 criminally or $500 to $7,500 civilly, per § 59-40E's cross-reference to Article II violations.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I keep a propane grill on my Yonkers apartment balcony?
What if my grill is on a fire escape landing?
Who enforces the balcony grill rule in Yonkers?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Yonkers
New York rules heatmap·Compare Yonkers to another location·View the New York outdoor cooking overview
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