Section 177. Rooms in basements and cellars

1. No room in any cellar shall
  be occupied for living purposes, except as provided in  subdivision  six
  of section thirty-four or in subdivision three of this section.
    2. A room occupied for living purposes in a basement shall comply with
  the  requirements  of sections one hundred seventy-three and one hundred
  seventy-four except as provided in subdivision four of this section.
    3. Where more than sixty per centum of the height of a cellar is below
  the level of the curb on which a dwelling faces, but the floor  of  such
  cellar  is  approximately at the level of the yard thereof and such yard
  is not less than thirty feet in depth at every point, the department may
  permit the use of such cellar for living purposes if it shall deem  such
  cellar adequately lighted and ventilated and habitable.  When permission
  is granted such a cellar shall be deemed a basement.
    4.  The  basement  of  a  converted  dwelling  may  be used for living
  purposes without meeting the requirements of subdivisions one and two of
  section one hundred seventy-three  if  such  dwelling  meets  the  other
  applicable  requirements  of such section and of this chapter, including
  the following:
    a. Such a dwelling shall  not  exceed  three  stories,  including  the
  basement, in height.
    b.  It  shall  be  occupied  by not more than one family on any story,
  including the basement. For the purposes of this  subdivision  a  family
  shall not be deemed to include any boarders, lodgers or roomers.
    c.  It  shall  have  at  least  one  court  two  feet or more in width
  extending across the entire depth of the lot  from  the  street  to  the
  yard.
    d. The department shall deem the basement to be adequately lighted and
  ventilated, free of any dampness, sanitary and habitable.
    e.  There  shall  be  a  separate  water-closet compartment within the
  basement apartment conforming to the provisions of section two hundred.
    f. Such dwelling shall not be required  to  comply  with  section  one
  hundred  eighty-seven if a scuttle is provided conforming to section one
  hundred eighty-eight.
    (g) This subdivision is applicable only to buildings noted, classified
  or recorded as such converted  dwellings  in  the  department  prior  to
  January first, nineteen hundred sixty-six.
    5.  Notwithstanding  any  provisions of this section or of subdivision
  five of section three hundred, an apartment or room in  a  cellar  which
  was  occupied for living purposes at any time on or after October first,
  nineteen hundred fifty-two may thereafter continue to  be  occupied  for
  such   purposes  until  July  first,  nineteen  hundred  sixty-seven  in
  accordance with the conditions imposed by subdivision  five  of  section
  two hundred sixteen.