I nominate Renegade Cabaret for best use of a fire escape.
http://www.renegadecabaret.com/

So, basically, "It could kill you! But here are some pretty examples!" Lol!

Up next, "Our Top Ten Picks for In-Car Cocktails!"

Love it. I'm all for any opportunity to break the law in the name of beauty. These folks don't appear to be blocking the stairs at all, besides, I've never read an article in the NYT about someone burning in a building because they don't have the common sense or urgency to kick over a potted plant.

Love those fire escapes, and love that book even more. So nice - think I might try to do something like that with my apartment.

Ooh and the main character's name was Francie :)

I think the important thing is that passage remains clear. We all have some plants on our fire escapes but keep the path open. I actually take u-hooks and hang plants from the steps (easy to pass under them without ducking). the fourth pic looks a bit crowded for a fire escape but the other pics are nice.

Actually, though she is called Francie, her whole name turns out to be Mary Frances Katherine Nolan. (There is a doll named Mary to be given away at a church Christmas party to a guest with the same name. Francie wants her so badly that she lies and says that her name is Mary. Then she feels guilty about it and she tells her Mom, who reveals her whole name.) God, I love that book -- especially the descriptions of wonderful places (like the fire escape and the library) that offer the characters an escape from their grinding poverty.

I have a fire escape, but it's in, away from the street, up against the next building -- dark, and useless except as a means of fire egress. And the building owners will remove anything left on it (including one little ceramic pot I once left out there while waiting to get a plant).

I had one long ago that was fun to sit on -- great views.

But you should never leave things on your fire escape! Never!

I know someone who had a beautiful firescape garden, she was watering one day and the whole thing collapsed. She was paralyzed.

I had a fire escape garden once and it was priceless. In NYC, I would have paid extra rent just for its use. I haven't had one in 5 years, but in two weeks I am moving to a new place for more money and a huge fire escape. It's calling my name. As long as I keep a large passage clear, I am prepared for all reprimanding by building management. It's worth it.

That's kinda selfish, no?

wonderfully selfish.

Eye roll. Get off your soapbox peahen. The whole point of AT posting this with their disclaimer is to save people like you wasting your time harping on about things that anyone with common-sense is aware of.

AT people seem to have a pretty high intelligence level and, shock!, can probably make their own decisions about what they put where.

They're just pointing out how pretty these fire escapes are. No one's rushing off to make a "death-by-fire" garden on their escape!

Chicago firefighter family here. 'nuff said.

A lot of these seem to be endangering those to live on floors above - I guess people are supposed to jump off instead of keeping the fire escapes cleared off.

Clearly, the pro-plants people have never witnessed a real house fire.

I had a fire escape years and years ago when I lived in Boston as an undergrad. I could get to it outside my bedroom window. As I recall, I had one plant inside on the sill and nothing on the fire escape itself. The view was basically a brick wall and other windows (the side of a building next to it - a few feet away). For the most part, I kept the blinds closed.

I understand the rationale behind city codes to keep the fire escapes clear. A clear fire escape devoid of plants alone doesn't guarantee safety - you have to be able to actually get onto the fire escape itself in order to use it. So if there are impediments inside the apartment to getting onto the fire escape (furniture in front of the window/door making it hard to get onto the fire escape or plants on the sill) then a plant on the fire escape is the least of your worries if there is a fire. And knowing how tiny many city apartments are, you often have to use spaces in front of windows for furniture...

I don't see why you couldn't have a flower box on the outside of the fire escape railing. I like fire escape greenery, too bad it's a safety issue.

people living in fear much? It is not hard to step over small plants should the .00001% chance that your apartment is on fire. Hell, kick them out of the way!

I like the plants! looks nice!

Thanks for the mention of my fire escape garden (Urban Organic Gardener). People often criticized me for blocking the pathway on the fire escape. I made sure to measure out plenty of foot space for people (over 1 foot). If that isn't enough for people, then the space along side the building certainly wouldn't be as it was less than 8 inches.

As someone who had their apartment burned down in 2003, this is something that I take seriously. If the pathway that I left on the fire escape didn't suffice, then there are much bigger issues that should be addressed such as the pathway along side the building and the window that lead to the fire escape.

Thank you again.

I'm with peahen on this one, and his/her response to hnhkt.

Look, when someone shows a cowhide rug here, if people can jump all over it because they feel posting = endorsement, or all over a homeowner because their railings are too wide or their stairs are "too scary" by code, or their changing table is too close to a loft's edge, then people CERTAINLY have the right to cry foul here. ESPECIALLY SINCE IT'S LAW.

I think this (and some of the responses to it) is a statement that you just don't care about anyone but yourself. You are probably the same people whose oversized luggage sticks out from underneath the seat in front of them on airplanes...

And sorry, CanarsieBK, but the matters of careful measurement you cite are out the window when you add terror, confusion, smoke and darkness.

I am speaking of my fire escape garden specifically.

If people are outraged, about the small amount of foot space, they should be outraged about the entire design of the fire escape.

If someone can't get through that foot space, then there is no way they are making it out of the window nor alongside the building. Add the terror, confusion, smoke and darkness to the equation and there is little chance of someone even making it out onto the fire escape.

How am I being selfish as I would have to use that fire escape as well in case of an emergency.

CanarsieBK - I am seriously hoping you don't honestly mean you are only leaving one foot for people to travel past. Did you consider someone could be carrying their CHILD? Could be pregnant? Could be helping an elderly family member or friend down the stairs? This list could go on and on. One foot would be fine for people going single file, but it doesn't count in for lots of other situations that are very likely. The law is to keep the fire escape FREE of your crap. BTW I just measured my windows - all of them are over one foot wide.

ChrisGal - Then your issue is with the construction of the fire escape and not my plants. The window barely opens more then two feet and the pathway along the building measures about 8 inches wide. That should be an issue as well for you. Is it?

CanarsieBK - So your defense to blocking a fire escape is because there isn't a large pathway along the building? But again, you'll be the one sued when someone who lives above you gets hurt trying to get down past your apartment in an emergency or fined by the health department if someone in your building or living nearby calls it in.

Since many of you seem to be very passionate about this issue, I am wondering if anyone knows the specifics of the law prohibiting items on fire escapes (in NYC in particular). I've tried to research this in the past, and the most official documentation I could find was a firefighters newsletter in Brooklyn that said that you should not "obstruct the path on fire escapes." I thought that was remarkably vague. But if you interpret it literally, it would seem that the first photo would be okay, since the plants are hung on the outside or above the path. This would also be relevant to a post a couple of years ago when someone was trying to screen their fire escape from a courtyard below.

While I agree that fire safety should be of utmost importance, I am really more concerned about being able to move the furniture and open the window guards in case of an emergency.

I know this original post is old, but I can't let it go.

People---
The stuff on your fire escape can also catch fire! The coconut hair hangers shown on the bottom fire escape landing can go up like kindling, as well as the plants. Gee, thanks for spreading fire to the exterior of the building as well as the interior.

If firefighters are using the fire escape, they are carrying 60-70 lbs of gear (and perhaps a small child as well) and everyones vision is hampered if there is smoke or darkenss. And you want to give them a 1 foot clearance?

"Add the terror, confusion, smoke and darkness to the equation and there is little chance of someone even making it out onto the fire escape."
Well, thanks for minimizing the chance of escape even further because you have your spider plant out there.

BTW--In some areas you can be fined up to $5,000 PER DAY for encumbering use or access to a fire escape. And if anyone dies because of it, it's your ass, too.

Unbelievable.

mjs7640 - Glad to know someone besides me is passionate about this. I don't live in a building with a fire escape (not really needed with only two floors) - but you can bet if I did I would be the neighbor calling out the fire and health department to check out the stairwells to check for code. Maybe the ones who like to decorate would love their stuff being thrown in a dumpster (perfectly legal for them to do) and getting fined for the departments having to remove it.

I would also suggest that if people want to have a balcony, they should move into an apartment that HAS a balcony.

Apartment fire escape stairways on any side of any building, are installed for a specific reason: NOT Convenience, but to ESCAPE a burning building! Flowers or anything else other than fire warning lights and/or security cameras do not belong. This is what I have come to understand about them, from a long time back. Fire SAFETY requires a clearly designated exit. That door needs to be connected to the main alarm panel as well as a camera pointed at it from the hallway, so that on opening the door both the manager and the fire department know who opened it and can verify whether or not the reason is indeed the escape from a building on fire.