Does the NYC roommate law apply to studios? I was told that if 2 people live in a studio both have to be on the lease.

Question

I wanted to lease a studio in NYC and live with my boyfriend, but since I would be paying the majority rent and my boyfriends credit isn’t great, I wanted to lease the apartment (be the sole applicant) and then take him on as a roommate/occupant. The NYC roommate law seems to say that any tenant can take on one roommate as long as they notify the landlord. We toured an apartment yesterday, and the manager told us this law does not apply to studios so we’d both have to be on the lease.

Steven Warren Smollens · Answer

Dear NYC Tenant: 
 
It is the other way around. Two tenants named as tenants on one lease are not entitled to an additional Roommate if both tenants live together. One tenant is ALWAYS entitled to the choice of a Roommate. The statute does not exclude Studio apartments. 
 
***2. It shall be unlawful for a landlord to restrict occupancy of 
residential premises, by express lease terms or otherwise, to a tenant 
or tenants or to such tenants and immediate family. Any such restriction 
in a lease or rental agreement entered into or renewed before or after 
the effective date of this section shall be unenforceable as against 
public policy. 
 
3. Any lease or rental agreement for residential premises entered into 
by one tenant shall be construed to permit occupancy by the tenant, 
immediate family of the tenant, one additional occupant, and dependent 
children of the occupant provided that the tenant or the tenant's spouse 
occupies the premises as his primary residence.*** 
[https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/RPP/235-F] 
 
Even when focused on the NYC Local Law relating to a maximum number of persons in a single dwelling, there is no mention of a Studio unit being legal for two tenants but illegal for one tenant and a Roommate. The only criterion is Space, which controls tenant plus tenant and tenant plus Roommate without regard. 
 
§ 27-2075 Maximum permitted occupancy. 
   a.   No dwelling unit shall be occupied by a greater number of persons than is permitted by this section. 
      (1)   Every person occupying an apartment in a class A or class B multiple dwelling or in a tenant-occupied apartment in a one- or two-family dwelling shall have a livable area of not less than eighty square feet. The maximum number of persons who may occupy any such apartment shall be determined by dividing the total livable floor area of the apartment by eighty square feet. For every two persons who may lawfully occupy an apartment, one child under four may also reside therein, except that a child under four is permitted in an apartment lawfully occupied by one person. No residual floor area of less than eighty square feet shall be counted in determining the maximum permitted occupancy for such apartment. The floor area of a kitchen or kitchenette shall be included in measuring the total liveable floor area of an apartment but the floor area for private halls, foyers, bathrooms or water closets shall be excluded.

Q: Does the NYC roommate law apply to studios? I was told that if 2 people live in a studio both have to be on the lease.