Why does every co-op or condo ad for an apartment that has a fireplace always show the fireplace in the advertising picture? Because people love fireplaces. They help sell condos. Now, a new ruling from the NYC Building Department allows builders and developers to add ventless fireplaces to existing apartments, after or during construction, without filing amended plans or getting a new work permit. Specifically, the department approved the use of Hearth Cabinet ventless fireplaces, which do not require gas lines or venting, and operate by using a revolutionary, smokeless, fuel cartridge. The cartridge is like a super sterno can and produces a roaring, golden yellow fire, but without any smoke, odor, or ashes to clean up.

Best of all, the units are extremely safe. They have been approved by the FDNY and have also won accolades from a Certified Safety Professional. They feature a patent pending, self closing, safety screen which is locked when the fire is burning. You can see the fire, but no one can get to it except the person with the key. In addition, the fuel cartridges burn extremely cleanly and produce no toxic emissions.
The fireplaces install easily. Three screws that attach them to the floor or to a platform sitting on the floor. A variety of mantels are available, or, as is more frequently the case, builders and artchitects specify custom made mantels that use the unit's burner system, which contains all of the FDNY and Building Department required safety features.

Details about the system are available at the company's website, NYFireplace.com, where you can also view the Building Department approval letter, the FDNY Approval, and a safety report by a certified safety professional, Ernest Niles. Indeed, safety was the key requirement when the units were originally designed, as they were invented by the dean of New York Products Liability Attorneys, Michael Weinberger, author of the New York Products Liability, a two volume treatise published by West Publishing Company. Architects Arthur Lasky and Barry Silberstang founded NY Hearth Cabinet, Inc. to represent the product in New York, and they maintain a showroom in Chelsea where various units may be viewed. Members of the building, architectural and design trades are invited to visit the showroom to view the system and see how remarkably safe it is, while at the same time it produces a full bodied, golden yellow, real fire that looks so good the product was named a "Best Bet" by New York Magazine within weeks after its introduction. Tags: