Q: I am 98 years old and depend on a walker. For a year, I have kept it in the hallway outside my studio apartment, which I rent from a shareholder in an East Village co-op. The walker doesn’t obstruct other apartments, or restrict access to the elevator or stairwell. Nevertheless, I’ve been informed that I must keep it inside my apartment. But this makes it difficult for me to get out because the space is narrow and complicated by a self-closing door. The situation could be dangerous in an emergency. Can the board make an exception for a disabled person?

A: As a tenant with a disability, you need to be able to safely enter and exit your apartment. If you need a reasonable accommodation for that to happen, your housing provider, which in this case is ultimately the co-op board, needs to provide you with one. However, the board has another equally important obligation to the safety of residents: It must follow city fire and building codes to keep hallways free of obstructions and access to exit routes clear.

“At the end of the day, this is a real thing, the question of egress routes being clear,” said John W. Egan, a lawyer and partner in the New York City office of the firm Seyfarth Shaw, where he leads the office’s disability-access practice. “There could be a real problem and it could be a liability issue if they’re allowing obstructions” in the hallways.