It’s prudish tendencies like outlawing apartments with no windows that force folks like me, who don't care for safety anyway, to compete for housing with families who do need safety.

but unironically; it'd be much safer than the street

It’s preferable to have safety standards on general housing stock, instead of asking individuals to figure out safety levels.

I imagine there are plenty of people out there that aren’t aware that windows are for safety and might find out in the worst way possible.

> Windows are legally required for safety purposes

They are not used for egress in skyscrapers—no ladder goes that high. And commercial buildings have fantastic internal ventilation. (Skyscraper apartment windows often can’t be opened for ventilation anyway, and are not trivially shattered.)

What safety? This makes no sense. Am I supposed to jump out of 20th floor or what?

In case of ventilation fail an openable window allow for emergency manual ventilation, beside that being exposed to a bit of sunlight is needed for a good health, artificial lights can't do the same.

Many flats here in Europe have windows that don't open. Don't tell me I can open the windows in a NYC skyscraper

Well, at least in Italy (where I was born) and France it's not allowed to have civil accommodations without openable windows. In Italy at all, in France you are allowed for non-living areas (bathroom and kitchens essentially) as long as another form of ventilation is present.

Limits I know are 1/8 of the flat surface you can march on must be openable windows, 1 complete air change per hour (you have a 50m³ room, you must change at least 50m³ of air per hour. There are some tolerance for historic buildings down to 1/12 of the flat surface, below that the accommodation can't be used to live in.

While for offices there is only an natural illumination requirement, and a ventilation NOT necessarily bound to openable windows. I do not know for the rest of the EU.