🍎 citymeetings.nyc #16
Radiator Safety, Brooklyn Botanic Garden, Unaccompanied Immigrant Youth
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Hi!
NYC Council is holding its public testimony hearing for City of Yes for Housing Opportunity tomorrow.
The City Planning Commission hearing was about 15 hours long and had 203 public testimonies.
I expect to have tomorrow's public testimony hearing published some time on Wednesday or Thursday.
Today's hearing with NYC Planning's presentation and NYC Council's questioning is underway. It will be up tonight or tomorrow morning.
I will also do the same AI-driven-and-human-verified public opinion analysis I did in this table last time, but I'm busy with my day-to-day work so it will have to wait a week or two!
Stay tuned.
Thanks,
Vikram
For a complete listing of published meetings, visit https://citymeetings.nyc.
This week's highlights are from hearings on:
- Radiator safety and plumbing regulations
- A development next to Brooklyn Botanic Garden
- Resources on immigrant youth who arrived as unaccompanied children
Hearing on radiator safety and plumbing regulations
The parents of Benjamin Zachariah give testimony.
- Three children have died from steam radiator malfunctions in NYC apartments. The parents of one of these children, Benjamin Zachariah, gave testimony.
- Farah Louis introduces "Ben Z's Law" to mandate annual steam radiator inspections in multiple dwellings. Link
- HPD received ~6,400 radiator-related complaints in FY 2024. They issued over 1,500 violations. 450 were "immediately hazardous" and required repair. Link
- HPD does not track safety incidents related to the 450 "immediately hazardous" radiator violations. Link
- HPD estimates that around 100,000 buildings citywide could be affected by the proposed radiator inspection requirements. Link
- HPD primarily conducts complaint-driven radiator inspections, with no regular proactive inspections specifically for radiators. Link
- Eric Dinowitz strongly criticizes HPD's testimony and their reliance on complaint-based inspections. Link
- Heat violations increased from 6,211 in FY 2023 to 9,204 in FY 2024. Link
- Oksana Mironova from the Community Service Society of New York testifies that 83% of NYC apartments are in buildings built 50 years ago or more. Link
Hearing on the development next to Brooklyn Botanic Garden
A rendering of the project from the developer's presentation.
This proposal is contentious because of the impact of its shadow on Brooklyn Botanic Garden.
- The 962-972 Franklin Avenue rezoning proposal includes approximately 475 apartments, with 119 permanently affordable units. It is ~14 stories. Link
- The City Planning Commission reduced the overall unit count by 25%, from 475 to 355 units. Link
- Developers are requesting the workforce housing option, ensuring 30% of units (approximately 106) would be permanently income-restricted. Link
- This would provide 30% of floor area at an average of 115% AMI. Link
- Crystal Hudson expresses concerns about shadow impacts on the Brooklyn Botanic Garden and affordable housing requirements. Link
- The Brooklyn Botanic Garden (BBG)'s VP of Horticulture gives testimony. Link
- BBG states that the 15-degree scenario could create a 1.5-hour shadow impact on the conservatories in December. Link
- (Further discussion on lighting and shadows begins at this chapter.)
- The developer states that the difference in shadow impact between R7D and R7A options is 3 minutes on the most impacted day for the Hardy Plant Nursery Yard. Link
- The proposal includes a special permit to reduce parking requirements from 50% to 20%. Link
Hearing on resources for immigrant youth who arrived as unaccompanied children
Mamadou, a 17-year-old immigrant, gives testimony.
- Between Oct 2023, and June 2024 NYC welcomed 2,873 unaccompanied children (UACs) released to sponsoring families. Link
- Kids in Need of Defense (KIND) testifies that immigration judges are almost 100 times more likely to grant legal relief for unaccompanied children represented by legal counsel. Link
- Alexa Avilés criticizes the Asylum Application Help Center's pro se (self-representation) approach for Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS) cases. Link
- She also expresses disappointment over the absence of agency leadership at the hearing. Link
- Mamadou, a 17-year-old immigrant, shares his challenging experiences navigating NYC's shelter system and dealing with ACS. Link
- Over 1,100 youth ages 16 to 24 were turned away from shelters due to lack of space in the first half of the year. Link
- DYCD has tripled the number of beds for young people ages 16-20, totaling 753 beds, but it's still not enough. Link
- The Children's Village proposes establishing a navigator program for supporting unaccompanied immigrant children. Link
- The Ali Forney Center reports a 12% increase in youth with citizenship issues from 2021-2023. Link
- Resolution 576 calls for legislation to offer tax credits to businesses that create workforce development programs for newly arrived immigrants. Link
Thanks for reading!
Comments, questions, or feedback? Reply to this email or shoot me a note at vikram@citymeetings.nyc