100 New Bills, Suing the Mayor, citymeetings.nyc
Hi!
I've developed an easier way to navigate city council meetings: citymeetings.nyc. It will be up to date with all of 2024's meetings by the end of this month. Let me know what you think and holler if you have any questions!
Today's issue is an attempt at a format that I can write more quickly on a regular basis.
Got feedback? Reply to this email. I have a tiny but active readership and I like it when I hear from you.
Toodles,
Vikram
At Wednesday's Stated Meeting, the council:
- Passed 3 bills and 1 resolution.
- Introduced almost 100 new bills and over 20 resolutions
The vast majority of these ~100 bills won't pass, as I discussed in this issue.
What's the difference between resolutions and bills? Bills become law. Resolutions do not: they are formal statements of the council's will.
What legislation passed?
3 bills and 1 resolution passed this week. Here they are.
The council intends to sue the mayor
Res 0004-2024 authorizes Speaker Adams to start legal proceedings against City Hall for not implementing laws that make it easier to receive housing vouchers, with the aim of moving more folks from shelters into permanent housing.
Eric Adams vetoed the laws, the council overrode his veto, and here we are now. The points of contention were mainly around changes that prohibit work status and sources of income from being used in the qualification process.
Read this article on The City for more background.
Easier applications for seniors applying for rent freezes
Int 0025-2024 makes it easier for seniors in affordable housing to apply for rent freezes, by sending them application forms with most of their information filled in.
(This should happen for a lot of things!)
Housing and Preservation Development (HPD) is expected to carry out this activity when the law's in effect a year from now.
Mandating a citywide health plan
Int 0093-2024 mandates the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene to create a comprehensive health plan for NYC aimed at improving overall health, reducing health disparities, and expanding access to quality healthcare.
The plan must outline specific health goals for the next five years, and be shared with the mayor, council, and the public by September 30, 2028.
Services for survivors of domestic violence
Int 0039-2024 requires the Office to End Domestic and Gender-Based Violence (ENDGBV) to connect eligible survivors of domestic or gender-based violence to several support services:
- Free repair services for doors and windows.
- Emergency buttons to easily call for help.
- Counseling, housing support, and legal services.
Beyond being a survivor of domestic or gender-based violence and an NYC resident, ENDGBV is to determine eligibility requirements Notably, these requirements cannot be related to consumer credit history, criminal history, or immigration status.
What new legislation was introduced?
Almost 100 bills were introduced.
Here are some of the bills I found notable/interesting/weird.
- Int 0002-2024 will require the DoE to share materials on the risks/dangers of using social media and online misinformation.
- Int 0010-2024 establishes a pilot program install drinking fountains on fire hydrants.
- Int 0015-2024 sets up a charity fund run by NYC, for citizens to donate to and for NYC to use on charitable causes.
- Int 0017-2024 requires 40% of parking spaces in existing garages/open lots to support EV charging stations by 2030.
- Int 0022-2024 prohibits vending on "bridge approaches" -- presumably targeting activity on the Manhattan side of Brooklyn Bridge.
- Int 0026-2024 and Int 0070-2024 prohibit non-essential helicopter operations at city-owned heliports. (I learned that this primarily targets Blade from an enthusiastic canvasser for Stop The Chop last week.)
- Int 0031-2024 requires testing the waters abutting NYC for harmful substances once a week and publishing the results online.
- Int 0040-2024 seems to bring gobs of transparency to how properties are assessed for property taxes.
- Int 0045-2024 requires the DoE to report on classroom sizes.
- Int 0046-2024 requires the Department of Design and Construction "prepare a strategic blueprint" to reduce the duration of capital projects by at least 25 percent.
- Int 0047-2024 removes all misdemeanor criminal penalties for general vendors and mobile food vendors.
- Int 0052-2024 requires DSNY to create a street cleanliness grading system and use it to inform where to invest street cleaning efforts.
- Int 0058-2024 delays the greenhouse gas emission reduction requirements outlined in Local Law 97 by 7 years.
- Int 0061-2024 establishes a task force to figure out a plan to create a municipal public bank in NYC.
- Int 0076-2024 and Int 0077-2024 bar city employees from lobbying the government for 2 years after leaving voluntary or involuntarily.
- Int 0078-2024 requires that NYC prioritize non-profit developers and community land trusts when it disposes of land for affordable housing.
- Int 0079-2024 requires the installation of pedestrian lighting fixtures around the city.
- Int 0080-2024 creates a violation for obstructing bicycle lanes/bus lanes/sidewalks with a vehicle. It also designates a bounty for citizens who report them.
Meeting segments to watch
I've been working on citymeetings.nyc for a while. It's an easier way to navigate NYC City Council meetings.
In this section I'm going to start linking to specific segments of meetings for you to check out on citymeetings.nyc.
That feature isn't working yet (stay tuned), so instead here are some links to videos + times you should watch.
Adams getting elected to Speaker again
At the first city council stated meeting of the year, the council elected Adrienne Adams to Speaker of the NYC City Council again.
Here's a chapterized video on citymeetings.nyc: https://citymeetings.nyc/city-council/2024-01-03-city-council-stated-meeting
Many council members delivered speeches in support of Adams. Letitia James delivers a speech at 00:36:27 before administering the oath.
At 1:05:34 the minority leader, Joseph Borelli, delivers an address too.
A zoning meeting covering 5 projects
On Jan 23, there was a Subcommittee on Zoning and Franchises meeting covering 5 projects across the city.
https://citymeetings.nyc/city-council/2024-01-23-subcommittee-on-zoning-and-franchises
One of these got disapproved this past Wednesday: 962 Pacific in Crystal Hudson's district.
You can navigate to each council member's remarks, the developer's presentation, and public testimonies easily there.
Crystal Hudson delivers her argument against 962 Pacific starting at 00:05:14.
Veto shenanigans
As has been widely reported, the city council overrode Eric Adams' veto of the How Many Stops Act and solitary confinement ban. Both laws have gone into effect.
The Republican minority opposed the legislation and veto override. On the day of the veto override, council member Kalman Yeger resorted to procedure in a futile attempt to strike it from the agenda.
This Youtube link features Kalman Yeger in the council meeting where the veto was overridden.
There were actually two meetings for the veto that day. The first had more procedural shenagians. It's not on Youtube or citymeetings.nyc (yet) but you can watch it on Legistar -- it's the 1/30/2024 City Council Stated Meeting at 11:00 AM.
Comments? Suggestions? Want to hear more about something?
You can send an email to voberoi@gmail.com or reply to this email.