Image credit: New York City Council.

The new office would advocate for New Yorkers who struggle with utility companies, but some question if another office is necessary. On June 30, 2022, the City Council’s Committee for Consumer and Worker Protection held an oversight hearing to discuss recent utility rate hikes and Int. 372-2022, a bill that would establish an Office of the Utility Advocate within the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP). The bill is sponsored by City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams. (more…)

Roadway dining, like at this restaurant in Bay Ridge, will look like this and move away from enclosed sheds under the proposed permanent open restaurant plan. Image Credit: NYC DOT

Many elected officials raised concerns about DOT’s ability to handle the scale and capacity of a citywide permanent open restaurants program. On February 8, 2022, the City Council Subcommittee on Zoning and Franchises held a joint hearing with the Committee on Consumer and Worker Protection on the proposed permanent open restaurant program. The proposed permanent open restaurant program will replace the temporary program and establish a new streamlined program for the creation, management and enforcement of sidewalk and roadway cafes operated by the Department of Transportation.  As of the writing of this article, 12,133 restaurants and cafes are participating in the temporary open restaurant program, which is set to expire at the end of 2022. For CityLand’s prior coverage of the permanent open restaurants program approval process, click here. (more…)

Image credit: New York City Council.

Free representation in housing court for low income tenants will now be available citywide. On April 29, 2021, the City Council passed three bills advancing tenants rights. Two of the bills focus on expanding the right to counsel in housing court for tenants citywide and an outreach program to notify tenants of their rights. The third bill focuses on tenant data privacy. All three bills were sponsored by Council Member Mark Levine.  (more…)

Image Credit: explorenewdorp.com

City Council votes to create the City’s latest Business Improvement District on Staten Island. On April 5, 2017, the City Council voted 50-0 to approve the Department of Small Business Services’ application to create the New Dorp Business Improvement District for Staten Island’s New Dorp neighborhood. The BID will consist of properties along New Dorp Lane and adjacent commercial streets between Hylan Boulevard and Richmond Road. The proposed BID contains 146 properties and 180 businesses, most of which are small and family-owned companies. (more…)

Tenant will supply U.S. Navy with docking services and emergency provisions. On March 9, 2005, the City Council approved a draft lease submitted by the City’s Economic Development Corporation for a 40,000 square-foot portion of the Staten Island Homeport Pier to a tenant to be chosen by the U.S. Navy’s Military Sealift Command. The chosen contractor will provide layberthing services to U.S. Navy vessels, allowing the ships to dock, be maintained in a state of readiness, and be rapidly supplied when called to send emergency provisions to troops. The lease area includes five buildings within the southern portion of the Homeport Pier.

Under the lease, rent to the City for docking one ship is set at $450,000 per year payable at $37,500 per month, increasing to $675,000 per year, $56,250 per month, for a second U.S. Navy vessel. The lease establishes an initial seven-month term, expected to commence in January 2006, with five options that could extend the lease term to December 2010. The approved lease does not set the proposed rent increase for the option periods. Under the lease, the contractor will be responsible for all needed improvements, dredging and utilities. (more…)