Jason Adolfo Otaño, the General Counsel for the New York City Council, was born to Puerto Rican parents and grew up in the Sheepshead Bay area of Brooklyn. Otaño’s father was a City firefighter for 28 years, his mother a paraprofessional for the Department of Education, and his uncle a captain for the Department of Corrections.
Search Results for: Commission Appointment
City Planning Announces Anita Laremont As Executive Director
Current General Counsel is appointed Executive Director. On August 22, 2018, the Department of City Planning announced the appointment of Anita Laremont as its new Executive Director. Laremont is currently the Department’s General Counsel and Chief Analytical Officer. Laremont will succeed outgoing Executive Director Purnima Kapur. She will begin in her new role on September 4 and will continue to serve as the General Counsel until a replacement is named.
Edna Wells Handy Appointed Acting NYCHA Chief Compliance Officer
The new Compliance department will be responsible for the compliance training for NYCHA’s employees. On November 20, 2017, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced the appointment of Edna Wells Handy to the New York City Housing Authority’s Executive Compliance Department as Acting Chief Compliance Officer. For the first time in its history, NYCHA is creating an Executive Compliance Department.
City Council Approves SoHo Residential Conversion
The residential conversion project includes the restoration of cast-iron building in SoHo Cast-Iron Historic District. On September 7, 2017, the City Council voted 45-0 to approve an application for a special permit to allow residential and retail uses at 40 Wooster Street in Manhattan’s SoHo neighborhood. The applicant, 40 Wooster Street Restoration LLC which is a subsidiary of the Northwind Group, sought the special permit to allow for residential and retail uses in what was … <Read More>
Subcommittee Lambastes City for Withdrawing Beneficial Theater Contribution Increase
The City’s Planning Department withdraws its proposal to increase contributions to the Theater Fund, which supports local, off-Broadway theater productions. On February 27, 2017, the Department of Planning withdrew its application to raise the contribution rate for air rights sales within Manhattan’s Special Theater Subdistrict right before the City Council’s Zoning Subcommittee was set to vote on the issue. The proposed text amendment would have instituted a higher contribution rate, established a floor sale price, … <Read More>
Administrative Justice Coordinator David Goldin: A Life in Public Service
The 2005 City Charter Revision Commission proposed a Charter amendment to require the Mayor and the Chief Judge of the Office of the Administrative Trials and Hearings to create a code of ethics for the over 500 administrative law judges and hearing officers in the City’s administrative tribunals. At the time it was unclear to what extent the State Code of Judicial Conduct applied to and could be enforced against ALJs. The proposition passed, and … <Read More>