UPDATE: On February 1, 2017, the City Council voted 47-0 to approve four bills that would help protect tenants of three-quarter houses in New York City. During the vote, Council Member Donovan Richards called three-quarter houses a wide spread problem that would not be cured by the bills and that the City would need to track progress on the issue to determine future responses. Council Member Ritchie Torres called predatory operators of three-quarter houses the … <Read More>
Search Results for: Agency Rule
Landmarks Leaves Only One Backlog Item Remaining After Last Meeting of 2016
Ten of thirteen items brought to a final disposition were designated by Landmarks and will proceed to City Council for ratification. On December 13, 2016, the Landmarks Preservation Commission made its final dispositive votes on items prioritized for designation in the commission’s Backlog Initiative, with one exception. The initiative, began in 2015, sought to address the backlog of designation items that had been added to the commission’s calendar before 2001 but never brought to … <Read More>
Council Hears Testimony from BSA on New Oversight Legislation
Executive Director of the Board of Standards and Appeals voices support for some proposed reforms, but states concern about financial and personnel burden to the agency. On December 14, 2016, the City Council’s Committee on Governmental Operations heard testimony on ten proposed bills designed to provide more oversight of the Board of Standards and Appeals. The BSA, which was originally created to be an independent board tasked with granting “relief” from the zoning code, is … <Read More>
City’s Failure to Preserve Deed Restrictions on the Rivington House Explored [City Council Passes Tougher Oversight]
UPDATE: On December 6, 2016, the New York City Council voted 42-0 to approve Introduction 1182-2016 which requires the Department for Citywide Administrative Services to conduct an extensive review of a request to remove a deed restriction on a property managed by DCAS, including a public hearing, to determine whether the request removal furthers the best interests of the City.
The legislation is a response the controversial sale of the Rivington House to a luxury … <Read More>
U.S. Attorney Bharara Teaches the State a Civics Lesson
The stunning 79-page federal complaint and arrest of Joseph Percoco and seven others by United States Attorney Preet Bharara focused on bribery and extortion, but the complaint also revealed a callous disregard of State conflicts of interest and procurement rules. These allegations were as serious as the federal criminal charges.
Prison Reform: The Monitor’s First Report in the Nunez Case
Recently the City got some good news about Rikers Island, a change from the bad news of recent years. On August 2, 2016, Mayor Bill de Blasio, together with Correction Commissioner Joseph Ponte, announced that for the first six months of 2016 the frequencies with which staff used serious force on inmates and inmates seriously assaulted staff dropped by nearly half over the past year. Overall uses of force and assault numbers were also down … <Read More>