Conflicts Board Adopts New Rules on Post-Employment Restrictions and Gifts

On October 8, 2020, the Conflicts of Interest Board adopted new and important changes to its post-employment rules that restrict former City employees from contacting their former City agencies. The Board, in addition, on May 21, 2021, adopted rules relating to the acceptance of gifts by City employees in certain recurring situations. This article examines these new rules.


DOB Billboard Decision Upheld

Owner’s sought to install on a single pole a 9,000 square foot of billboard space capable of running 54 separate advertisements.  In February 2018, Baychester Retail III LLC filed applications with Buildings to install a 9,164 square foot LED billboard made of 27 two-sided panels mounted on one pole on a commercial property located near Co-op City, in the Baychester neighborhood of the Bronx near the New England Thruway. The large billboard would be capable … <Read More>


CityLaw Profile: Frederick Schaffer, Chair of the Campaign Finance Board

In February 2017, Mayor Bill de Blasio appointed Frederick Schaffer as the Chair of the City’s Campaign Finance Board. The Board, which will be thirty years old next year, is responsible for enforcing New York City’s campaign finance law, monitoring campaign contributions and disclosures, overseeing the public matching funds program and enforcing the rules. Schaffer takes the reigns as the Board heads into the 2017 mayoral campaign.

Schaffer was born and raised in Brooklyn. One … <Read More>


Rent Guidelines Board Freezes One-Year Leases for 2nd-Year in a Row

Board votes for rent freeze despite strong push for a rent rollback by City Council coalition. On June 27, 2016, the New York City Rent Guidelines Board held a final vote to set guidelines for 2016-2017. This vote took place one year after the Rent Guidelines Board made a historic decision to freeze one-year leases instead of raising them.


Scooters, Hoverboards, and Bicycles; What’s Legal?

New Yorkers enjoy many new forms of transportation such as electric scooters, electric bicycles, hoverboards, skateboards, in-line skates, electric wheelchairs, and more. The laws governing these forms of transportation are confusing and mostly unenforced, if they are even enforceable. State laws and regulations on vehicle and roadway usage typically trump conflicting local laws, except in New York City, where the New York City Council has been given much authority to promulgate laws and regulations on … <Read More>


Zoning for Quality and Affordability Program Sent to Community Boards for Public Review

The program would amend generation-old zoning regulations to encourage construction of efficient mixed-use buildings and affordable senior housing.  On September 21, 2015, the City Planning Commission issued a press release revealing two of the major programs to be implemented under Mayor Bill de Blasio’s Housing New York plan.  The programs, which are currently making their way through the Uniform Land Use Review Procedure process, are the Mandatory Inclusionary Housing Program and the Zoning for Quality <Read More>