Charter Revision: Let’s Discuss Ending Term Limits For Council Members

Mayor Bill de Blasio and the City Council, in creating competing charter revision commissions, avoided endorsing the central reason why the City could benefit from charter revision: ending term limits for council members. Term limits arguably may have had a healthy impact on the mayoralty, but not so with the council. Two four-year terms for council members resulted in instability of council membership and leadership and a lack of institutional discipline that has produced a <Read More>


Construction Begins On Renovation of Upper East Side Community Center

Senior center and youth center in NYCHA housing will have kitchen and bathrooms upgraded. On June 8, 2018, City Council Member Ben Kallos, together with the New York City Housing Authority, announced the start of renovations and upgrades for the Stanley M. Isaacs Neighborhood Center. The Isaacs Center is located in Holmes Towers at 415 East 93rd Street. Construction is expected to be completed by February 2019 and full completion and use of the … <Read More>


Council Introduces Legislative Package To Eliminate Lead Poisoning In Housing

City Council bills target lead levels. On May 10, 2018, Speaker Corey Johnson and 19 City Council Members introduced a package of 23 bills to eliminate lead poisoning in the five boroughs. The package of bills, the largest lead laws since 2004, seeks to strengthen, expand, and establish new protections on the city’s lead laws.


Designations of Two Individual Landmarks Overturned by Council

Landmarks’ designations of two residential buildings on City Island rejected due to objections of local council member. On March 12, 2018, the City Council’s Subcommittee on Landmarks, Public Siting & Maritime Uses voted against upholding the individual landmark designations of two residential buildings on City Island in the Bronx. The buildings are the Samuel H. and Mary T. Booth House at 30 Centre Street, and the Captain John H. Stafford House, at 95 <Read More>


Bill Introduced Will Seek Higher Penalties For Businesses That Fail To Clear Sidewalks

While many are still shoveling snow from the fourth nor’easter of the year, a new bill looks to increase penalties on chain business owners who fail to clear sidewalks. On March 7, 2018, Council Member Justin Brannan introduced a bill that will amend the Department of Sanitation section of the administrative code by increase the penalties for chain business owners who fail to properly remove snow, ice, and dirt from sidewalks following a snowfall. Council … <Read More>


Council Committee Approves Commercial Use on Bedford Avenue Residential Block

Zoning map amendment approved permitting ground floor space for commercial use in a residential block in the Williamsburg neighborhood. On January 23, 2018, the New York City Council Subcommittee on Zoning and Franchises unanimously voted to approve the zoning map amendment adding a commercial use permit to the ground floor space of 116 Bedford Avenue in Brooklyn and the 9 adjacent buildings on the block. Five of those adjacent buildings already have commercial uses on … <Read More>