Chair of the Committee on Housing and Buildings, Council Member Jumaane Williams. Image credit: NYCC/William Alatriste

City Council Committee heard testimony on legislation to codify reporting requirements for the Department of Housing Preservation and Development regarding inclusionary housing and affordable units. On June 19, 2017, the City Council’s Committee on Housing and Building held a hearing on a package of five bills. Four of the bills concerned the Department of Housing Preservation and Development’s reporting requirements for affordable housing developments. The fifth bill concerned the definition of residency in the City’s lead abatement law. (read more…)

Council Member Margaret Chin. Image credit: NYCC/William Alatriste

Housing Committee approves six pieces of legislation from package of 21 bills on construction safety, more to follow including apprenticeship bill. On April 24, 2017, the City Council’s Committee on Housing and Buildings approved six bills from a package of 21 on which the Committee heard testimony on January 3st. For CityLand’s prior coverage of that hearing, click here. Chair of the Committee, Jumaane Williams, noted that the Committee planned on approving some of the remaining fifteen bills soon, including the controversial Intro. 1447-2017 which would require all construction workers citywide to participate in an apprenticeship program or have commensurate work experience. (read more…)

The Joint Committee on Housing and Buildings and Committee on Finance hearing the public’s testimony. Image credit: The Office of Council Member Jumaane D. Williams.

The respective budgets provide for increased operating funds to implement new departmental initiatives. On May 11, 2016, the City Council Committee on Housing and Buildings and the Committee on Finance jointly held back-to-back public hearings on the Department of Buildings’ and the Department of Housing Preservation and Development’s Fiscal Year 2017 Executive Budgets, respectively, which seek to provide each Department with an increased budget to implement the new initiatives introduced within the respective Executive Budgets.

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Mayor Bill de Blasio signing legislation into law with Council Member Jumaane Williams standing to his right. Image credit: The Office of Council Member Jumaane Williams

New York City Council Member and Deputy Leader Jumaane Williams sponsored both bills, which were signed alongside a green building construction bill sponsored by City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito.  On March 28, 2016, Mayor Bill de Blasio signed into law two major pieces of legislation, sponsored by New York City Council Member and Deputy Leader Jumaane Williams, respectively titled the Domestic Violence Housing Discrimination Ban and the Green Construction bills. City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito sponsored a bill aimed at increasing eco-friendly, City-owned buildings, which was signed on the same day at Council Member Williams’ bills.

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From Left to Right: Council member Ydanis Rodriguez, Council member Helen Rosenthal, State Assembly member Deborah Glick, and Council member Mark Levine speak at the rally against illegal hotels. Image credit: CityLand

The proposed laws seek to enforce existing State regulations by increasing illegal hotel fines and reporting requirements.  On October 30, 2015, the City Council Committee on Housing and Buildings heard testimony on three proposed laws that seek to ramp up enforcement of state laws that prohibit the operation of illegal hotels.  The proposed legislation would regulate only those residential units located in multiple-dwelling buildings—not one- to four-family homes.  The proposed legislation is intended to address property owners who repeatedly and illegally rent out entire apartments, particularly rent-regulated apartments, for less than thirty days.

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Council Member Jumaane D. Williams speaks at the oversight hearing on short-term rentals. Image credit: William Alatriste / New York City Council

Eight-hour hearing covered testimony from supporters and opponents of short-term rental businesses.  On January 20, 2015, the City Council Committee on Housing and Buildings held an oversight hearing on the effects of short-term rentals on New York City’s economy and neighborhoods.  Over the course of eight hours, the committee heard testimony from independent tenants, representatives from the Mayor’s Office of Special Enforcement, the home-sharing website Airbnb, owners of local bed-and-breakfasts, and members of the public for and against short-term rentals. (read more…)