Council Member Antonio Reynoso. Image credit: William Alatriste, New York City Council

Council backs not-for-profit sector with new legislation. On March 29, 2020, Local Law 42 of 2020 was adopted by the City without the Mayor signing it following unanimous City Council approval.  Local Law 42 was originally introduced as Int. No 245-of 2018 by Council Member Antonio Reynoso and was later amended twice. The new law creates an exemption for City tax lien sales of properties owned by not-for-profit organizations. The law also creates a not-for-profit ombudsperson within the City’s Department of Finance.

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Council Speaker Corey Johnson Image Credit: New York City Council

Follow CityLand on twitter if you cannot watch City Council’s first ever virtual Stated meeting. On April 15, 2020, the New York City Council announced that it will be holding a Stated meeting on Wednesday April 22, 2020 at 1:30 PM. The meeting will be held remotely, a first for the New York City Council. The Stated meeting will be the first since February 27, 2020. The subsequently scheduled meetings were all canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Rendering of 146-150 Wooster Street in Manhattan. Image Credit: KUB Capital.

Developers spent months engaging local representatives and neighborhood residents to garner their approval before formally initiating ULURP process.  On January 28, 2016, the City Council Land Use Committee unanimously approved an application to construct a mixed-use building at 146–150 Wooster Street, located in Manhattan’s landmarked SoHo Cast-Iron Historic District.  150 Wooster LLC, the project developer and subsidiary of KUB real estate investment and design firm, is the second owner to attempt to build a new development in place of the existing and unused one-story garage.  In the face of substantial community opposition, the previous site owner’s ULURP application was withdrawn before reaching the City Council.

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City Planning Commission had approved the permit to operate a Bronx homeless shelter.  Liska NY, Inc. had constructed an eight-story homeless shelter at 731 Southern Boulevard in the Longwood area of the Bronx.  The shelter exceeded the height, setback, and floor area ratio limits for the site and on August 21, 2013 the City Planning Commission approved Liska’s request for a special permit to legalize the building.  On October 9, 2013 the City Council voted to deny the permit.  In an earlier hearing, then-Council Member Maria del Carmen Arroyo requested a vote to deny the permit because the shelter was originally constructed as a thirty-two unit apartment building in 2003 and four years later converted to a homeless shelter in violation of applicable zoning.  Council Member Arroyo stated this after-the-fact shelter construction was a pattern of behavior by Liska and continued to oversaturate the local community board district with shelter providers.

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Council member Mark Levine. Image credit: William Alatriste/NYC Council

If enacted into law, Intro 214 would make New York City the first municipality in the nation to provide free legal representation to low-income tenants in Housing Court.  On March 26, 2014, the “Right to Counsel” bill was introduced in the New York City Council by co-sponsors Council members Mark Levine and Vanessa Gibson.  The proposed law would provide free legal representation to low-income City tenants and homeowners earning income that is not in excess of 125% of the federal poverty line and facing eviction and foreclosure proceedings in Housing Court.

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Councilmember Corey Johnson at a Stated Meeting of the New York City Council. Image credit: William Alatriste/New York City Council

Privately-owned open space will be converted into a new City park that includes an aptly-placed Aids memorial across the street from the former-Saint Vincent’s Hospital.  On August 13, 2015, the City Council approved West Village Residences, LLC and the Department of Parks and Recreation’s application to transfer ownership of WVR-owned open space to the City and officially map the space as City parkland.  The open space is bounded by Seventh Avenue South, West 12th Street, and Greenwich Avenue, and its main feature will be New York’s largest AIDS memorial.  The park officially opened on August 21st, and the AIDS memorial is expected to be completed by the end of the year.

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