Int. No. 265

By Council Members Moya, Farías, De La Rosa and Louis

A Local Law in relation to establishing a task force to examine labor issues related to neighborhood rezonings

Be it enacted by the Council as follows:

                     Section 1. Task force to examine labor issues related to neighborhood rezonings. a. Definitions. For the purposes of this section, the following terms have the following meanings:

City economic development entity. The term “city economic development entity” means a local development corporation or other not-for-profit organization, public benefit corporation or other entity that provides or administers economic development benefits on behalf of the city pursuant to paragraph b of subdivision 1 of section 1301 of the charter.

HireNYC. The term “HireNYC” means a workforce development program administered by a city agency or city economic development entity, in coordination with the department of small business services, that connects construction-related or permanent job openings generated by affordable housing and economic development projects to low-income city residents.

Neighborhood rezoning. The term “neighborhood rezoning” means an application on which the city or a city economic development entity is either the applicant or co-applicant that:

1. The city planning commission has approved or approved with modifications for a matter described in paragraph (1), (3), (4), (5), (6), (8), (10) or (11) of subdivision a of section 197-c of the charter or a change in the text of the zoning resolution pursuant to section 200 or 201 of the charter;
                               2. The city planning commission decision has been approved or approved with modifications by the council pursuant to section 197-d of the charter and is not subject to further action pursuant to subdivision e or f of such section; and

3. Involves at least 10 adjacent blocks of real property.

b. There shall be a task force to examine labor issues related to neighborhood rezonings approved after January 1, 2016, consisting of at least 11 members as follows:

                     1. The commissioner of housing preservation and development, or the commissioner’s designee, who shall serve as chair;

                     2. The president of a city economic development entity, or the president’s designee;

3. The commissioner of small business services, or the commissioner’s designee;

4. The commissioner of buildings, or the commissioner’s designee;

5. The director of city planning, or the director’s designee;

6. At least three members appointed by the mayor, including representatives from construction, labor and community organizations; and

7. At least three members appointed by the speaker of the council, including representatives from construction, labor and community organizations.

 c. Each member of the task force shall serve without compensation. All members shall be appointed within 60 days after the effective date of this local law.

d. No appointed member of the task force shall be removed except for cause by the appointing authority. In the event of a vacancy on the task force during the term of an appointed member, a successor shall be selected in the same manner as the original appointment to serve the balance of the unexpired term.

e. Each member of the task force may designate a representative who shall be counted as a member for the purpose of determining the existence of a quorum and who may vote on behalf of such member, provided that such representative is an officer or employee from the same agency or organization as the designating member. The designation of a representative shall be made by a written notice of the member delivered to the chairperson of the task force prior to the designee participating in any meeting of the task force, but such designation may be rescinded or revised by the member at any time.

f. The mayor may designate one or more agencies to provide staffing and other administrative support to the task force.

g. The task force shall meet at least quarterly and shall submit a report of its findings and recommendations to the mayor and the speaker of the council no later than 12 months after the final member of the task force is appointed. In developing the report, the task force shall examine the following:

1. The use of any contractors or subcontractors with a history of labor, construction or worker safety violations on affordable housing or economic development projects related to neighborhood rezonings approved after January 1, 2016;

2. The efficacy of HireNYC and other efforts to connect job openings to city residents in connection with neighborhood rezonings approved after January 1, 2016; and

3. Any other labor issues related to neighborhood rezonings that the task force deems appropriate.

h. The task force shall dissolve 180 days after submission of the report required pursuant to subdivision g of this section.

§ 2. This local law takes effect immediately.

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