Int. No. 465

By Council Members Gerson, Yassky, Brewer, Jackson, Koppell, Lopez, Quinn, Stewart and Gonzalez

A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the City of New York, in relation to creation of a review process in the event of the closure of a publicly mapped street.

Be it enacted by the Council as follows:

Section 1.  Section 19-107 of the administrative code of the city of New York is amended by lettering the current section as subdivision a, amending such subdivision as lettered and by adding new subdivisions b, c, and d to read as follows:

§ 19-107 Temporary closing of streets.  a.  Except as otherwise provided by law, it shall be unlawful for any person to close any street, or a portion thereof, within the jurisdiction of the commissioner, to pedestrian or vehicular traffic without a permit from the commissioner. The commissioner may temporarily close or may issue a permit to temporarily close to pedestrian or vehicular traffic any street, or a portion thereof, within his or her jurisdiction, when, in his or her judgment, travel therein is deemed to be dangerous to life, in consequences of there being carried on in such street activities such as building operations, repairs to street pavements, sewer connections, or blasting for the purpose of removing rock from abutting property or when such closure may be necessary for a public purpose. In the event the commissioner closes or proposes to close a publicly mapped sidewalk or street for more than forty-five days, the following review procedure shall be required:

b. The community board or the council member in whose district the sidewalk or street to be closed is located may request a re-assessment and community impact finding.

c. Within sixty days of receiving such a request, the department must issue a reassessment report which shall contain the following: the objectives of the closure; reasons why this sidewalk or street closure is necessary to attain those objectives; identification of the least expensive alternative means of attaining those objectives and the costs of such alternatives, or a statement and explanation as to the unavailability of such alternatives.

d. In the event that the commissioner determines that the sidewalk or street  should remain closed or proposes to close after review of the reassessment report, the commissioner must within thirty days thereafter generate a community impact finding which must reflect examination and consideration of the following: the economic impact on businesses in the area; how the sidewalk or street closure will impact traffic flow in the surrounding community; the environmental impact of the sidewalk or street closure; and any actions to be taken by the commissioner or any other agency to mitigate or compensate local businesses and residents for any adverse impacts.

§ 2.  This local law shall take effect immediately after it is enacted into law.

CBH

LS#1753/2364

5/9/03