1 1 2 CITY COUNCIL 3 CITY OF NEW YORK 4 -------------------------------x 5 THE TRANSCRIPT OF THE MINUTES 6 of the 7 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 8 -------------------------------x 9 10 November 28, 2007 11 Start: 1:23 p.m. Recess: 2:25 p.m. 12 City Hall 13 Council Chambers New York, New York 14 15 B E F O R E: 16 BETSY GOTBAUM Public Advocate 17 18 COUNCIL MEMBERS: Speaker Christine Quinn Joseph Addabbo 19 Maria Arroyo Tony Avella 20 Maria Baez Charles Barron 21 Gale Brewer Leroy Comrie 22 23 24 LEGAL-EASE COURT REPORTING SERVICES, INC. 17 Battery Place - Suite 1308 25 New York, New York 10004 800-756-3410 2 1 2 A P P E A R A N C E S (CONTINUED) 3 COUNCIL MEMBERS: 4 Bill DeBlasio Erik Martin-Dilan 5 Matthew Eugene Simcha Felder 6 Lewis Fidler Helen Foster 7 Dennis Gallagher Daniel Garodnick 8 James Gennaro Vincent Gentile 9 Alan Gerson Eric Gioia 10 Sara Gonzalez Vincent Ignizio 11 Robert Jackson Letitia James 12 Melinda Katz G. Oliver Koppell 13 Jessica Lappin John Liu 14 Miguel Martinez Michael McMahon 15 Darlene Mealy Rosie Mendez 16 Hiram Monserrate Michael Nelson 17 James Oddo Annabel Palma 18 Domenic Recchia Joel Rivera 19 James Sanders Larry Seabrook 20 Helen Sears Kendall Stewart 21 James Vacca Peter Vallone, Jr. 22 Albert Vann Melissa Mark Viverito 23 David Weprin David Yassky 24 25 3 1 2 A P P E A R A N C E S (CONTINUED) 3 STAFF: Billy Martin 4 Council Clerk 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 4 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 SPEAKER QUINN: In the testimonials 3 today, the first one we're going to do is one that 4 is being presented by Council Member Larry Seabrook. 5 Let me give him the mic., and a lot of other people, 6 too. 7 COUNCIL MEMBER SEABROOK: Thank you 8 very much, Madam Speaker. Will the members please 9 join me up here? I think this is a historical event 10 because I think that this caucus, as well as this 11 Council and this Speaker, has done a tremendous job 12 in addressing one of the major health issues in the 13 world, and that's the crisis that we have with AIDS 14 in the world. And we have two groups here who have 15 been in the forefront of taking this message to our 16 communities against a tremendous amount of odds and 17 opposition and the lack of understanding about the 18 effect of AIDS and the disproportionate aspect of it 19 in our communities, and they have risen to the 20 occasion, I mean soldiers in this army who are 21 fighting and on this battlefield and who never say 22 die, and have always been there, and a tremendous 23 inspiration to all of us. So, we wanted all of the 24 members to be here, but we certainly want to bring 25 up two of the generals in the army in this fight, 5 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 when it certainly was not a popular fight, and they 3 stood up, and they stood tall, through all the 4 obstacles, and we'd like to have the Black 5 Commission on AIDS, Deborah Frazier, and her group, 6 as well as the Latino AIDS Commission, come up front 7 and center here. Because they have stood the test of 8 time through all the battles and all the obstacles 9 and all the spears and all the gunshots and 10 everything else, and people trying to say we don't 11 want to talk about it, and have taken it to some of 12 the pulpits and have converted the ministers to 13 believe that there is a need for their fight. And so 14 they need to be commended today, and I certainly 15 want to take this time also to commend the Speaker 16 of the Council who has saw fit to put her money 17 where her mouth is, and have made a tremendous 18 statement of saying we're going to put money where 19 it is needed to deal with this issue. Because one of 20 the most famous cliches' that we always say, money 21 will not solve the problem. To hell it won't. It 22 will. And the determination of what has taken place 23 here is so important, and we wanted to recognize it 24 as World AIDS Day. It is important that we look at 25 this and that we deal with this issue, but we wanted 6 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 to say thank you to the generals who are out there 3 leading the soldiers, leading the fight. When 4 everybody else said it couldn't be done, you have 5 made it happen. And look at all these members here 6 today. Thank you. 7 And Madam Speaker. 8 SPEAKER QUINN: Let me just, before we 9 have the clerk read the proclamation and we hear 10 from our generals, I also just want to add my thanks 11 to Council Member Al Vann, who is somebody that -- 12 when before being Speaker, when I was Health 13 Committee Chair, Al came to the Health Committee 14 with a kind of out-of-the-box in a great way idea of 15 having a faith-based initiative on AIDS, and we've 16 called on the Latino Commission and the Black 17 Leadership Commission to run that for us. We have a 18 good idea and then we're smart enough to know we 19 have to have somebody else go implement our good 20 idea, but it was Al's good idea, and I want to thank 21 him very much for making it a reality. 22 And before we hear from the generals, 23 if the clerk could please read the proclamation. 24 COUNCIL CLERK: Council, City of New 25 York, Proclamations. 7 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 Whereas: Today we are immensely proud 3 to honor the Black Leadership Commission on AIDS of 4 New York City for leading the fight against HIV and 5 AIDS in the communities of African dissent across 6 America and for providing City residents through a 7 program development policy formation resource 8 exchanged advocacy and technical assistance, the 9 health care for African-Americans challenged by HIV 10 and AIDS; and 11 Whereas: Since the inception on 12 November 1987, the Black Leadership Commission on 13 AIDS of New York City has been the oldest and 14 largest non-for-profit organization of its kind in 15 the United States to undertake the task of promoting 16 understanding and awareness to fight HIV/AIDS in our 17 Citywide community; and 18 Whereas: Today we are immensely proud 19 to honor the Latino Commission on AIDS for 20 spearheading health advocacy for Latinos, promoting 21 HIV education, developing model prevention programs 22 for high-risk and low-income communities, and by 23 building capacity in community organizations, 24 churches, health departments, health care providers, 25 LGBT groups, and in conjunction with the Centers for 8 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 Disease Control and Prevention and other government 3 agencies; and 4 Whereas: Since its formation in 1990, 5 Latino Commission on AIDS has been a not-for-profit 6 membership organization, dedicated to the fight 7 against the spread of HIV/AIDS in the Latino 8 community, further expanding in 1995 to provide 9 services outside of New York to meet the emerging 10 needs of Latino communities in more than 40 states, 11 Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, the Latino 12 Commission on AIDS has truly enriched us with its 13 effort and is worthy of the esteem of all New 14 Yorkers for its distinguished contributions to our 15 City; now, therefore 16 Be It Known: That the Council of the 17 City of New York shows tribute to the Black 18 Leadership Commission on AIDS of New York City, and 19 to the Latino Commission on AIDS, for their 20 exemplary leadership to the community. 21 Christine C. Quinn, Speaker for the 22 Entire Council; Larry B. Seabrook, Council Member, 23 12th District, Bronx; and many other Council 24 members. 25 SPEAKER QUINN: Too many to list. 9 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 Thank you very much, Mike. 3 And next let me give the mic., if 4 it's okay, over to one of the people that Larry has 5 referred to as a "general," but to somebody who I 6 want to say, on behalf of myself, and on the 7 Council, is absolutely a general in this fight. She 8 is also a member of the Council family, somebody we 9 call on frequently for advice and support, her and 10 Dee, and everyone else in the organization, and 11 she's somebody I'm very proud to call a friend. So, 12 thank you. 13 PARTICIPANT: Thank you. Thank you, 14 Councilwoman. Thank you, everybody. 15 You know, you had a friend of mine 16 that was outside just a little while ago, Reverend 17 Jessie Jackson, who told me 20 years ago when I 18 first started the National Black Leadership 19 Commission on AIDS that, you know, must always, 20 Deborah, keep your ear, heart and mind close to the 21 community and the community's needs, least the 22 community begin to see the general as the enemy. And 23 it's something that I have never, ever forgotten, 24 and something that I am really, really proud of the 25 fact that the people that you see standing here 10 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 before us, all of these Council members, came out 3 with me on this limb, and it was a real shaky limb 4 at the beginning of BLCOA and LCOA, and they 5 provided the strength and the dignity and the 6 shoulder to which we all stand now. I want to 7 especially thank everybody, but Councilman Vann, who 8 has been the Chair of our Public Policy Committee, 9 since the inception of BLCOA, has led us through not 10 only this, but to a national level. And I just want 11 to say that in October, we had a national conclave 12 for black clergy on HIV and AIDS, Chaired by 13 Reverend Calvin O. Butz, III, and Bishop T.D. Jakes 14 here in the City, bringing together members of the 15 Congressional Black Caucus, bringing together clergy 16 people from Bishop Eddie Long and Cref Lodala and 17 Floyd Flake, and some of the biggest clergy we have, 18 clergy representing over 3.5 million 19 African-Americans and had them join in the fight 20 against AIDS for the African-American community, and 21 understanding that it is time, as they try to save 22 souls, that they must also save lived. 23 So, that is a testament to the work 24 that I and Dee and LCOA has been doing and the 25 ministers that are here today, and we are very 11 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 humbly, humbly grateful to be able to serve. 3 Thank you, so much, Christine. 4 SPEAKER QUINN: Thank you. 5 And I next want to call on the 6 Director of the Latino Commission on AIDS, somebody 7 who is also a member of the Council family, somebody 8 who we call on, not just for advice and support on 9 HIV/AIDS issues, but somebody who has also served as 10 the Manhattan Delegation Group representative to the 11 Civilian Complaint Review Board, so it may feel at 12 times you're too much a member of the City Council 13 family, with all that we ask you to do, but somebody 14 who has too long of a record to go through all of 15 it, but there are so many things that Dennis DeLeon 16 has done at Latino Commission, on the CCRB, as the 17 Human Rights Commissioner for the City of New York, 18 and the Borough President's Office, but an 19 incredibly long record fighting to make sure this 20 City is a City that takes care of everyone equally 21 and fairly and I want to thank you so much for that. 22 MR. DeLEON: Thank you. I just wanted 23 to kind of underscore to people, why is it important 24 that we include ministers and faith communities in 25 the scheme that's going to defeat this disease? 12 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 Because faith communities can be your best friend, 3 or they can be the purveyors of the worst stigma and 4 if anything is driving people not getting tested, 5 people who are getting tested and never going to 6 care, people getting care and then discontinuing 7 that care, and then dying, it's stigma. And I 8 believe that the best partners to address stigma are 9 the faith communities. 10 We have 39 churches in the City that 11 we work with closely, and it's no greater investment 12 of Council funds possible, I believe. And I want to, 13 on behalf of Guillermo, the Vice President of the 14 Commission, and myself, and my entire Board, I want 15 to thank you. And I, too, want to thank Al Vann, 16 because he had a vision. He knows how to make 17 something positive out of something potentially very 18 negative. And we're not done yet. We're not done 19 yet, because there's a few out there who still do 20 it, but we're on our way. We're on our way. 21 SPEAKER QUINN: Al. 22 COUNCIL MEMBER VANN: Thank you, Madam 23 Speaker. 24 I'm really humbled by the 25 recognition. Really, I'm like the front man, people 13 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 do all the work are the people that you've heard 3 from, the two generals, but they touched a nerve. 4 Anything that we can do to reach the people that 5 need us the most, I think all of us would do that. I 6 was in the position to provide some leadership, I 7 did that. And nothing is done alone. Anything we've 8 done in the City Council, obviously we needed our 9 Speaker, we needed all of the members of the Council 10 to support it. So, in recognizing me, we're really 11 recognizing all of you. Thank you so much. 12 SPEAKER QUINN: Thank you, Al. 13 MR. DeLEON: I just want to recognize 14 also Joel Rivera. Joel has been a true partner in 15 our efforts and I would say working with him has 16 been one of the greatest pleasures I've had in this 17 issue, because he has taken the message. He knows 18 where the message needs to go. He knows where it 19 needs to be heard, and he's given us the ability to 20 do that. 21 And thank you to all of the members. 22 We really appreciate it. 23 SPEAKER QUINN: Thank you very much. 24 All right, we need to move up the 25 second ceremonial so if folks could just clear this 14 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 part of the Chambers for a sec, that would be 3 terrific. So, if I could ask the folks who are here 4 for our second ceremonial to come on up and join us, 5 that would be terrific. 6 Come on up. Let's have our honorees 7 right up here in the front. C'mon. C'mon, Ma'am, 8 come over here. 9 As we all assemble here, I just want 10 to make sure that everybody knows that November is 11 Home Health Care Worker Appreciation Month, and 12 every month should be Home Health Care Appreciation 13 Month, but we wanted to make sure this official 14 month we in the City Council took a moment to thank 15 all of the Home Health Care Workers in all five 16 boroughs for the really unbelievably high quality, 17 caring service you give to our neighbors, our 18 friends and our family members on a regular basis. 19 And one of the things that I think sometimes 20 happens, sadly, as it relates to Home Health Care 21 Workers, is you're out there every day in people's 22 homes, and you don't always get seen by folks 23 outside of the homes you're in, and the work you do 24 doesn't always get recognized as widely as it 25 should, and really, the life-saving work you do, the 15 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 dignity you bring to people, the ability you have to 3 people to get home sooner, get well sooner, and at 4 times die at home, which is something most people 5 would like the dignity to be able to do, you deliver 6 that every day to families who might have to have 7 their loved ones be in hospitals or nursing homes, 8 if it wasn't for all of you. 9 So, what we're doing here today is, 10 we couldn't bring all of the Home Health Care 11 Workers in because there would be too many and we 12 have too much care that's needed, but we have one 13 Home Heath Care Worker from each borough today that 14 we want to recognize, and we hope in doing that, 15 we're also really recognizing all of the people you 16 work with every day in every borough. 17 And I just want to thank Ada Garcia, 18 the Executive Vice President for Home Health Care at 19 1199. I want to thank Patrick Gaspar, the Executive 20 Vice President at 1199. I want to thank Rhona 21 Shapiro and Carolyn Brooks, the Vice Presidents. And 22 I want to say that what we're going to do, there are 23 lots of different folks in the balcony, but before 24 we talk about the five great women we have with us 25 today, if the Home Health Care Workers that are in 16 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 the balcony could stand up to be recognized. And 3 everybody, make sure you have the right ones, and 4 we're going to say a little bit about each of the 5 five terrific women who are here today in a second, 6 but before we do that, if the clerk could read, each 7 person has their own proclamation, but if you could 8 read the general portion of the overall 9 proclamation? 10 COUNCIL CLERK: Council, City of New 11 York, Proclamations. 12 Whereas: The Council of the City of 13 New York is pleased and proud to join more than 14 300,000 members of 1199 SEIU, United Health Care 15 Workers East, in honoring several Health Care 16 Workers for their distinguished service to the City, 17 the community and their professionals; and 18 Whereas: November, being National 19 Health Care Month, is a time to publicly acknowledge 20 the essential, yet often overlooked role that Home 21 Care Workers play in America's Health Care. Each day 22 thousands of hard-working men and women bring vital 23 home care services to Americans who are 24 incapacitated by illness, age or disability. This 25 month we honor them and express our deepest 17 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 appreciation for their many contributions; and 3 Whereas: Home Health Care provides 4 much needed support for the patient and his or her 5 family members, attending to needs, both physical 6 and emotional, in an atmosphere that fosters 7 dignity, healing and independence. Secure in 8 familiar surroundings, patients find comfort in the 9 support of their loved ones, while receiving 10 effective health care services free from normal 11 institutional constraints. 12 SPEAKER QUINN: Thank you very much. 13 And let me say, I'm going to read a little about 14 each of the five great women that we're honoring 15 today. The first press conference I had after being 16 elected Speaker was where I had the honor of 17 standing with 1199 and Home Health Care Workers, and 18 it was a great day and a great way to kick off my 19 term as Speaker. So, I want to thank you all for 20 your work an for being back with us here today so we 21 can reiterate our support for the work that you all 22 do every day. 23 And, so, representing, like a beauty 24 contest, representing the Borough of Manhattan, we 25 have Sau-Way Chen Koo, a 12-year veteran of the Home 18 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 Care industry, was the first employee of Chinese 3 dissent at St. Nicholas Home Support Corporation in 4 Manhattan. 5 Sau-Way attained her Home Attendant 6 certification in 1993 and patiently waited three 7 years working as a garment worker in the meantime, 8 until a position became available, and she is 9 represented by Council Member Gale Brewer. 10 And then representing the Borough of 11 the Bronx, who lives in Council Member -- there we 12 go, the Bronx deserves a round of applause -- who 13 resides in Council Member Helen Foster's district, 14 is Juana Alvarez. Juana is an immigrant from 15 Honduras, who obtained an Associate's Degree in 16 Early Childhood Education, from where? Hostos 17 Community College. We're big fans of Hostos here. 18 And has been working at Puerto Rican Home Attendants 19 for 12 years. 20 And Adela Simone is our Home Health 21 Care Worker from Queens, who lives in Council Member 22 Katz's district. And Adela's story is an inspiration 23 to all Home Care Workers. A breast cancer survivor, 24 Adela committed herself to Home Care work, 25 particularly with children, after a quadriplegic 19 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 child she cared for in his home for five years 3 passed away. She's been working for nine years in 4 Queens and is now at the Sunnyside Home Care 5 Project, and we want to thank you so much Adela, for 6 your work. 7 And then, from Brooklyn, from Council 8 Member Lew Fidler's district, is Elana Safanova, and 9 Elana has worked at the Office of Home Care 10 Referrals in Brooklyn for 14 years. An immigrant 11 from Belarus, she has remained committed to the home 12 care cause, despite struggling as a single mother to 13 hold down three jobs. Wow. That deserves a round of 14 applause. And she is also, on top of all of that, is 15 a member of 1199's Executive Council. So, thank you 16 for that. 17 And from the great Borough of Staten 18 Island, in Council Member Mike McMahon's district, 19 Verna Campbell. Verna is the longest tenured of the 20 honorees today. Verna has worked for more than 25 21 years in home care and is currently -- wow -- and is 22 currently at the Stella Orton Homecare Agency on 23 Staten Island, an active member of 1199. She was one 24 of the first union delegates at the agency and 25 helped unionize the workers to join 1199. That's 20 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 great. 3 Verna is originally from Trinidad. 4 She cares about working with seniors and has 5 received several awards from local elected officials 6 for her tireless work. 7 Now, we're going to hear from Verna 8 in a second on behalf of the whole group, but I just 9 want to say, again, to all five of you terrific 10 women, to everyone at 1199, thank you. Thank you for 11 what you do everyday for the people you care for. 12 Thank you for what you're doing as part of this 13 union, making sure that the men and women, more 14 women than men, that you work with get the respect, 15 the pay, the benefits, the support that you deserve, 16 and we, in the City Council, our constituents would 17 literally be lost without you. So, I hope these 18 proclamations are just a small recognition of how 19 indebted we are to all of you and all of your 20 brothers and sisters in the workforce for the work 21 you do. 22 And Verna, it's all yours. 23 MS. CAMPBELL: Okay. Thank you. I'm so 24 nervous, but I am going to do it. 25 Good afternoon to everyone. On behalf 21 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 of my fellow Home Care Workers I would like to thank 3 Speaker Christine Quinn and the entire City Council 4 for recognizing us and the work we do. It's not an 5 easy job. 6 Home-based care is a unique job, a 7 job that many people aren't even aware of, until 8 they have someone close to them who suddenly falls 9 ill. Every day we get up in the morning to go to 10 work in someone else's house to bathe them, cook, to 11 feed them, and in some cases we stay with the client 12 for many years as relatives and we develop a long 13 lasting love. 14 It's not an easy job, as some people 15 think, and we have to try to help each other. 16 My union, 1199 SEIU, has worked very 17 hard to raise the standard for workers in the 18 industry, and we still have a long way to go. 19 Receiving this proclamation as a home care worker is 20 a great sign of progress in a long struggle that I 21 have been part of for over 25 years. 22 Being honored for doing the job that 23 we love means a great deal to all of us. 24 Okay, thank you. 25 SPEAKER QUINN: Thank you so much, 22 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 Verna. And thank you all for the great work you do. 3 And if you would please tell all the people you work 4 with, that the entire City Council said thank you. 5 Thank you all, and that concludes 6 today's ceremonials. 7 MAJORITY LEADER RIVERA: Everyone, 8 please rise for the Pledge of Allegiance. 9 (Pledge of Allegiance.) 10 MAJORITY LEADER RIVERA: Roll call. 11 COUNCIL CLERK: Addabbo. 12 COUNCIL MEMBER ADDABBO: Here. 13 COUNCIL CLERK: Arroyo. 14 COUNCIL MEMBER ARROYO: Here. 15 COUNCIL CLERK: Avella. 16 COUNCIL MEMBER AVELLA: Here. 17 COUNCIL CLERK: Baez. 18 COUNCIL MEMBER BAEZ: Here. 19 COUNCIL CLERK: Barron. 20 COUNCIL MEMBER BARRON: Here. 21 COUNCIL CLERK: Brewer. 22 COUNCIL MEMBER BREWER: Here. 23 COUNCIL CLERK: Comrie. 24 COUNCIL MEMBER COMRIE: Here. 25 COUNCIL CLERK: DeBlasio. 23 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 COUNCIL MEMBER DEBLASIO: Here. 3 COUNCIL CLERK: Dickens. 4 (No response.) 5 COUNCIL CLERK: Dilan. 6 COUNCIL MEMBER DILAN: Here. 7 COUNCIL CLERK: Eugene. 8 COUNCIL MEMBER EUGENE: Here. 9 COUNCIL CLERK: Felder. 10 COUNCIL MEMBER FELDER: Here. 11 COUNCIL CLERK: Fidler. 12 COUNCIL MEMBER FIDLER: Here. 13 COUNCIL CLERK: Foster. 14 COUNCIL MEMBER FOSTER: Here. 15 COUNCIL CLERK: Gallagher. 16 COUNCIL MEMBER GALLAGHER: Here. 17 COUNCIL CLERK: Garodnick. 18 COUNCIL MEMBER GARODNICK: Here. 19 COUNCIL CLERK: Gennaro. 20 COUNCIL MEMBER GENNARO: Here. 21 COUNCIL CLERK: Gentile. 22 COUNCIL MEMBER GENTILE: Here. 23 COUNCIL CLERK: Gerson. 24 COUNCIL MEMBER GERSON: Here, and with 25 unanimous consent I vote aye on all Land Use 24 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 Call-Ups and coupled General Orders. 3 MAJORITY LEADER RIVERA: So ordered. 4 COUNCIL CLERK: Gioia. 5 COUNCIL MEMBER GIOIA: Here. 6 COUNCIL CLERK: Gonzalez. 7 COUNCIL MEMBER GONZALEZ: Here. 8 COUNCIL CLERK: Ignizio. 9 COUNCIL MEMBER IGNIZIO: Here. 10 COUNCIL CLERK: Jackson. 11 COUNCIL MEMBER JACKSON: Here. 12 COUNCIL CLERK: James. 13 COUNCIL MEMBER JAMES: Here. 14 COUNCIL CLERK: Katz. 15 COUNCIL MEMBER KATZ: Here. 16 COUNCIL CLERK: Koppell. 17 COUNCIL MEMBER KOPPELL: Here. 18 COUNCIL CLERK: Lappin. 19 COUNCIL MEMBER LAPPIN: Here. 20 COUNCIL CLERK: Liu. 21 COUNCIL MEMBER LIU: Here. 22 COUNCIL CLERK: Mark-Viverito. 23 COUNCIL MEMBER MARK-VIVERITO: Here. 24 COUNCIL CLERK: Martinez. 25 COUNCIL MEMBER MARTINEZ: Here. 25 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 COUNCIL CLERK: McMahon. 3 COUNCIL MEMBER McMAHON: Here. 4 COUNCIL CLERK: Mealy. 5 COUNCIL MEMBER MEALY: Here. 6 COUNCIL CLERK: Mendez. 7 COUNCIL MEMBER MENDEZ: Here. 8 COUNCIL CLERK: Monserrate. 9 COUNCIL MEMBER MONSERRATE: Here. 10 COUNCIL CLERK: Nelson. 11 COUNCIL MEMBER NELSON: Here. 12 COUNCIL CLERK: Palma. 13 COUNCIL MEMBER PALMA: Here. 14 COUNCIL CLERK: Recchia. 15 COUNCIL MEMBER RECCHIA: Here. 16 COUNCIL CLERK: Reyna. 17 (No response.) 18 COUNCIL CLERK: Sanders. 19 COUNCIL MEMBER SANDERS: Here. 20 COUNCIL CLERK: Seabrook. 21 COUNCIL MEMBER SEABROOK: Here. 22 COUNCIL CLERK: Sears. 23 COUNCIL MEMBER SEARS: Here. 24 COUNCIL CLERK: Stewart. 25 COUNCIL MEMBER STEWART: Present. 26 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 COUNCIL CLERK: Vacca. 3 COUNCIL MEMBER VACCA: Here. And I ask 4 unanimous consent to vote aye on all Call-Ups and 5 General Order items. 6 MAJORITY LEADER RIVERA: So ordered. 7 COUNCIL CLERK: Vallone. 8 COUNCIL MEMBER VALLONE: Here. 9 COUNCIL CLERK: Vann. 10 COUNCIL MEMBER VANN: Did you say 11 Vann? 12 COUNCIL CLERK: Yes. 13 COUNCIL MEMBER VANN: Here. 14 COUNCIL CLERK: Weprin. 15 COUNCIL MEMBER WEPRIN: Here. 16 COUNCIL CLERK: White. 17 (No response.) 18 COUNCIL CLERK: Yassky. 19 COUNCIL MEMBER YASSKY: Here. 20 COUNCIL CLERK: Oddo. 21 COUNCIL MEMBER ODDO: Here. 22 COUNCIL CLERK: Rivera. 23 COUNCIL MEMBER RIVERA: Here. 24 COUNCIL CLERK: Speaker Quinn. 25 SPEAKER QUINN: Here. 27 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 MAJORITY LEADER RIVERA: A quorum is 3 present. 4 Council Member Barron. 5 COUNCIL MEMBER BARRON: I just wanted 6 to request unanimous consent on all General Order 7 items? 8 MAJORITY LEADER RIVERA: So ordered. 9 COUNCIL MEMBER BARRON: Thank you. 10 MAJORITY LEADER RIVERA: Ladies and 11 gentlemen, please rise for the invocation that is 12 going to be delivered by Imam Izak-el Mu'eed Pasha 13 from the Masjid Malcolm Shabazz. 14 IMAM IZAK-EL MU'EED PASHA: With God's 15 name, the merciful benefactor, the merciful 16 redeemer, we ask the Creator's guidance always, we 17 beg Him for forgiveness. 18 We are certainly humbled and honored 19 to be here today with so many distinguished members, 20 the leadership body, our Speaker, members of the 21 Council representing the area in which I represent 22 and the historical mosque in Harlem on 116th Street, 23 and all of the dignified and noble, honorable 24 members of this Council. We ask God to bless the 25 good work that you are continuing to do, in guiding 28 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 and representing all members of this City. 3 Being here today is an honorable and 4 humbling experience for us, and we pray that the 5 words that we give will not offend anyone and know 6 that if you hear that or think that, we do not 7 intend that. 8 This season of giving and 9 thankfulness that we are in now, so many 10 recognitions of faith are coming together, Hanukkah 11 and Christmas and Kwaanza and for the Muslims, the 12 Idar Haddin (phonetic), the New Year. It is our 13 prayer and hope that in this time of celebration, 14 looking for a new beginning or a change for a better 15 life, and that this Council will help us in 16 maintaining the peace. 17 We want or need for the unity of the 18 family of humankind, the unity is a request for 19 humankind's common life, that is the life that the 20 Creator gave all of us before we deviated from it. 21 We must work and we pray for the unity of the family 22 of New York City that is owed to all of the people 23 of the City, and we pray that the work that you do 24 here will help the unity of the dignity and the best 25 excellence of the human family. 29 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 We are certainly humbled and thankful 3 to the Creator to give us this opportunity to offer 4 this invocation. We thank God, and in our Holy book, 5 our Qur'an, God says to us to say to the people that 6 your God and my God is the same. I have no different 7 God than you have. And maybe there is someone who 8 might be saying, Imam, I'm not one who practices 9 that. Then I say to you, the goodness that you want 10 for your family is the same goodness that I want for 11 mine. 12 I thank you. May God's peace be upon 13 this Council, and may today's work that you are 14 doing bring you all the good and success. 15 Thank you. Amen. 16 MAJORITY LEADER RIVERA: Thank you 17 very much. 18 Council Member Jackson. 19 COUNCIL MEMBER JACKSON: Mr. Chair, 20 motion to spread the invocation in full upon the 21 record. 22 MAJORITY LEADER RIVERA: So ordered. 23 SPEAKER QUINN: Let me just make one 24 announcement, which is we don't thankfully have any 25 soldiers to commemorate today, which is a blessing, 30 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 but we do have a very wonderful announcement, which 3 is that we have an addition to the City Council's 4 family, Diana Reyna and her husband Pete are the 5 proud parents of a baby boy, Adrian Reyna Hernandez. 6 He was born on November 15th. He weighed in at eight 7 pounds one ounce, and was 22 and a half inches long. 8 And Diana and Pete and the baby are all doing well, 9 and we wish them all the best. 10 Thank you. 11 PUBLIC ADVOCATE GOTBAUM: Adoption of 12 the Minutes. 13 Council Member Felder. 14 COUNCIL MEMBER FELDER: I make a 15 motion to adopt the minutes of the Stated Meeting of 16 October 17th and October 23rd. 17 PUBLIC ADVOCATE GOTBAUM: So ordered. 18 And Council Member Rivera, just for a 19 second, please. 20 COUNCIL MEMBER RIVERA: Thank you very 21 much, Madam Chair. 22 I ask unanimous consent to vote on 23 all items on today's General Order calendar. 24 PUBLIC ADVOCATE GOTBAUM: So ordered. 25 COUNCIL MEMBER RIVERA: Thank you. 31 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 SPEAKER QUINN: And Madam Public 3 Advocate, if I could make another brief announcement 4 of another addition to the Council extended family, 5 we have the Daily News is on Lisa Colangelo, here 6 with her beautiful daughter Jemma. So, it is Jemma's 7 first Stated. She has an itty-bitty little tape 8 recorder right now in the pocket of her onesy, so 9 everything you say to Lisa is on the record. But we 10 wish Lisa and her husband and Jemma all the best, 11 and we can't wait for her to come back to Room 9 so 12 we can get daily update pictures of how Jemma is 13 growing. 14 Thank you, Madam Public Advocate. 15 PUBLIC ADVOCATE GOTBAUM: Thank you, 16 Ms. Speaker. 17 Messages and Papers from the Mayor. 18 COUNCIL CLERK: M 853, withdrawing the 19 nomination of Page Ayres Cowley. 20 SPEAKER QUINN: Received, ordered, 21 printed and filed. 22 PUBLIC ADVOCATE GOTBAUM: 23 Communication from City, County and Borough Offices. 24 COUNCIL CLERK: M 854. Submitting 25 Shirley McRae for appointment to the New York City 32 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 Planning Commission. 3 SPEAKER QUINN: Rules, Privileges and 4 Elections. 5 COUNCIL CLERK: M 855 on page one, 6 through M 884 on page five. Base station 7 applications. 8 SPEAKER QUINN: If we can get it a 9 little quiet in here, and those are all going to 10 Transportation. 11 PUBLIC ADVOCATE GOTBAUM: Thank you. 12 Petitions and Communications. 13 COUNCIL CLERK: None. 14 PUBLIC ADVOCATE GOTBAUM: Land Use 15 Call-Ups. 16 COUNCIL CLERK: M 885. 17 SPEAKER QUINN: That Call-Up will be 18 now scheduled for a roll call vote on the Land Use 19 Call-Ups, please. 20 COUNCIL CLERK: Addabbo. 21 COUNCIL MEMBER ADDABBO: Aye. 22 COUNCIL CLERK: Arroyo. 23 COUNCIL MEMBER ARROYO: Aye. 24 COUNCIL CLERK: Avella. 25 COUNCIL MEMBER AVELLA: I ask for 33 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 unanimous consent to vote on all Land Use items, and 3 Land Use Call-Ups and General Orders. 4 PUBLIC ADVOCATE GOTBAUM: So ordered. 5 ' And, please, could you be quiet? 6 Because it's very hard to hear anybody. So, quiet, 7 please, and so ordered. 8 COUNCIL MEMBER AVELLA: I vote yes. 9 PUBLIC ADVOCATE GOTBAUM: Thank you. 10 COUNCIL CLERK: Baez. 11 COUNCIL MEMBER BAEZ: I'm voting aye 12 on all Land Use Call-Ups. Requesting permission to 13 vote aye on all General Orders? 14 PUBLIC ADVOCATE GOTBAUM: So ordered. 15 COUNCIL CLERK: Brewer. 16 COUNCIL MEMBER BREWER: Aye. 17 COUNCIL CLERK: Comrie. 18 COUNCIL MEMBER COMRIE: Aye. 19 COUNCIL CLERK: DeBlasio. 20 COUNCIL MEMBER DEBLASIO: Aye. 21 COUNCIL CLERK: Dickens. 22 (No response.) 23 COUNCIL CLERK: Dilan. 24 COUNCIL MEMBER DILAN: Aye. 25 COUNCIL CLERK: Eugene. 34 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 COUNCIL MEMBER EUGENE: Aye. 3 COUNCIL CLERK: Felder. 4 COUNCIL MEMBER FELDER: Yes. 5 COUNCIL CLERK: Fidler. 6 COUNCIL MEMBER FIDLER: Aye. 7 COUNCIL CLERK: Foster. 8 COUNCIL MEMBER FOSTER: Aye. 9 COUNCIL CLERK: Gallagher. 10 COUNCIL MEMBER GALLAGHER: Aye, and I 11 ask unanimous consent to vote in the affirmative on 12 all items on the General Order calendar, please. 13 PUBLIC ADVOCATE GOTBAUM: So ordered. 14 COUNCIL MEMBER GALLAGHER: So ordered. 15 COUNCIL CLERK: Garodnick. 16 COUNCIL MEMBER GARODNICK: Aye. 17 COUNCIL CLERK: Gennaro. 18 COUNCIL MEMBER GENNARO: Yes. 19 COUNCIL CLERK: Gentile. 20 COUNCIL MEMBER GENTILE: Aye. 21 COUNCIL CLERK: Gioia. 22 COUNCIL MEMBER GIOIA: Yes. 23 COUNCIL CLERK: Gonzalez. 24 COUNCIL MEMBER GONZALEZ: Aye. 25 COUNCIL CLERK: Ignizio. 35 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 COUNCIL MEMBER IGNIZIO: Aye. 3 COUNCIL CLERK: Jackson. 4 COUNCIL MEMBER JACKSON: Aye on all. 5 COUNCIL CLERK: James. 6 COUNCIL MEMBER JAMES: Aye. 7 COUNCIL CLERK: Katz. 8 COUNCIL MEMBER KATZ: Aye on all. 9 COUNCIL CLERK: Koppell. 10 COUNCIL MEMBER KOPPELL: Aye. 11 COUNCIL CLERK: Lappin. 12 COUNCIL MEMBER LAPPIN: Aye. And may I 13 request unanimous consent to vote in the affirmative 14 for the General Order calendar? 15 PUBLIC ADVOCATE GOTBAUM: So ordered. 16 COUNCIL MEMBER LAPPIN: Thank you. 17 COUNCIL CLERK: Liu. 18 COUNCIL MEMBER LIU: Yes. 19 COUNCIL CLERK: Mark-Viverito. 20 COUNCIL MEMBER MARK-VIVERITO: Yes. 21 COUNCIL CLERK: Martinez. 22 COUNCIL MEMBER MARTINEZ: Yes. And may 23 I have unanimous consent to vote on all the General 24 Calendar Orders? 25 PUBLIC ADVOCATE GOTBAUM: So ordered. 36 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 COUNCIL MEMBER MARTINEZ: Aye on all. 3 COUNCIL CLERK: McMahon. 4 COUNCIL MEMBER McMAHON: I vote aye, 5 and I request unanimous consent to vote aye on all 6 General Coupled Orders. 7 PUBLIC ADVOCATE GOTBAUM: So ordered. 8 COUNCIL CLERK: Mealy. 9 COUNCIL MEMBER MEALY: Aye on all. And 10 permission for all Call-Up and General Orders? 11 PUBLIC ADVOCATE GOTBAUM: So ordered. 12 COUNCIL MEMBER MEALY: Thank you. 13 COUNCIL CLERK: Mendez. 14 COUNCIL MEMBER MENDEZ: Aye. 15 COUNCIL CLERK: Monserrate. 16 COUNCIL MEMBER MONSERRATE: Aye on 17 all. 18 COUNCIL CLERK: Nelson. 19 COUNCIL MEMBER NELSON: Aye on all. 20 COUNCIL CLERK: Palma. 21 COUNCIL MEMBER PALMA: Aye on all. 22 COUNCIL CLERK: Recchia. 23 COUNCIL MEMBER RECCHIA: Aye. 24 COUNCIL CLERK: Sanders. 25 (No response.) 37 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 COUNCIL CLERK: Seabrook. 3 COUNCIL MEMBER SEABROOK: Aye. And 4 with permission, aye on all coupled General Orders, 5 and aye on all Land Use Call-Ups. 6 PUBLIC ADVOCATE GOTBAUM: So ordered. 7 COUNCIL MEMBER SEABROOK: Thank you. 8 COUNCIL CLERK: Sears. 9 COUNCIL MEMBER SEARS: Aye. 10 COUNCIL CLERK: Stewart. 11 COUNCIL MEMBER STEWART: Aye on all. 12 COUNCIL CLERK: Vallone. 13 COUNCIL MEMBER VALLONE: Aye. 14 COUNCIL CLERK: Vann. 15 COUNCIL MEMBER VANN: Aye. 16 COUNCIL CLERK: Weprin. 17 COUNCIL MEMBER WEPRIN: Aye on all. 18 COUNCIL CLERK: White. 19 (No response.) 20 COUNCIL CLERK: Yassky. 21 (No response.) 22 COUNCIL CLERK: Oddo. 23 COUNCIL MEMBER ODDO: Yes. 24 COUNCIL CLERK: Speaker Quinn. 25 SPEAKER QUINN: Yes. 38 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 PUBLIC ADVOCATE GOTBAUM: Today's Land 3 Use Call-Ups were adopted by a vote of 47 in the 4 affirmative, zero in the negative. 5 Communication from the Speaker. 6 SPEAKER QUINN: Thank you. We are 7 voting on a number of important things today. Two 8 pieces of legislation that are a two first steps 9 forward for the City legislative portion of PlaNYC. 10 Two pieces of legislation which will go a long way 11 to making our City greener and the environment of 12 our City better. 13 The first is a piece of legislation 14 about Council Member Jim Gennaro, the Chair of our 15 Environmental Protection Committee, has led through 16 his Committee. It's a bill which sets goals for the 17 reduction of carbon emissions by 2017, a 30 percent 18 reduction in City buildings -- 19 PUBLIC ADVOCATE GOTBAUM: Excuse me, 20 Madam Speaker. 21 Could you please be quiet so we can 22 hear the Speaker? Thank you. 23 SPEAKER QUINN: And secondly, by 2030, 24 a 30 percent reduction of carbon emissions from 25 non-City facilities. This bill is obviously a very 39 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 important step forward to improving the air quality 3 in our City addressing carbon emissions, which were 4 the key causer of global warming in our country and 5 in our world and I want to thank Chairperson Gennaro 6 for their continuing his unyielding efforts to make 7 this the greenest City Council in the history of New 8 York or the history of any municipality. 9 So, I call on our green leader, 10 Chairperson Jim Gennaro. 11 COUNCIL MEMBER GENNARO: Wow, thank 12 you. Thank you, Madam Speaker. Green tie and 13 everything. Thank you. Thank you, Madam Speaker. 14 The world as we all know has a very 15 big problem, global warming, which we have to act on 16 now to stabilize and ultimately reverse climate 17 change and not to leave it to our children and to 18 our grandchildren, because by then it will be too 19 late. 20 New York City also has local air 21 quality problems that we know well, soot, smog, a 22 host of other pollutants cause asthma and 23 respiratory ailments. 24 About 1 million City residents have 25 asthma. 40 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 So, we've got two problems, a 3 worldwide and a local problem. This bill, the 4 Climate Change Act, is a landmarked legislation that 5 will make great reductions in both green house gases 6 and local air quality problems. 7 Let's talk about greenhouse gases, as 8 the Speaker said, 30 percent reduction in greenhouse 9 gases in City government operations by 2017, 30 10 percent reduction in C02 emissions by 2030, and it 11 creates mandates, not merely goals, mandates to meet 12 these reductions and requires annual C02 inventories 13 for both City government and Citywide emissions to 14 make sure that we can monitor our progress each and 15 every year towards meeting these reductions. That is 16 a great thing that is in the bill and that cannot be 17 overstated, these annual inventories. 18 The bill is certainly consistent with 19 PlaNYC, yet goes beyond PlaNYC in that it sets 20 enforceable mandates that will have to be complied 21 with. 22 With regard to local air pollution, 23 local air quality will improve because to reach the 24 C02 mandates we'll have to burn far less fossil 25 fuel, particularly to heat our buildings and 41 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 generate power, when we burn less fuel, we will 3 dramatically reduce soot, smog, nitrogen, sulfur 4 oxides and a host of other pollutants that plague 5 our City have led to the asthma epidemic that we 6 have today. 7 This is a great day, not only because 8 of the commitment we make to do our part, to reverse 9 climate change, but also for the unprecedented step 10 we are taking to combat local air pollution and I 11 have to thank in a very, very special way, Speaker 12 Quinn for her commitment to getting this done. 13 I'm very, very grateful to her and 14 the staff that she mobilized to get this done. It 15 was quite an operation. 16 I want to thank Maura Keeney, Rob 17 Newman, Laura Popa, Jeff Haberman, Dan Avery, Samara 18 Swanston, Donna DeCostanzo, we all remember her, 19 Peter Washburn, my own just past Chief of Staff who 20 worked so long and hard on this. And in a special 21 way we want to thank Joanna Castro, who really 22 worked very, very hard and we're grateful to her. 23 From the Administration we of course 24 have to thank Mayor Bloomberg, who has demonstrated 25 a real commitment to making a serious difference in 42 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 climate change, and made possible the ability for us 3 to call for these annual inventories by setting up 4 the infrastructure needed to do those inventories. 5 We're grateful to him for that. 6 Deputy Mayor Dan Doctoroff has been 7 very, very committed to versing climate change. Rit 8 Agerwal (phonetic), from the Mayor's Sustainability 9 Office, and Patrick Whaley, who helped to negotiate 10 this bill on behalf of the Mayor's staff and is one 11 of my former students at Queens College, I'm proud 12 of him. 13 So, thank you very much, Madam 14 Speaker. I want to thank my colleagues in a special 15 way. And this is really a great, great day. Thank 16 you. 17 SPEAKER QUINN: Thank you very much, 18 Chairperson Gennaro, and I also want to underscore 19 the thanks that you outlined to the various members 20 of staff, and also to the various members of the 21 Mayor's Administration, everyone worked very hard to 22 get Intro. 28 to the point it's at today where we 23 will be passing it into law. 24 The second action we're taking today 25 relates to the long-term planning to make the City 43 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 more sustainable and greener, are actions taken out 3 of our Land Use Committee design guidelines for 4 parking lots. I want to thank everyone in the Land 5 Use staff who worked on these and in particular, 6 Council Member Katz who led the Committee forward in 7 passing these efforts, these important new 8 guidelines will make sure that parking lots 9 throughout our City are greener, and in being 10 greener and having trees and other appropriate 11 plantings now, mandated and required will make sure 12 that (a) these lots are more attractive, but (b) but 13 that by having trees and shrubs in them, while we're 14 reducing carbon emissions and taking the bad things 15 out of the air by having the additional million 16 trees that are part of PlaNYC we'll be also putting 17 the positive things we need to put out there into 18 the air by having more trees in our five boroughs 19 everywhere from Staten Island to the Bronx, and I 20 want to call on Council Member Katz to speak about 21 this, but if we could get a little quiet, it 22 wouldn't really kill anybody, all right? 23 PUBLIC ADVOCATE GOTBAUM: Absolutely. 24 SPEAKER QUINN: Thank you. 25 PUBLIC ADVOCATE GOTBAUM: There's a 44 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 lot of noise today. 3 SPEAKER QUINN: So, if the folks who 4 are chatting in the back could go outside, and the 5 Chief of Staff is chatting and he's totally ignoring 6 us. 7 Council Member Katz. 8 COUNCIL MEMBER KATZ: Thank you, Madam 9 Speaker. And as you said, this is one of the next 10 steps in the sustainability of the City of New York. 11 It is one of the key things that the Mayor's Office, 12 the Administration and the Council have been working 13 on, in order to have a more greener City, in order 14 to make sure that we are giving back to the 15 environment that which we take. 16 These are basically design standards 17 for new commercial and community facility parking 18 lots, and if you expand your community or commercial 19 parking lot more than 20 percent, you will also have 20 to adhere to these standards. For any lot that is 18 21 spots or above 6,000 square feet, you must plant at 22 least a tree for every 25 feet of frontage. They 23 have to be a seven-foot-wide strip along the 24 perimeters as well between the lot and between the 25 street. 45 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 If it's 36 more parking spots or 3 1,200 square feet, there is one tree for every eight 4 spots in the interior of the lots, and as you 5 mention, Madam Speaker, also the fact is that with 6 the flooding that we had in the City of the New York 7 over the last few months, it's always very important 8 to create new standards and criteria, by which to 9 help that situation in this City. And all of these 10 plantings and all of the trees and all of the inlets 11 will also have to accommodate for overflow of the 12 storm sewers in the area, in the parking lot, so 13 we're hoping that it will help on that level as 14 well. 15 There isn't a Land Use application 16 that goes through that the community doesn't ask 17 about parking, the community doesn't ask about the 18 landscaping of the parking lots. They are very 19 concerned about how the open space looks when it is 20 a parking area. And, so, I think this will go a long 21 way in creating a minimum standard and criteria for 22 every new parking lot for commercial and community 23 facilities. 24 The Land Use Committee recommends a 25 yes vote. I thank you, Madam Speaker, for your 46 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 leadership. 3 SPEAKER QUINN: Thank you very much. 4 And our last piece of legislation we want to 5 highlight today is Intro. 537-A. The legislation 6 that was drafted by Council Member John Liu and 7 taken through the Committee he chairs, 8 Transportation. I want to thank the staff who worked 9 on this, Laura Popa, Terzah Nasser, Phil Hom and Ron 10 Kim. This is a very smart piece of legislation that 11 will take parking and parking regulations into the 12 21st Century, putting them on-line in a very easy 13 searchable way, and I want to call on our Chair to 14 give us more information on this. 15 COUNCIL MEMBER LIU: Thank you, Madam 16 Speaker, for your support on this bill. What this is 17 basically going to do is allow people to not get 18 tickets that they simply cannot understand. All too 19 often we have parking restrictions on certain blocks 20 where the signage seems contradictory. And, so, this 21 will allow people to clearly understand what the 22 regs are for a particular block. People will be able 23 to search the regulations for each block, by the 24 block, and it will also help our City become more 25 accountable in the way we set parking regulations 47 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 and make sure that there are no more haphazard 3 tickets written that really annoy the heck out of 4 people. 5 I want to thank, in addition to the 6 staff that you mentioned, Madam Speaker, Rob Newman 7 and Maura Keeney and Laura Popa for the tremendous 8 work that they did on the bill and in negotiations 9 with the Administration. I want to thank the 10 Administration for working with us on this bill. 11 And lastly, I'll mention that there 12 might be some cost concerns. There is no additional 13 cost related to this bill. The fact is all the 14 information that we're asking for is already in a 15 computer system, it's just not accessible to the 16 general public and there is no reason why the 17 general public should not have access to the same 18 system that the enforcement agencies have. 19 Thank you. 20 SPEAKER QUINN: Thank you, Chairperson 21 Liu. And thank you for the additional thank yous 22 that I forgot, and that concludes communications 23 from the Speaker. 24 PUBLIC ADVOCATE GOTBAUM: Discussion 25 of General Orders. 48 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 We don't see anybody. None. 3 Report of Special Committees. 4 COUNCIL CLERK: None. 5 PUBLIC ADVOCATE GOTBAUM: Report of 6 Standing Committees. 7 COUNCIL CLERK: Report of the 8 Committee on Environmental Protection. 9 Proposed Intro. 20-A. Greenhouse gas 10 emissions. 11 SPEAKER QUINN: Amended and coupled on 12 General Orders. 13 COUNCIL CLERK: Preconsidered Reso 14 1171. 15 SPEAKER QUINN: Coupled on General 16 Orders. 17 COUNCIL CLERK: Report of the 18 Committee on Finance. 19 Intro. 636. Business Improvement 20 Districts. 21 SPEAKER QUINN: Coupled on General 22 Orders. 23 COUNCIL CLERK: Report of the 24 Committee on Land Use. 25 LUs 566 and Reso 1173, and LU 567 and 49 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 Reso 1174, UDAAPs. 3 SPEAKER QUINN: Coupled on General 4 Orders. 5 COUNCIL CLERK: LU 614 and Reso 1175, 6 and 615 and 1176. In rem actions. 7 SPEAKER QUINN: Coupled on General 8 Orders. 9 COUNCIL CLERK: LU 620 and Reso 1177, 10 and 621 and Reso 1178. Private Housing Finance Law. 11 SPEAKER QUINN: Coupled on General 12 Orders. 13 COUNCIL CLERK: LU 622 and Reso 1179. 14 ULURP. 15 SPEAKER QUINN: Coupled on General 16 Orders. 17 COUNCIL CLERK: Report of the 18 Committee on Transportation. 19 Intro. 537-A. On-line access to 20 parking restriction information. 21 SPEAKER QUINN: Amended and coupled on 22 General Orders with a message of necessity. 23 PUBLIC ADVOCATE GOTBAUM: General 24 Order Calendar. 25 COUNCIL CLERK: Reso. 273-A. 50 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 SPEAKER QUINN: That's been laid over. 3 COUNCIL CLERK: Resolution appointing 4 various persons Commissioner of Deeds. 5 SPEAKER QUINN: Coupled on General 6 Orders. 7 At this point I ask for a roll call 8 on all items that have been coupled on the General 9 Order calendar, Madam Public Advocate. 10 COUNCIL CLERK: Addabbo. 11 COUNCIL MEMBER ADDABBO: Aye. 12 COUNCIL CLERK: Arroyo. 13 COUNCIL MEMBER ARROYO: Aye. 14 COUNCIL CLERK: Avella. 15 COUNCIL MEMBER AVELLA: Aye. 16 COUNCIL CLERK: Brewer. 17 COUNCIL MEMBER BREWER: Aye. 18 COUNCIL CLERK: Comrie. 19 COUNCIL MEMBER COMRIE: Aye. 20 COUNCIL CLERK: DeBlasio. 21 (No response.) 22 COUNCIL CLERK: Dickens. 23 (No response.) 24 COUNCIL CLERK: Dilan. 25 COUNCIL MEMBER DILAN: Madam Public 51 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 Advocate, may I have a brief moment to explain my 3 vote? 4 PUBLIC ADVOCATE GOTBAUM: So ordered. 5 COUNCIL MEMBER DILAN: I just would 6 like to take the time to congratulate my colleague 7 Jim Gennaro for his leadership, along with the 8 Speaker on the Green Building Initiative. 9 I think that while I'm very proud 10 that the City is taking action, this is about the 11 only thing that we can do, since this country is one 12 of the leaders in carbon emissions. Cities and 13 states are forced to enact their own legislation 14 because there is no federal policy in this, and I 15 look forward to the day that the federal government 16 takes action on this because I think we're at a 17 point where as a nation, we need to. 18 With that, I vote aye on all. 19 COUNCIL CLERK: DeBlasio. 20 COUNCIL MEMBER DeBLASIO: Aye on all. 21 COUNCIL CLERK: Eugene. 22 COUNCIL MEMBER EUGENE: Aye. 23 COUNCIL CLERK: Felder. 24 COUNCIL MEMBER FELDER: Yes. 25 COUNCIL CLERK: Fidler. 52 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 COUNCIL MEMBER FIDLER: Madam Public 3 Advocate, may I be briefly excused to explain my 4 vote? 5 PUBLIC ADVOCATE GOTBAUM: So ordered. 6 COUNCIL MEMBER FIDLER: This may come 7 as a surprise to some of the environmental blogs, 8 but I consider myself an avid environmentalist, and 9 I am particularly excited about Councilman Gennaro's 10 bill today and the steps that we're taking that push 11 the envelope, that sets standards and will force 12 government to not only take the lead, but to find 13 ways to incentivize the private sector for meeting 14 goals that we should be aspiring to. 15 Seventy-nine percent of greenhouse 16 gases come from buildings. That was a fact that I 17 heard earlier today, and I think I've heard once 18 before. It's a little bit surprising to most of us 19 who think that it's automobiles. 20 I will be introducing in the next few 21 weeks a resolution that I think does the same thing 22 that this bill does for automobiles, and that is to 23 push the federal government to incentivize the use 24 of hydrogen fuel cell cars, which are absolute zero 25 emission cars, that we can have now if we force the 53 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 technology, if we create the infrastructure for 3 delivering the hydrogen to consumers, and that, too, 4 will make a great difference for our environment, 5 and I would encourage you to take a look at that 6 resolution and see if you can sign onto it. 7 And with that, I enthusiastically 8 vote aye on all. 9 COUNCIL CLERK: Foster. 10 COUNCIL MEMBER FOSTER: Aye on all. 11 COUNCIL CLERK: Garodnick. 12 COUNCIL MEMBER GARODNICK: Aye. 13 COUNCIL CLERK: Gennaro. 14 COUNCIL MEMBER GENNARO: Yes. 15 COUNCIL CLERK: Gentile. 16 COUNCIL MEMBER GENTILE: Aye. 17 COUNCIL CLERK: Gioia. 18 COUNCIL MEMBER GIOIA: Yes. 19 COUNCIL CLERK: Gonzalez. 20 COUNCIL MEMBER GONZALEZ: Aye on all. 21 COUNCIL CLERK: Ignizio. 22 COUNCIL MEMBER IGNIZIO: Aye. 23 COUNCIL CLERK: Jackson. 24 COUNCIL MEMBER JACKSON: Aye on all. 25 COUNCIL CLERK: James. 54 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 COUNCIL MEMBER JAMES: Aye on all. 3 COUNCIL CLERK: Katz. 4 COUNCIL MEMBER KATZ: Aye on all. 5 COUNCIL CLERK: Koppell. 6 COUNCIL MEMBER KOPPELL: Aye. 7 COUNCIL CLERK: Liu. 8 COUNCIL MEMBER LIU: Yes. 9 COUNCIL CLERK: Mark-Viverito. 10 COUNCIL MEMBER MARK-VIVERITO: Aye on 11 all. 12 COUNCIL CLERK: Mendez. 13 COUNCIL MEMBER MENDEZ: Aye on all. 14 COUNCIL CLERK: Monserrate. 15 COUNCIL MEMBER MONSERRATE: Aye on 16 all. 17 COUNCIL CLERK: Nelson. 18 COUNCIL MEMBER NELSON: Aye on all. 19 COUNCIL CLERK: Palma. 20 COUNCIL MEMBER PALMA: Yes. 21 COUNCIL CLERK: Recchia. 22 COUNCIL MEMBER RECCHIA: Aye on all. 23 COUNCIL CLERK: Sanders. 24 COUNCIL MEMBER SANDERS: Madam Public 25 Advocate, permission to vote on all previous items. 55 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 PUBLIC ADVOCATE GOTBAUM: So ordered. 3 COUNCIL MEMBER SANDERS: Yes to those 4 and aye on all. 5 COUNCIL CLERK: Sears. 6 COUNCIL MEMBER SEARS: Aye. 7 COUNCIL CLERK: Stewart. 8 COUNCIL MEMBER STEWART: Aye on all. 9 COUNCIL CLERK: Vallone. 10 COUNCIL MEMBER VALLONE: Aye. 11 COUNCIL CLERK: Vann. 12 COUNCIL MEMBER VANN: Madam Public 13 Advocate, I request unanimous consent to vote on all 14 Land Use Call-Ups and General Order calendar, aye on 15 all. 16 PUBLIC ADVOCATE GOTBAUM: So ordered. 17 COUNCIL CLERK: Weprin. 18 COUNCIL MEMBER WEPRIN: Aye. 19 COUNCIL CLERK: White. 20 (No response.) 21 COUNCIL CLERK: Yassky. 22 COUNCIL MEMBER YASSKY: Aye. 23 COUNCIL CLERK: Oddo. 24 COUNCIL MEMBER ODDO: Yes. 25 COUNCIL CLERK: Speaker Quinn. 56 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 SPEAKER QUINN: Yes. 3 PUBLIC ADVOCATE GOTBAUM: All items on 4 today's General Order calendar were adopted by a 5 vote of 48 in the affirmative, zero negative, zero 6 abstentions. 7 Revised Land Use Call-Ups were 8 adopted by a vote of 48 in the affirmative, zero in 9 the negative. 10 Introduction and reading of bills. 11 SPEAKER QUINN: All bills are referred 12 to the committees as indicated on the agenda. 13 PUBLIC ADVOCATE GOTBAUM: There are no 14 resolutions so there is no discussion of 15 resolutions. And now general discussion. 16 Ah-ha, there go the hands. 17 Council Member Brewer. 18 COUNCIL MEMBER BREWER: I just want to 19 mention, as we do this ongoing broadband commission, 20 the next borough, we've done Bronx, we've had one in 21 Brooklyn and we're doing one in Manhattan. 22 Wednesday, December 12th, 1:00 to 4:00, Manhattan 23 School of Music, which is Claremont and 122nd Street 24 and this is a commission that is both mayoral 25 appointees, Council appointees, and the purpose is 57 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 to hear from the community, small business, 3 non-profit, et cetera, regarding what they want to 4 see in their community, in terms of Internet 5 accessibility, affordability, and where they think 6 it should exist. 7 We've had very good response in the 8 other two boroughs and I'm sure we will in 9 Manhattan, and in early 2008 we will go to Queens 10 and to Staten Island. It is also a meeting of the 11 Committee on Technology. So, I look forward to 12 everyone's input. Thank you very much. 13 PUBLIC ADVOCATE GOTBAUM: Council 14 Member Jackson. 15 COUNCIL MEMBER JACKSON: Madam Public 16 Advocate, tomorrow the Speaker and many members of 17 the City Council will be going to events in order to 18 stamp out hate in our City. So, I encourage all my 19 colleagues to join in wherever you wish, as far as 20 all of the programs starting with, I believe a 21 prayer breakfast in the morning in Brooklyn, and 22 we're going to every borough. 23 But also, our colleague, Peter 24 Vallone, Jr., and myself, are putting forward a 25 resolution calling upon New York State Legislature 58 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 to amend the penal law to add etchning, painting, 3 drawing or otherwise placing or displaying a noose, 4 a symbol of racism and intimidation on a building or 5 other real property to ways of committing aggravated 6 harassment in the first degree. 7 This, in my opinion, will help to 8 hold those accountable to try to intimidate, harass, 9 or scare people by hanging a noose, drawing a noose 10 or any other way, manner, shape or form. 11 So, my colleagues, considering that 12 we are trying to stamp out hate, I ask you to sign 13 onto the Resolution 1172 introduced by our colleague 14 Peter Vallone, Jr. 15 Thank you. 16 PUBLIC ADVOCATE GOTBAUM: Seeing 17 nobody else -- do I see a hand? Simcha? 18 COUNCIL MEMBER FELDER: No. 19 PUBLIC ADVOCATE GOTBAUM: Seeing 20 nobody else, I call the meeting of November 28th 21 (gavel sound). 22 (Hearing concluded at 2:25 p.m.) 23 24 25 59 1 2 CERTIFICATION 3 4 5 STATE OF NEW YORK ) 6 COUNTY OF NEW YORK ) 7 8 9 I, CINDY MILLELOT, a Certified 10 Shorthand Reporter, do hereby certify that the 11 foregoing is a true and accurate transcript of the 12 within proceeding. 13 I further certify that I am not 14 related to any of the parties to this action by 15 blood or marriage, and that I am in no way 16 interested in the outcome of this matter. 17 IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto 18 set my hand this 28th day of November 2007. 19 20 21 22 23 --------------------- 24 CINDY MILLELOT, CSR. 25 60 1 2 C E R T I F I C A T I O N 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 I, CINDY MILLELOT, a Certified Shorthand 10 Reporter and a Notary Public in and for the State of 11 New York, do hereby certify the aforesaid to be a 12 true and accurate copy of the transcription of the 13 audio tapes of this hearing. 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 ----------------------- CINDY MILLELOT, CSR. 25