1 2 CITY COUNCIL 3 CITY OF NEW YORK 4 -------------------------------x 5 THE TRANSCRIPT OF THE MINUTES 6 of the 7 COMMITTEE ON HOUSING And BUILDINGS 8 -------------------------------x 9 10 February 27, 2008 Start: 3:55 p.m. 11 Recess: 4:06 p.m. 12 City Hall Committee Room 13 New York, New York 14 B E F O R E: 15 ERIK DILAN 16 Chairperson, 17 COUNCIL MEMBERS: Joel Rivera 18 Tony Avella Maria Baez 19 Leroy Comrie 20 21 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 3 COUNCIL MEMBERS: 4 5 Lewis Fidler Robert Jackson 6 Rosie Mendez James Vacca 7 Thomas White James Oddo 8 Miguel Martinez Letitia James 9 Daniel Garodnick David Weprin 10 Sara Gonzalez Melissa Mark-Viverito 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 3 1 COMMITTEE ON HOUSING AND BUILDINGS 2 CHAIRPERSON DILAN: Good afternoon, 3 everybody. We're going to begin very briefly. At 4 this time I'd just like to ask everyone that if they 5 have a cell phone, to take their cell phone and put 6 it on vibrate mode and take their private 7 conversations outside the Committee Room. 8 As most of you know by now, my name 9 is Erik Martin Dilan and I'm the Chair of the 10 Housing and Buildings Committee, and today the 11 Committee will conduct a vote on two items, the 12 first of which being proposed Intro. 627-A, which is 13 a local law to amend the Administrative Code of the 14 City of New York, and in relation to the duty of an 15 owner to refrain from tenant harassment; and also 16 proposed Intro. 659-A, which contains two technical 17 corrections of the New York City's Construction 18 Codes. 19 We'll be voting on both of these 20 bills, and I would urge my colleagues to vote in the 21 affirmative. 22 Proposed 627-A will create a tenant 23 cause of action based on harassment under the 24 Housing Maintenance Code. And harassment would be 25 defined as, among other things, use of force or 4 1 COMMITTEE ON HOUSING AND BUILDINGS 2 threats of force against tenants. Some examples of 3 the conditions that constitute harassment involve 4 removing the door of an apartment entrance, or 5 bringing repeated frivolous actions against a tenant 6 in Housing Court. 7 If there is a finding of harassment 8 in court, the court would have the ability to impose 9 a civil penalty between $1,000 and $5,000 and could 10 order the owner to stop harassment. 11 The Council does realize that most 12 owners do not engage in harassment. The concern 13 based on recent reports is that harassment is on the 14 rise, therefore we are taking this action today. 15 Proposed 659-A contains technical 16 corrections and amendments to both Local Law 99 of 17 2005 and Local Law 33 of 2007, which are known as 18 the New York City Construction Codes, and are 19 comprised of the Building Code, Fuel, Gas, 20 Mechanical and Plumbing Codes. And proposed Intro. 21 659-A incorporates provisions of local laws that 22 were adopted during the legislative session that 23 were amended in the Building Code, such as Local Law 24 36 of 2007, in relation to the licensing of 25 residential contractors, which are sponsored by 5 1 COMMITTEE ON HOUSING AND BUILDINGS 2 Council Member James Oddo, as well as Local Law 37 3 of 2006 in relation to increasing fines for illegal 4 conversions from industrial to residential uses, 5 which I believe was sponsored by Council Member 6 Reyna, as well as Local Law 35 of 2006 in relation 7 to enforcement against caberets, dance clubs and 8 other establishments that employ security guards. 9 The bill also incorporates new 10 requirements passed by the New York State 11 Legislature, such as Chapters 542 of the laws of 12 2007 in relation to applications filed by the 13 professional engineers and architects. 14 At this time I would -- well, I don't 15 see Council Member Garodnick, I know he may have had 16 some statements. I don't think he is with us 17 anymore. 18 I guess, Council Member Viverito, do 19 you have any comments you'd like to add as a 20 co-sponsor of the bill? 21 COUNCIL MEMBER MARK-VIVERITO: Thank 22 you, Mr. Chair. 23 Dan Garodnick had to step away. 24 Obviously the issues in our districts don't stop as 25 we're here, so he had to go across the street. He'll 6 1 COMMITTEE ON HOUSING AND BUILDINGS 2 be back for the main session, but he did have some 3 statements which he will make at the floor, but I 4 really want to thank everyone that has been 5 involved, and on behalf of him as well, to thank 6 everyone that has been involved in this legislation. 7 And we've discussed this quite extensively. We've 8 had two hearings and we all know the important 9 historic step that we're taking as a City Council 10 here today. It's very, very important for the City. 11 It's very, very important for all of those advocates 12 that are in this room today and all of those that we 13 represent in our districts who day in and day out 14 are coming more frequently to us with cases in which 15 they are being harassed by their landlords, and we 16 understand that the majority do not do this, but 17 there are patterns and practices that are happening 18 throughout the City which should give us great pause 19 and concern. 20 And, so, I'm very proud, as Dan 21 Garodnick is, as the Speaker, everyone that has 22 sponsored this bill, I believe, is very proud of the 23 step that we're taking today and the opportunity to 24 really afford the tenants the right to defend 25 themselves, the right to protect themselves against 7 1 COMMITTEE ON HOUSING AND BUILDINGS 2 those really aggressive landlords that seek to cause 3 them harm by forcing them out of their apartments 4 and creating very desperate situations at times, 5 ones that I see too frequently in my district. 6 So, I think we're all very proud. 7 Again, thank you for your leadership, Mr. Chair, to 8 the Speaker, to all those that have signed on, to 9 the staff for all of their work that they've done, 10 and really, again, it's a very proud day and I thank 11 everyone for supporting this. 12 CHAIRPERSON DILAN: Okay, thank you, 13 Council Member Viverito. 14 At this time I'd like to ask the 15 clerk to call the roll. 16 I'm sorry, before we do that, the 17 Director of the Division, Infrastructure Division, 18 Jeff Haberman has to read some things into the 19 record. 20 MR. HABERMAN: Hi. I just want to make 21 one comment. There was a version of the bill that 22 was distributed earlier today at the Committee. 23 We've made some technical corrections and corrected 24 some typographical errors. 25 For the record, what is before the 8 1 COMMITTEE ON HOUSING AND BUILDINGS 2 Committee is proposed Intro No. 627-A, that is dated 3 today, 2/27/08, is timed at 3:42 p.m., and you will 4 find the date and time on the last page, page six of 5 the bill. And that is the bill that is being 6 presented to the Committee members for their 7 consideration. 8 CHAIRPERSON DILAN: Okay, I'd like to 9 ask the clerk to call the roll. 10 COUNCIL CLERK MARTIN: Council Member 11 Dilan. 12 CHAIRPERSON DILAN: I vote aye. 13 Oh, sorry, I'd like to ask before we 14 continue, I'd like to ask if we can couple both 15 items and then call the roll. 16 So, we're voting on both items, on 17 627-A and 659-A. 18 COUNCIL CLERK MARTIN: Council Member 19 Dilan. 20 CHAIRPERSON DILAN: I vote aye on 21 both. 22 COUNCIL CLERK MARTIN: Rivera. 23 COUNCIL MEMBER RIVERA: I vote aye. 24 COUNCIL CLERK MARTIN: Avella. 25 COUNCIL MEMBER AVELLA: Aye on all. 9 1 COMMITTEE ON HOUSING AND BUILDINGS 2 COUNCIL CLERK MARTIN: Baez. 3 COUNCIL MEMBER BAEZ: Aye on all. 4 COUNCIL CLERK MARTIN: Comrie. 5 COUNCIL MEMBER COMRIE: Aye on all. 6 COUNCIL CLERK MARTIN: Fidler. 7 COUNCIL MEMBER FIDLER: Mr. Chairman, 8 may I be briefly excused to explain my vote? 9 I apologize for doing that knowing 10 the hour is late, but I won't be able to do it on 11 the floor later. 12 I have been troubled by some 13 provisions of this bill, not because I don't believe 14 that tenants ought to be protected from 15 inappropriate actions of landlords, but because I'm 16 concerned about the entire structure of the Housing 17 Court, and whether or not it even works now to 18 protect tenants in the way that it should. And the 19 concerns that were raised by OCA concern me greatly. 20 Nonetheless, I think, Mr. Chairman, 21 you and the Speaker and the bill's sponsors, Council 22 Members Garodnick and Mark-Viverito have done an 23 excellent job of trying to mitigate that concern. 24 I hope that we are not going to be -- 25 well, let me rephrase that. I hope that we're going 10 1 COMMITTEE ON HOUSING AND BUILDINGS 2 to be able to get to the day where our State 3 colleagues will look at the entire Housing Court 4 process and reform it top to bottom so that it works 5 better for all concerned, and I hope that this bill 6 will then be useful in that context. And, you know 7 with that hope and with great gratitude for the work 8 that you have done to make this bill work better, I 9 am going to vote aye. 10 COUNCIL CLERK MARTIN: Jackson. 11 COUNCIL MEMBER JACKSON: Aye on all. 12 COUNCIL CLERK MARTIN: Mendez. 13 COUNCIL MEMBER MENDEZ: Aye on all. 14 COUNCIL CLERK MARTIN: Vacca. 15 COUNCIL MEMBER VACCA: Aye on all. 16 COUNCIL CLERK MARTIN: White. 17 COUNCIL MEMBER WHITE: May I please be 18 excused to explain my vote? 19 When we first started on this 20 venture, I had some concerns, and based on the hard 21 work of the Committee staff and the Chair and the 22 Speaker, a lot of the concerns that I've had have 23 been addressed to the point of my satisfaction. 24 I want to commend the Speaker and the 25 sponsors of the bill and the Chairperson. I'd like 11 1 COMMITTEE ON HOUSING AND BUILDINGS 2 to have my name affixed to these bills, and I vote 3 aye on all. 4 COUNCIL CLERK MARTIN: Oddo. 5 COUNCIL MEMBER ODDO: Can I be 6 temporarily excused to explain my vote? 7 I was very vocal in the first two 8 hearings about the potential impacts of the bill on 9 Housing Court and I associate myself with the 10 comments made by Council Member Fidler. I'm not sure 11 that this bill negates the concerns I had and the 12 potential impacts this will have, but I know the 13 efforts that were put into it, and although I don't 14 think it's a perfect bill by any stretch of the 15 imagination, I will vote yes. 16 COUNCIL CLERK MARTIN: By a vote of 11 17 in the affirmative, zero in the negative and no 18 abstentions, both items are adopted. 19 Members, please sign the Committee 20 report. 21 CHAIRPERSON DILAN: This meeting is 22 adjourned. 23 (Hearing concluded at 4:06 p.m.) 24 25 12 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 27th day of February 2008. 19 20 21 22 23 --------------------- 24 CINDY MILLELOT, CSR. 25 13 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