1 2 CITY COUNCIL 3 CITY OF NEW YORK 4 -------------------------------x 5 THE TRANSCRIPT OF THE MINUTES 6 of the 7 COMMITTEE ON LAND USE 8 -------------------------------x 9 10 April 17, 2008 Start: 11:01 a.m. 11 Recess: 11:40 a.m. 12 City Hall Committee Room 13 New York, New York 14 B E F O R E: 15 MELINDA KATZ 16 Chairperson, 17 COUNCIL MEMBERS: Joel Rivera 18 Tony Avella Maria Baez 19 Charles Barron 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 Leroy Comrie Simcha Felder 6 Eric Gioia Robert Jackson 7 John Liu Miguel Martinez 8 Michael McMahon Helen Sears 9 Kendall Stewart Albert Vann 10 Sara Gonzalez Annabel Palma 11 Maria del Carmen Arroyo Inez Dickens 12 Jessica Lappin Rosie Mendez 13 Vincent Ignizio James Oddo 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 3 1 COMMITTEE ON LAND USE 2 CHAIRPERSON KATZ: We apologize for 3 the confusion this morning, this is the schedule 4 that we're going to have to come to. We will explain 5 what happened in a few minutes, but right now what 6 the schedule is going to be is we're going to get a 7 vote on Land Use Items that are uncontroversial that 8 we also need to pass today, in order to get it for 9 the next Stated Meeting. We are then going to 10 recess. We are waiting to hear back from the 11 Administration on one item. So, we will recess for 12 -- we hope that we will have the answer to that 13 item by the time that we finish this hearing in Land 14 Use. We're going to the Subcommittee quickly, and 15 then go back into Land Use, but we want to make sure 16 that we get the vote out on these items, since we 17 have a quorum for Land Use already. 18 So, ULURPs numbers 080151 and 080152 19 are both related. One is a zoning map amendment in 20 Council Member Viverito's district, and a UDAAP in 21 Council Member Mark-Viverito's district, as well. 22 Let's have a little bit of decorum, 23 at least for the cameras that are watching us. 24 Preconsidered LU, American Bank Note 25 Company Printing Plant, which is in Council Member 4 1 COMMITTEE ON LAND USE 2 Arroyo's district. It is the landmarking of that 3 site. Council Member Comrie's district, the 4 landmarking of Jamaica Savings Bank. 5 Council Member Monserrate's district, 6 which is the landmarking of Congregation Tifereth 7 Israel, in Corona, 54th Avenue. 8 LU No. 664 and 665 are both related, 9 in Council Member Barron's district. It is the 10 Watkins Street Co-Ops Project, amendment to the 11 zoning map and ULURP, UADAAP for 13, a development 12 of 13 four-story buildings, known as "Watkins Street 13 Co-Ops" with 104 residential units. 14 LU No. 722 and 724 are also related. 15 Amendment to the Urban Renewal Plan in Council 16 Member Mealy's district for the Bristol Street 17 Housing, and an amendment to the zoning map for 18 Bristol Street Housing, as well. 19 Oh, and ULURP UDAAP, so all three of 20 them are related. 21 Amendment 728 and 730 is in Council 22 Member Palma's district. Through 730, I'm sorry. It 23 is three items. An amendment to the Urban Renewal 24 Plan, ULURP, UDAAP and an amendment to the zoning 25 map. 5 1 COMMITTEE ON LAND USE 2 LU No. 705 is a UDAAP. It's 705 and 3 it is in Council Member Seabrook's district. 4 Any discussion on those items? 5 Call the roll. 6 COUNCIL CLERK MARTIN: Council Member 7 Katz. 8 CHAIRPERSON KATZ: Aye on all. 9 COUNCIL CLERK MARTIN: Rivera. 10 COUNCIL MEMBER RIVERA: I vote aye. 11 COUNCIL CLERK MARTIN: Avella. 12 COUNCIL MEMBER AVELLA: Aye. 13 COUNCIL CLERK MARTIN: Barron. 14 COUNCIL MEMBER BARRON: Aye on all. 15 COUNCIL CLERK MARTIN: Gioia. 16 COUNCIL MEMBER GIOIA: Thank you. I'd 17 like to vote yes on all. 18 COUNCIL CLERK MARTIN: Jackson. 19 COUNCIL MEMBER JACKSON: Aye on both. 20 Aye on all. 21 COUNCIL CLERK MARTIN: McMahon. 22 COUNCIL MEMBER McMAHON: Aye. 23 COUNCIL CLERK MARTIN: Sears. 24 COUNCIL MEMBER SEARS: Aye. 25 COUNCIL CLERK MARTIN: Stewart. 6 1 COMMITTEE ON LAND USE 2 COUNCIL MEMBER STEWART: Yes. 3 COUNCIL CLERK MARTIN: Vann. 4 COUNCIL MEMBER VANN: Aye. 5 COUNCIL CLERK MARTIN: Gonzalez. 6 COUNCIL MEMBER GONZALEZ: Aye on all. 7 COUNCIL CLERK MARTIN: Palma. 8 COUNCIL MEMBER PALMA: Aye on all. 9 COUNCIL CLERK MARTIN: Arroyo. 10 COUNCIL MEMBER ARROYO: Aye. 11 COUNCIL CLERK MARTIN: Dickens. 12 COUNCIL MEMBER DICKENS: Aye. 13 COUNCIL CLERK MARTIN: Lappin. 14 COUNCIL MEMBER LAPPIN: Aye. 15 COUNCIL CLERK MARTIN: Mendez. 16 COUNCIL MEMBER MENDEZ: Aye. 17 COUNCIL CLERK MARTIN: Martinez. 18 COUNCIL MEMBER MARTINEZ: Aye. 19 COUNCIL CLERK MARTIN: Felder. 20 COUNCIL MEMBER FELDER: Aye. 21 COUNCIL CLERK MARTIN: By a vote of 18 22 in the affirmative, zero in the negative and no 23 abstentions, all items have been adopted. 24 Members, please sign the Committee 25 Reports. 7 1 COMMITTEE ON LAND USE 2 CHAIRPERSON KATZ: And if the 3 Sergeant-At-Arms can call Maria Baez downstairs to 4 come to vote, that would be great. I know she's on 5 the phone. 6 Just so everybody here knows what's 7 going on now, we are working on a compromise with 8 the Buildings Department on the Street Tree Planting 9 and Yards Text Amendment, both of which everyone 10 sort of agrees that we need but we would like to 11 reach a compromise on the inspection issue, for 12 those of you who were at the hearing yesterday. So, 13 they have offered us one, they are getting us 14 information on it, and we need to come back and vote 15 in the Subcommittee in a few minutes. So I think we 16 should have an answer within a few minutes, I hope. 17 Thank you. Sorry for the 18 inconvenience. 19 We are recessing Land Use. We are 20 going into the Subcommittee on Zoning, and then Land 21 Use is going to have to come back for a moment. So, 22 it's going to be another few minutes. 23 COUNCIL CLERK MARTIN: Council Member 24 Baez. 25 COUNCIL MEMBER BAEZ: Aye. 8 1 COMMITTEE ON LAND USE 2 COUNCIL CLERK MARTIN: The vote now 3 currently stands at 19. 4 Council Member Ignizio. 5 COUNCIL MEMBER IGNIZIO: Aye. 6 COUNCIL CLERK MARTIN: Council Member 7 Oddo. 8 COUNCIL MEMBER ODDO: Yes. 9 COUNCIL CLERK MARTIN: The vote now 10 stands at 21. 11 COUNCIL CLERK MARTIN: Council Member 12 Comrie. 13 COUNCIL MEMBER COMRIE: Aye on 14 everything on today's agenda. 15 COUNCIL CLERK MARTIN: The vote now 16 stands at 22. 17 (Recess taken.) 18 CHAIRPERSON KATZ: I think I have a 19 quorum, right? 20 UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Yes. 21 CHAIRPERSON KATZ: Okay. And I also 22 need to apologize, this is I think the second, but 23 we don't have meetings again til the 5th of May, 24 right? So, I'm going to take in my comments from the 25 Subcommittee right to Land Use and not repeat 9 1 COMMITTEE ON LAND USE 2 myself, so Citywide is Street Tree Planting Text 3 Amendment as modified, Yards Text Amendment as 4 modified. 5 Call the roll. And when you actually 6 vote, if you did not hear 15 minutes ago when we did 7 the entire Land Use Committee meeting for the other 8 votes, please state that in your vote. Vote on the 9 previous agenda and vote on this. 10 Please call the roll. 11 COUNCIL CLERK MARTIN: Council Member 12 Katz. 13 CHAIRPERSON KATZ: Aye on both. 14 COUNCIL CLERK MARTIN: Rivera. 15 COUNCIL MEMBER RIVERA: I vote aye. 16 COUNCIL CLERK MARTIN: Avella. 17 COUNCIL MEMBER AVELLA: Aye. 18 COUNCIL CLERK MARTIN: Baez. 19 COUNCIL MEMBER BAEZ: Aye. 20 COUNCIL CLERK MARTIN: Barron. 21 COUNCIL MEMBER BARRON: Aye. 22 COUNCIL CLERK MARTIN: Comrie. 23 COUNCIL MEMBER COMRIE: Aye. 24 COUNCIL CLERK MARTIN: Gioia. 25 COUNCIL MEMBER GIOIA: Yes. 10 1 COMMITTEE ON LAND USE 2 COUNCIL CLERK MARTIN: Jackson. 3 (No response.) 4 COUNCIL CLERK MARTIN: Martinez. 5 COUNCIL MEMBER MARTINEZ: Aye. 6 COUNCIL CLERK MARTIN: McMahon. 7 COUNCIL MEMBER McMAHON: Aye. 8 COUNCIL CLERK MARTIN: Sears. 9 COUNCIL MEMBER SEARS: Aye. 10 COUNCIL CLERK MARTIN: Stewart. 11 COUNCIL MEMBER STEWART: Yes. 12 COUNCIL CLERK MARTIN: Vann. 13 COUNCIL MEMBER VANN: Aye. 14 COUNCIL CLERK MARTIN: Gonzalez. 15 (No response.) 16 COUNCIL CLERK MARTIN: Palma. 17 COUNCIL MEMBER PALMA: Aye. 18 COUNCIL CLERK MARTIN: Arroyo. 19 COUNCIL MEMBER ARROYO: Aye. 20 COUNCIL CLERK MARTIN: Dickens. 21 (No response.) 22 COUNCIL CLERK MARTIN: Lappin. 23 COUNCIL MEMBER LAPPIN: Aye. 24 COUNCIL CLERK MARTIN: Mendez. 25 (No response.) 11 1 COMMITTEE ON LAND USE 2 COUNCIL CLERK MARTIN: Ignizio. 3 (No response.) 4 COUNCIL CLERK MARTIN: Oddo. 5 COUNCIL MEMBER ODDO: Yes. 6 CHAIRPERSON KATZ: Jimmy, did you vote 7 before? 8 COUNCIL MEMBER ODDO: Yes. 9 CHAIRPERSON KATZ: Okay, everybody 10 voted before who voted today just now? We had Land 11 Use 20 minutes ago, it was for other items. So, if 12 you haven't voted -- 13 COUNCIL CLERK MARTIN: Jackson. 14 COUNCIL MEMBER JACKSON: May I be 15 excused to vote on the, not only this current Land 16 Use, but the Zoning also, as I went over to Finance? 17 Because we ran over to Finance. I 18 mean, you've got us juggling -- not you, but, have 19 us juggling all over the place like a YoYo. Yes, 20 Finance is meeting now. 21 UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Across the 22 street. 23 COUNCIL MEMBER RIVERA: 14th floor. 24 COUNCIL MEMBER JACKSON: I'm waiting? 25 CHAIRPERSON KATZ: I think that since 12 1 COMMITTEE ON LAND USE 2 we didn't finish this Land Use vote, that you might 3 be able to reopen your Subcommittee. 4 (Recess taken.) 5 CHAIRPERSON KATZ: Continue the roll 6 for Land Use, please. 7 COUNCIL CLERK MARTIN: Council Member 8 Jackson. 9 COUNCIL MEMBER JACKSON: Aye on all. 10 COUNCIL CLERK MARTIN: Council Member 11 Vann. 12 COUNCIL MEMBER VANN: Aye. 13 COUNCIL CLERK MARTIN: Gonzalez. 14 COUNCIL MEMBER GONZALEZ: Aye. 15 COUNCIL CLERK MARTIN: Dickens. 16 COUNCIL MEMBER DICKENS: Aye. 17 COUNCIL CLERK MARTIN: Ignizio. 18 COUNCIL MEMBER IGNIZIO: Aye. 19 COUNCIL CLERK MARTIN: Mendez. 20 COUNCIL MEMBER MENDEZ: Aye. 21 COUNCIL CLERK MARTIN: Council Member 22 Lappin. 23 COUNCIL MEMBER LAPPIN: Aye. 24 COUNCIL CLERK MARTIN: Council Member 25 Felder. 13 1 COMMITTEE ON LAND USE 2 COUNCIL MEMBER FELDER: I vote -- 3 (microphone not picking up Council Member Felder's 4 voice.) 5 COUNCIL CLERK MARTIN: By a vote of 22 6 in the affirmative, zero in the negative, no 7 abstentions, Street Tree Planting is adopted. And by 8 a vote of 21 in the affirmative, one in the 9 negative, no abstentions, the Yards Text Amendment 10 is adopted. 11 CHAIRPERSON KATZ: We're going to 12 leave it open for ten minutes, because I know John 13 Liu is in the building somewhere. 14 Thanks. 15 (Recess taken.) 16 COUNCIL CLERK MARTIN: Council Member 17 Liu. 18 COUNCIL MEMBER LIU: Yes. 19 COUNCIL CLERK MARTIN: The final vote 20 on the Committee on Land Use now stands at 23 in the 21 affirmative, zero in the negative and no 22 abstentions, with the exception of the Street 23 amendment, which stands at a vote of -- excuse me. 24 Street Trees are 23 affirmative, zero 25 in the negative, no abstentions; and Yards Text now 14 1 COMMITTEE ON LAND USE 2 stands at 22 in the affirmative and one in the 3 negative. Thank you. 4 COUNCIL MEMBER VANN: The meeting of 5 the Finance Committee of April 17th is -- 6 UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Land Use. 7 COUNCIL MEMBER VANN: What is it? 8 UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Land Use. 9 COUNCIL MEMBER VANN: Oh, I've been to 10 all these -- anyway, all these friggin meetings I've 11 been going to -- what is this? 12 UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Land Use. 13 COUNCIL MEMBER VANN: Okay, Land Use 14 meeting of April 17th is hereby adjourned. 15 (Hearing concluded at 11:40 a.m.) 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 15 1 2 CERTIFICATION 3 4 5 STATE OF NEW YORK ) 6 COUNTY OF NEW YORK ) 7 8 9 I, LENORE NAGLE, do hereby certify 10 that the foregoing is a true and accurate transcript 11 of the within proceeding. 12 I further certify that I am not 13 related to any of the parties to this action by 14 blood or marriage, and that I am in no way 15 interested in the outcome of this matter. 16 IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto 17 set my hand this 17th day of April 2008. 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 --------------------- 25 LENORE NAGLE 16 1 2 C E R T I F I C A T I O N 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 I, LENORE NAGLE, do hereby certify the 10 aforesaid to be a true and accurate copy of the 11 transcription of the audio tapes of this hearing. 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 ----------------------- LENORE NAGLE 23 24 25