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 June 12, 2008 11 Start: 2:30 p.m. Recess: 4:15 p.m. 12 City Hall 13 Council Chambers New York, New York 14 15 B E F O R E: 16 JOEL RIVERA Majority Leader 17 18 COUNCIL MEMBERS: Speaker Christine Quinn Joseph Addabbo 19 Maria Arroyo Tony Avella 20 Charles Barron Gale Brewer 21 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 Inez Dickens 5 Erik Martin-Dilan Matthew Eugene 6 Simcha Felder Lewis Fidler 7 Helen Foster 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 Hiram Monserrate 16 Michael Nelson James Oddo 17 Annabel Palma Domenic Recchia 18 Diana Reyna 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 Thomas White 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 Hecter Diaz City Clerk 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 MAJORITY LEADER RIVERA: I will ask 3 the clerk to please call the roll. 4 COUNCIL CLERK: Addabbo. 5 COUNCIL MEMBER ADDABBO: Here. 6 COUNCIL CLERK: Arroyo. 7 COUNCIL MEMBER ARROYO: Here. 8 COUNCIL CLERK: Avella. 9 COUNCIL MEMBER AVELLA: Yes. 10 COUNCIL CLERK: Baez. 11 (No response.) 12 COUNCIL CLERK: Barron. 13 COUNCIL MEMBER BARRON: Here. 14 COUNCIL CLERK: Brewer. 15 COUNCIL MEMBER BREWER: Here. 16 COUNCIL CLERK: Comrie. 17 COUNCIL MEMBER COMRIE: Here. 18 COUNCIL CLERK: DeBlasio. 19 COUNCIL MEMBER DeBLASIO: Here. 20 COUNCIL CLERK: Dickens. 21 COUNCIL MEMBER DICKENS: Here. 22 COUNCIL CLERK: Dilan. 23 COUNCIL MEMBER DILAN: Here. 24 COUNCIL CLERK: Eugene. 25 COUNCIL MEMBER EUGENE: Here. 5 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 COUNCIL CLERK: Felder. 3 (No response.) 4 COUNCIL CLERK: Fidler. 5 COUNCIL MEMBER FIDLER: Here. 6 COUNCIL CLERK: Foster. 7 COUNCIL MEMBER FOSTER: Still here. 8 COUNCIL CLERK: Garodnick. 9 COUNCIL MEMBER GARODNICK: Here. 10 COUNCIL CLERK: Gennaro. 11 COUNCIL MEMBER GENNARO: Here. 12 COUNCIL CLERK: Gentile. 13 COUNCIL MEMBER GENTILE: Here. 14 COUNCIL CLERK: Gerson. 15 COUNCIL MEMBER GERSON: Here. 16 COUNCIL CLERK: Gioia. 17 COUNCIL MEMBER GIOIA: Here. 18 COUNCIL CLERK: Gonzalez. 19 COUNCIL MEMBER GONZALEZ: Here. 20 COUNCIL CLERK: Ignizio. 21 COUNCIL MEMBER IGNIZIO: Here. 22 COUNCIL CLERK: Jackson. 23 COUNCIL MEMBER JACKSON: Here. 24 COUNCIL CLERK: James. 25 COUNCIL MEMBER JAMES: Here. 6 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 COUNCIL CLERK: Katz. 3 COUNCIL MEMBER KATZ: Here. 4 COUNCIL CLERK: Koppell. 5 COUNCIL MEMBER KOPPELL: Here. 6 COUNCIL CLERK: Lappin. 7 COUNCIL MEMBER LAPPIN: Here. 8 COUNCIL CLERK: Liu. 9 COUNCIL MEMBER LIU: Did you say Liu? 10 COUNCIL CLERK: Yes. 11 COUNCIL MEMBER LIU: Yes. 12 COUNCIL CLERK: Mark-Viverito. 13 COUNCIL MEMBER MARK-VIVERITO: Here. 14 COUNCIL CLERK: Martinez. 15 (No response.) 16 COUNCIL CLERK: McMahon. 17 (No response.) 18 COUNCIL CLERK: Mealy. 19 (No response.) 20 COUNCIL CLERK: Mendez. 21 (No response.) 22 COUNCIL CLERK: Monserrate. 23 COUNCIL MEMBER MONSERRATE: Here. 24 COUNCIL CLERK: Nelson. 25 COUNCIL MEMBER NELSON: Here. 7 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 COUNCIL CLERK: Palma. 3 COUNCIL MEMBER PALMA: Here. 4 COUNCIL CLERK: Recchia. 5 COUNCIL MEMBER RECCHIA: Here. 6 COUNCIL CLERK: Reyna. 7 COUNCIL MEMBER REYNA: Here. 8 COUNCIL CLERK: Sanders. 9 (No response.) 10 COUNCIL CLERK: Seabrook. 11 (No response.) 12 COUNCIL CLERK: Sears. 13 COUNCIL MEMBER SEARS: Yes. 14 COUNCIL CLERK: Stewart. 15 COUNCIL MEMBER STEWART: Here. 16 COUNCIL CLERK: Vacca. 17 COUNCIL MEMBER VACCA: Here. 18 COUNCIL CLERK: Vallone. 19 COUNCIL MEMBER VALLONE: Here. 20 COUNCIL CLERK: Vann. 21 COUNCIL MEMBER VANN: Here. 22 COUNCIL CLERK: Weprin. 23 (No response.) 24 COUNCIL CLERK: White. 25 (No response.) 8 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 COUNCIL CLERK: Yassky. 3 COUNCIL MEMBER YASSKY: Here. 4 COUNCIL CLERK: Oddo. 5 COUNCIL MEMBER ODDO: Here. 6 COUNCIL CLERK: Rivera. 7 COUNCIL MEMBER RIVERA: Here. 8 COUNCIL CLERK: Speaker Quinn. 9 SPEAKER QUINN: Here. 10 MAJORITY LEADER RIVERA: A quorum is 11 present. 12 And we are also joined, ladies and 13 gentlemen, by newly elected Council Member Anthony 14 Cuomo, here with us, who just won the special 15 election. 16 At this point in time, I will ask 17 everyone to please rise for the Invocation being 18 delivered by Reverend Shirley Dowling, Pastor, 19 Praise Temple, AME Church. 20 PASTOR DOWLING: Let us pray. 21 Because this is the day that the Lord 22 has made, we will rejoice and be glad in it. 23 Oh, God, we seek Your faith today on 24 behalf of these, Your elected officials. We pray for 25 our Speaker and the Council. We pray, oh God, that 9 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 You might grant them a new vision for our City, a 3 vision of justice, peace and prosperity for all of 4 our citizens, a City where the strong will not prey 5 on the weak, a City where the rich will not prey on 6 the poor, a City where vice and poverty shall cease. 7 God, we pray for a City of plenty. We 8 pray for a City of brother - and sisterhood, where 9 all successors shall be founded on service and honor 10 shall be given to nobleness alone. 11 Grant these, Your elected officials, 12 Your wisdom, knowledge and understanding, to lead 13 Your people through all of the challenges of our 14 great City. We pray that You will bless their work. 15 And, oh God, we conclude our prayer 16 by lifting up all the fathers of our City Council 17 and fathers around the world as they shall celebrate 18 and be celebrated for Father's Day. 19 We pray that Your blessings will be 20 poured on each and every one of them, and we pray, 21 oh God, that You will bless New York City. 22 Hear our prayer, oh Lord, incline 23 Thyne ear unto us, and grant us Thy peace. 24 Amen. 25 MAJORITY LEADER RIVERA: Amen. 10 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 Council Member Foster. 3 COUNCIL MEMBER FOSTER: It gives me 4 great pleasure to spread the Invocation in full upon 5 the record, not only to Reverend Dowling, who is a 6 religious leader, but also a community leader and my 7 friend. 8 Thank you. 9 MAJORITY LEADER RIVERA: Thank you 10 very much. 11 Council Member Diana Reyna. 12 COUNCIL MEMBER REYNA: I move that the 13 minutes of the Stated Meetings of April 16th and 14 April 30th of 2008 be adopted as printed. 15 MAJORITY LEADER RIVERA: So ordered. 16 Messages and Papers from the Mayor. 17 COUNCIL CLERK: None. 18 MAJORITY LEADER RIVERA: 19 Communications from City, County and Borough 20 Offices. 21 COUNCIL CLERK: Preconsidered M 1075 22 and 1070. New York City Banking Commission. 23 MAJORITY LEADER RIVERA: Petitions and 24 Communications. 25 COUNCIL CLERK: M 1071. Designating 11 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 Council Member Vincent Ignizio, Minority Whip. 3 MAJORITY LEADER RIVERA: Land Use 4 Call-Ups. 5 SPEAKER QUINN: Received, ordered, 6 printed and filed. 7 MAJORITY LEADER RIVERA: 8 Communications from the Speaker. 9 SPEAKER QUINN: I'm sorry, I think 10 we're on Land Use Call-Up. 11 Let me just state that preconsidered 12 M 1075 and M 1070 were referred to Finance. 13 M 1071 was received, ordered, printed 14 and filed, and I think we now need to have a Land 15 Use Call-Up vote on M 1072 and through M 1074. We 16 need a coupled Land Use Call-Up vote on all of those 17 items, please. 18 COUNCIL CLERK: Gerson. 19 COUNCIL MEMBER GERSON: With 20 permission of my colleagues, Mr. Leader, I'd like to 21 vote aye on all Land Use Call-Ups, all coupled items 22 on the agenda this evening, and all resolutions. 23 MAJORITY LEADER RIVERA: So ordered. 24 COUNCIL MEMBER GERSON: Thank you. 25 MAJORITY LEADER RIVERA: Addabbo. 12 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 COUNCIL MEMBER ADDABBO: Aye. 3 COUNCIL CLERK: Arroyo. 4 COUNCIL MEMBER ARROYO: Aye. 5 COUNCIL CLERK: Avella. 6 COUNCIL MEMBER AVELLA: Aye. 7 COUNCIL CLERK: Baez. 8 (No response.) 9 COUNCIL CLERK: Barron. 10 COUNCIL MEMBER BARRON: Aye. 11 COUNCIL CLERK: Brewer. 12 COUNCIL MEMBER BREWER: Aye. 13 COUNCIL CLERK: Comrie. 14 COUNCIL MEMBER COMRIE: Aye. 15 COUNCIL CLERK: DeBlasio. 16 COUNCIL MEMBER DEBLASIO: Aye. 17 COUNCIL CLERK: Dickens. 18 COUNCIL MEMBER DICKENS: Aye. 19 COUNCIL CLERK: Dilan. 20 COUNCIL MEMBER DILAN: Aye on all Land 21 Use Call-Ups. 22 COUNCIL CLERK: Eugene. 23 COUNCIL MEMBER EUGENE: Aye. 24 COUNCIL CLERK: Felder. 25 COUNCIL MEMBER FELDER: Aye. 13 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 COUNCIL CLERK: Fidler. 3 COUNCIL MEMBER FIDLER: Aye. 4 COUNCIL CLERK: Foster. 5 COUNCIL MEMBER FOSTER: Aye. 6 COUNCIL CLERK: Garodnick. 7 COUNCIL MEMBER GARODNICK: Aye. 8 COUNCIL CLERK: Gennaro. 9 (No response.) 10 COUNCIL CLERK: Gentile. 11 COUNCIL MEMBER GENTILE: Aye. 12 COUNCIL CLERK: Gioia. 13 COUNCIL MEMBER GIOIA: Yes. 14 COUNCIL CLERK: Gonzalez. 15 COUNCIL MEMBER GONZALEZ: Aye. 16 COUNCIL CLERK: Gennaro. 17 COUNCIL MEMBER GENNARO: I vote aye, 18 and with unanimous consent I'd like to vote aye on 19 all items on today's agenda. 20 MAJORITY LEADER RIVERA: So ordered. 21 COUNCIL MEMBER GENNARO: Thank you. 22 COUNCIL CLERK: Ignizio. 23 (No response.) 24 COUNCIL CLERK: Jackson. 25 COUNCIL MEMBER JACKSON: Aye on all. 14 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 COUNCIL CLERK: James. 3 COUNCIL MEMBER JAMES: Aye on all. 4 COUNCIL CLERK: Katz. 5 COUNCIL MEMBER KATZ: Aye on all. 6 COUNCIL CLERK: Koppell. 7 COUNCIL MEMBER KOPPELL: Yes, I'd like 8 unanimous consent. 9 I vote aye on the Call-Ups, I'd like 10 to vote aye on all items on the General Orders 11 Calendar, and all resolutions. 12 MAJORITY LEADER RIVERA: So ordered. 13 COUNCIL MEMBER KOPPELL: Thank you. 14 COUNCIL CLERK: Lappin. 15 COUNCIL MEMBER LAPPIN: I vote aye on 16 the Land Use Calendar, and ask for unanimous consent 17 to vote aye on the General and Resolution Calendar. 18 MAJORITY LEADER RIVERA: So ordered. 19 COUNCIL CLERK: Liu. 20 COUNCIL MEMBER LIU: Yes. 21 COUNCIL CLERK: Mark-Viverito. 22 COUNCIL MEMBER MARK-VIVERITO: Yes. 23 COUNCIL CLERK: Martinez. 24 (No response.) 25 COUNCIL CLERK: McMahon. 15 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 (No response.) 3 COUNCIL CLERK: Mealy. 4 (No response.) 5 COUNCIL CLERK: Mendez. 6 (No response.) 7 COUNCIL CLERK: Monserrate. 8 COUNCIL MEMBER MONSERRATE: Aye. 9 COUNCIL CLERK: Nelson. 10 COUNCIL MEMBER NELSON: Aye. 11 COUNCIL CLERK: Palma. 12 COUNCIL MEMBER PALMA: Aye. 13 COUNCIL CLERK: Recchia. 14 COUNCIL MEMBER RECCHIA: Aye. 15 COUNCIL CLERK: Reyna. 16 COUNCIL MEMBER REYNA: Aye. 17 COUNCIL CLERK: Sanders. 18 (No response.) 19 COUNCIL CLERK: Sears. 20 COUNCIL MEMBER SEARS: Aye. 21 COUNCIL CLERK: Stewart. 22 COUNCIL MEMBER STEWART: Aye. 23 COUNCIL CLERK: Vacca. 24 COUNCIL MEMBER VACCA: I vote aye, and 25 I ask unanimous consent to vote aye on all calendar 16 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 items and resolutions. 3 MAJORITY LEADER RIVERA: So ordered. 4 COUNCIL CLERK: Vallone. 5 COUNCIL MEMBER VALLONE: Aye. 6 COUNCIL CLERK: Vann. 7 COUNCIL MEMBER VANN: Aye. 8 COUNCIL CLERK: Yassky. 9 COUNCIL MEMBER YASSKY: Aye. 10 COUNCIL CLERK: Oddo. 11 COUNCIL MEMBER ODDO: Yes. 12 COUNCIL CLERK: Rivera. 13 COUNCIL MEMBER RIVERA: I vote aye. 14 COUNCIL CLERK: Speaker Quinn. 15 SPEAKER QUINN: Aye. 16 MAJORITY LEADER RIVERA: Today's Land 17 Use Call-Ups were adopted by a vote of 41 in the 18 affirmative with zero in the negative. 19 Communications from the Speaker. 20 SPEAKER QUINN: Thank you. 21 We have a number of different things 22 in Communications from the Speaker, but I think the 23 first three are undoubtedly going to be the most 24 important, so if I could ask for a little quiet. 25 First, we have a very, very important 17 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 visitor today, that is Julianne Recchia, Domenic 3 Recchia's daughter. So, we want to say hello to her. 4 Stand up, Julianne, so everybody can 5 see you. 6 She is one of Domenic's daughters and 7 one of his eighth dance team daughters, right? A big 8 dancer. So, we want to thank her for being with us 9 today, and we understand now why your father cares 10 so much about cultural organizations because you are 11 such a great dancer. 12 So, thank you for coming and visiting 13 us today. 14 And also, I want to announce that 15 we're not only honored by having Julianne with us 16 today, we are also honored by now having another 17 doctor with us in the City Council, which is Council 18 Member Inez Dr. Dickens, was awarded an honorary 19 doctorate on May 28th from the New York College of 20 Podiatric Medicine. 21 So, you could see Kendall or Inez if 22 you have any podiatric issues later today. 23 Lastly, lastly, in our three most 24 important announcements, but there are other 25 announcements, and other issues in the Speaker's 18 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 time, I want to call on Chairperson Melinda Katz to 3 make an announcement. 4 COUNCIL MEMBER KATZ: Thank you, Madam 5 Speaker. I don't know if this really befits 6 Speaker's time, but I appreciate the honor. 7 I did not have time to notify 8 everyone in their mailboxes, so if I can, I just 9 would like to announce that Carter Katz will have 10 his bris on Sunday, the 15th, at 10:00 a.m., at the 11 Forest Hills Jewish Center. 10:00 a.m. Forest Hills 12 Jewish Center. For those of you that know what a 13 bris is, you might want to come by for moral 14 support. But either way I wanted to notify 15 everybody. There was not time to do so. And once 16 again, thank you for all your well wishes and 17 congratulations, and -- 18 UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: What's a bris? 19 COUNCIL MEMBER KATZ: Huh? What's a 20 bris? Someone tell the man what a bris is. 21 Thank you very much, Madam Speaker, 22 and I appreciate the time. 23 SPEAKER QUINN: The description of 24 that will not come in the Speaker's time, so for the 25 record. 19 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 Okay, now on to the obviously less 3 important issues and the Speaker's time, we are 4 voting today on two important pieces of legislation 5 regarding construction, safety and reform of the 6 Department of Buildings. 7 I think folks remember that last week 8 myself, Chairperson Dilan, Council Member Lappin, 9 Mayor Bloomberg and others came together to announce 10 a comprehensive package of legislation to continue 11 our efforts to reform and improve the Department of 12 Buildings. 13 This is part of the Council's ongoing 14 effort that began really over two years ago when we 15 appointed Staten Island's own Jimmy Oddo to Chair a 16 special task force on the Department of Buildings. 17 Today we are passing the first two 18 pieces of legislation from that reform package into 19 law. 20 The first one is Intro. 511-A. This 21 is a piece of legislation that was introduced and 22 sponsored by Council Member Tish James. It is a very 23 smart piece of legislation. It says that when 24 someone who is a registered architect or licensed 25 engineer is found to have done something wrong by 20 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 the Department of Buildings, when the Department of 3 Buildings takes actions against that individual, the 4 Department of Buildings will now be required to 5 notify the State Education Department about those 6 actions against that licensed individual. 7 Why does that matter? That matters 8 because the State Education Department are the 9 people who give out engineering and architecture 10 licenses. 11 They are the people who have the 12 power to take someone's license away if they are 13 operating in a way that is unlawful or dangerous to 14 the public. 15 And I want to thank Council Member 16 Tish James for introducing this bill. I want to 17 thank Chairperson Dilan for moving this bill through 18 his Committee, as he has moved so many other 19 important bills and is going to move more through. I 20 want to thank Jeff Haberman, Ben Goodman and Baaba 21 Halm for their good work on this as well. 22 And, again, we'll speak of the other 23 bill in a second, but this is just a week after our 24 announcement with the Mayor, the first two pieces of 25 that legislation being moved out of this Council and 21 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 moved into law in an effort to protect workers and 3 residents of the City of New York, and let me start 4 by calling on our Housing and Buildings' Chair Erik 5 Dilan. 6 COUNCIL MEMBER DILAN: Thank you, 7 Madam Speaker. 8 Like you said, these are the first 9 pieces of legislation that we'll see that should 10 impact overall safety of construction sites 11 throughout this City. 12 I think you have explained the bills 13 well, so I won't get into too much of that. But I do 14 want to thank my colleague from Brooklyn, Council 15 Member James, on her bill, because I think it is 16 slightly more impactful than the one that I have 17 introduced today. And quite simply, there has been a 18 disconnect between the Department of Buildings and 19 the State licensing agency, which is the State 20 Department of Education. 21 I think that the shared information 22 will better regulate a lot of the problems that 23 we've seen around things that cause accidents in the 24 Buildings Department. It will greater regulate 25 architects and engineers who falsely certify plans, 22 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 and I think it's the first important safety measure 3 that we've passed as a result of some of the actions 4 that we've seen here over the past few weeks in the 5 City of New York and obviously I look forward to 6 more. 7 So, I just want to congratulate my 8 colleague and thank my colleague, Council Member 9 James, for the bill, and I would ask all of my 10 colleagues to vote in favor of both items. 11 Thank you. 12 SPEAKER QUINN: Let me call on Tish 13 James, the sponsor of the bill, and, again, as the 14 Chair has done, thank her for her efforts on this 15 piece of legislation. 16 COUNCIL MEMBER JAMES: Thank you, 17 Madam Speaker. 18 This is in response to an architect 19 in my district, as well as in Park Slope, by the 20 name of Scorrano, who was certifying buildings that 21 were not in accordance with the construction codes, 22 and, in fact, was not subject to disciplinary 23 proceedings in Albany. And, so, this bill would 24 amend the Administrative Code to providing notice to 25 the State concerning disciplinary proceedings 23 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 against certain professionals. The issue is the 3 quality of building construction in the performance 4 of professionals who certify that any building plans 5 are in accordance with the Buildings Code. It will 6 require DOB to write a written notice to the 7 Department of Education regarding any professional 8 engineer or registered architect who was involved in 9 a sentencing where an adverse determination was made 10 or sanctioned imposed by the Department of Building. 11 The bill will, in effect, ensure the 12 best performance and improve safety on construction 13 sites in the City of New York. 14 I thank the Chair and I thank Madam 15 Speaker for this time. Thank you. 16 SPEAKER QUINN: Thank you, Council 17 Member James. 18 We're also voting on Intro. 754-A, a 19 bill that requires the posting on the DOB's website 20 of the number of fatalities and accidents at 21 construction sites throughout our City. 22 I want to thank Chairperson Dilan. 23 This bill obviously went through his Committee, but 24 he is also the lead sponsor and author of this bill, 25 and this is a very important bill to make sure we in 24 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 the Council and New Yorkers, and folks in the 3 industry in the business know what is happening at 4 job sites so we can monitor who is or isn't 5 conducting their work safely and really monitor 6 trends before, you know, unfortunate things occur. 7 And I want to thank Chairperson Dilan for his work 8 on this bill. 9 I also, again, want to thank Jeff 10 Haberman, and Baaba Halm and Ben Goodman and Rick 11 Arbello of Erik's staff for their work on this. I 12 also want to thank everyone in the Mayor's Office of 13 Legislative Affairs for their work on this 14 legislation as well. 15 Chairperson Dilan. 16 If we can get a little quiet in the 17 Chambers, please. 18 COUNCIL MEMBER DILAN: Well, thank 19 you, Madam Speaker. 20 The reason why I thought this was an 21 important bill is just because this institution, as 22 well as the general public, in light of what's been 23 happening lately, I think needs a vehicle to find 24 out at a moment's notice of what are the status of 25 accidents and how many accidents have occurred 25 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 Citywide. 3 I think it will help this institution 4 do its job better as it goes forward, and it's a 5 great piece of information to have as we craft the 6 safety legislation. 7 But I think it's also important to 8 let the general public know what's going on in 9 construction sites in and around their neighborhood 10 whether there has been a death there or fatality so 11 that they know that it's potentially a problem site, 12 doesn't mean that it is a problem site, so that 13 they're aware of it, so they can keep their families 14 safe and steer clear. And I want to thank you for 15 allowing me to speak again on Speaker's time. 16 SPEAKER QUINN: Thank you very much, 17 Chairperson Dilan. 18 Let me also note today we're voting 19 on Intro. 699-A, a piece of legislation that was 20 introduced by Chairperson Foster and also moved 21 through her Committee. 22 I want to thank Laura Popa and Jeff 23 Haberman who has been busy, Lyle Frank, the Counsel 24 to the Committee, for all of their work on this 25 bill. 26 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 This is a bill that will require an 3 annual report on non-governmental funding for parks 4 throughout the City of New York. It's a bill that I 5 believe by knowing what charitable money is going to 6 what different parks will help us do our job better 7 of deciding how to fund different parks through the 8 Capital Budget, and I want to thank Chairperson 9 Foster for her work on this legislation, and call on 10 her to speak. 11 COUNCIL MEMBER FOSTER: Thank you, 12 Speaker. I would like to also thank Laura Popa and, 13 of course, Lyle Frank, to Counsel to the Committee, 14 and say that I'm very excited about this bill 15 because it will allow us see where private money is 16 going in the parks, and hopefully, and I do believe 17 generate more donations because a lot of our private 18 money is being used to help those areas and those 19 parks that can't afford to raise private funds. 20 And, so, it's a way that we can 21 increase donations and funding by private entities 22 but also a way that we can spread our public dollars 23 to make sure that all the parks in New York City are 24 getting the attention it needs. 25 So, I'm excited about this and I look 27 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 forward to the reporting so that we can continue to 3 build up parks in every area of New York City. 4 Thank you. 5 SPEAKER QUINN: Thank you very much, 6 Chairperson Foster. And lastly, I just want to note 7 as we've discussed before, we're voting on a number 8 of Home Rule messages today. A number dealing with 9 property taxes, a number dealing with efforts to 10 reduce congestion in the City of New York, efforts 11 to allow Traffic Enforcement Agents to enforce the 12 Block The Box Law, and also efforts to make sure as 13 we put more bus rapid transit lanes in this City, 14 we're able to enforce them and keep people from 15 parking and traveling in them. 16 I want to thank Chairperson Baez for 17 her work on these Home Rules, and also Jake Herring 18 and Phil Hom for their work on these Home Rules, as 19 well. 20 I just want to remind folks that 21 today's Stated Meeting will stand in recess as it 22 relates to a potential need to reconvene as it 23 relates to the budget or the need to send other Home 24 Rule messages to Albany. So this meeting will stand 25 in recess and folks need to be able to return to the 28 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 Council on an hour's notice if need be related to 3 the budget or the need to send messages to Albany 4 before they end their session. 5 And that concludes Communications 6 from the Speaker. 7 MAJORITY LEADER RIVERA: Discussions 8 of General Orders. 9 Council Member Jackson. 10 COUNCIL MEMBER JACKSON: Thank you, 11 Majority Leader. 12 My colleagues, let me brief you this 13 afternoon on this one item here, Preconsidered SLR 14 117, which was introduced by Senators Savino and 15 Connor and in the Assembly by State Assembly Member 16 Keith Wright, an act to amend the tax law in 17 relation to providing a renters' tax credit. 18 This issue has been on the drawing 19 board even last year when Speaker Quinn raised it 20 and we attempted to do that, and also she put it 21 forward this year. 22 And obviously, we have not taken this 23 particular matter up in order to say that this is 24 what we need for the renters of New York City. 25 Now, as you know, we are scheduled to 29 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 do a seven percent property tax decrease for home 3 owners, which equals about $1.2 billion, we are 4 scheduled to do the $400 rebate, which is equivalent 5 to about $250 million for homeowners, the total 6 package is about $1.5 billion for homeowners. 7 I ask you, do this on behalf of the 8 over 1 million renters of New York City, give them 9 some relief also. 10 What's the value of this? 11 Approximately $250 million. Do they deserve a break 12 too? Do they pay more in food, more in gas, more in 13 transportation? Yes. Are we in a budget deficit? No. 14 Do we have a budget surplus? Yes. How much? 15 Approximately four- to five-billion surplus. If we 16 can do it for homeowners, we can do it for renters. 17 Stand up for all New Yorkers, not 18 only homeowners. Thank you. 19 MAJORITY LEADER RIVERA: Council 20 Member Fidler. 21 COUNCIL MEMBER FIDLER: Yes, thank 22 you, Councilman Rivera. 23 I'm proud to have added my name as a 24 sponsor of the Block The Box and the Bus Rapid 25 Transit camera bills today. I certainly hope we are 30 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 going to pass, and we passed in State and Federal 3 Legislation. 4 I just want to make the comment, 5 though, that I think we're one more time missing an 6 opportunity. When we defeated, and I think rightly 7 so, congestion pricing, we left some problems 8 unsolved, and one of them continues to be traffic in 9 congestion in Manhattan. And just as I raised the 10 point when the Finance Committee considered the 11 parking ticket bill that we have not yet taken the 12 opportunity to look at the comprehensive solution to 13 some of these problems. 14 Sure, we're picking them off, these 15 two, you know, and add merit one at a time, but we 16 really need to get back to that agenda and find an 17 opportunity to look at all of these issues in a more 18 comprehensive way and not a piecemeal way. 19 And I will certainly suggest, you 20 know, I, amongst many others, made a lot of 21 proposals regarding congestion in Manhattan, and in 22 the five boroughs, and we really need to start 23 thinking about them and considering them, since 24 congestion pricing is not going to happen. And given 25 the price of gasoline in this City, in this country 31 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 right now, I would certainly think we might want to 3 take a look at the hydrogen fuel cell vehicle 4 situation. I think that would be extremely topical 5 and timely. 6 So, I certainly urge people to vote 7 for these two SLRs today, because I think they're 8 part of the solution, but I just want to urge 9 everyone that we need to get back to the whole 10 solution. 11 MAJORITY LEADER RIVERA: Thank you 12 very much. 13 At this point in time, Report of 14 Special Committees. 15 COUNCIL CLERK: None. 16 MAJORITY LEADER RIVERA: Okay, Report 17 of Standing Committees. 18 COUNCIL CLERK: Report of the 19 Committee on Finance. 20 Preconsidered M 1069 and 21 preconsidered Reso 1468. 22 SPEAKER QUINN: Coupled on General 23 Orders. 24 COUNCIL CLERK: Preconsidered M 1070 25 through preconsidered Reso 1471. 32 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 SPEAKER QUINN: Coupled on General 3 Orders. 4 COUNCIL CLERK: Preconsidered LU 798 5 and Reso 1473 and 799 and Reso 1474. 6 SPEAKER QUINN: Coupled on General 7 Orders. 8 COUNCIL CLERK: Report on the 9 Committee on Housing and Buildings. 10 Intro. 511-A. Disciplinary 11 proceedings against certain professionals. 12 SPEAKER QUINN: Amended and coupled on 13 General Orders. 14 COUNCIL CLERK: Intro. 754-A. 15 Accidents at Construction Sites. 16 SPEAKER QUINN: Amended and coupled on 17 General Orders. 18 COUNCIL CLERK: Report of the 19 Committee on Land Use. 20 Intro. 733, unsubsidized private bus 21 services. 22 SPEAKER QUINN: Coupled on General 23 Orders. 24 COUNCIL CLERK: LU 670 and Reso 1475, 25 and LU 691 and Reso 1476. 33 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 SPEAKER QUINN: Coupled on General 3 Orders. 4 COUNCIL CLERK: LU 750 and Reso 1477. 5 SPEAKER QUINN: Coupled on General 6 Orders. 7 COUNCIL CLERK: LU 751 and Reso 1478 8 through LU 757 and Reso 1483, various applications. 9 SPEAKER QUINN: Coupled on General 10 Orders. 11 COUNCIL CLERK: LU 770 and Reso 1484 12 and 771 and Reso 1485. 13 SPEAKER QUINN: Coupled on General 14 Orders. 15 COUNCIL CLERK: LU 785 and Reso 1486 16 through 795 and Reso 1492. 17 SPEAKER QUINN: Coupled on General 18 Orders. 19 COUNCIL CLERK: Report on the 20 Committee on Parks and Recreation. 21 Intro. 699-A, non-governmental 22 funding for New York City parks. 23 SPEAKER QUINN: Amended and coupled on 24 General Orders. 25 COUNCIL CLERK: Report of the 34 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 Committee on State and Federal Legislation. 3 SLR 111, obstruction of traffic 4 intersections. 5 SPEAKER QUINN: Coupled on General 6 Orders. 7 COUNCIL CLERK: Preconsidered SLR 116. 8 Special Assessing Units. 9 SPEAKER QUINN: Coupled on General 10 Orders. 11 COUNCIL CLERK: Preconsidered SLR 117. 12 Renter tax credit. 13 SPEAKER QUINN: Coupled on General 14 Orders. 15 COUNCIL CLERK: Preconsidered SLR 118. 16 Temporary investments by local governments. 17 SPEAKER QUINN: Coupled on General 18 Orders. 19 COUNCIL CLERK: Preconsidered SLR 119. 20 Beach 84th Street Pier. 21 SPEAKER QUINN: Coupled on General 22 Orders. 23 COUNCIL CLERK: Preconsidered SLR 120. 24 Tax rates. 25 SPEAKER QUINN: Coupled on General 35 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 Orders. 3 COUNCIL CLERK: Preconsidered SLRs 121 4 and 122. In rem tax foreclosure. 5 SPEAKER QUINN: Coupled on General 6 Orders. 7 COUNCIL CLERK: Preconsidered SLR 123. 8 Bus Rapid Transit Program. 9 SPEAKER QUINN: Coupled on General 10 Orders. 11 MAJORITY LEADER RIVERA: General Order 12 Calendar. 13 COUNCIL CLERK: Resolution appointing 14 various persons Commissioner of Deeds. 15 SPEAKER QUINN: Coupled on General 16 Orders. 17 And at this point I ask for a roll 18 call on all items that have been coupled on the 19 General Order Calendar, 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 vote yes on 36 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 every item, except on preconsidered SLR 120, I vote 3 no. 4 COUNCIL CLERK: Baez. 5 (No response.) 6 COUNCIL CLERK: Barron. 7 COUNCIL MEMBER BARRON: Mr. Chair, may 8 I be excused to explain my vote? 9 MAJORITY LEADER RIVERA: Yes, you can. 10 COUNCIL MEMBER BARRON: You know, I am 11 also for relieving congestion, and I think as 12 Council Member Fidler said, that we need to have a 13 full plan for it. This piecemealing to relieve 14 congestion will only burden working families more 15 with more fines and putting a camera in front of the 16 bus now to catch cars in front of the bus, more 17 fines. I think within a city where the price of milk 18 is going up, the price of gas is going up, rents 19 going up, and now more fines and fees for people I 20 think is overly burdensome. And I think we need to 21 take traffic congestion more seriously and not 22 piecemeal it with these fines. I don't think it's 23 going to relieve it. I think people will probably be 24 fined and then have the traffic agents that are on 25 foot now get into things with motorists, I don't 37 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 think it's the right way to go. 3 So, I would like to vote aye on all 4 items, and no on SLR 111, and no on preconsidered 5 Reso SLR 123. 6 MAJORITY LEADER RIVERA: Thank you. 7 COUNCIL CLERK: Brewer. 8 COUNCIL MEMBER BREWER: I'd like to 9 vote aye on all, and just talk for a few minutes 10 about 699-A, which is the park bill, and the issue 11 there is I am supportive because I believe in 12 transparency. But I just want everyone, once the 13 bill has become law, to understand that we do 14 support as much private money as possible, but for 15 those parks that need private and parks money, I 16 want to be sure that there is no penalizing for 17 those that raise as much private money as they need 18 to and the two should be compatible. 19 I also just want to mention, in terms 20 of the traffic bills that are being sent to Albany, 21 I guess SLR 111, Assembly Member Brian Kavanagh, and 22 the other one dealing with the buses, the problem is 23 and I understand the concern about much burden on 24 people driving, but we need to get out of our cars 25 and into the public transportation. And if you do 38 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 so, the buses move very slowly if there is a parked 3 car in front of you. 4 And I do think that in order to 5 enforce the laws, people need a stick. 6 I also just want to mention that the 7 issue of Blocking the Box is a real one, it's also 8 dangerous for pedestrians, and there needs to be a 9 very strong stick. 10 So, I support both of them and thank 11 you very much. 12 COUNCIL CLERK: Comrie. 13 COUNCIL MEMBER COMRIE: Aye on all. 14 COUNCIL CLERK: DeBlasio. 15 COUNCIL MEMBER DEBLASIO: Aye on all. 16 COUNCIL CLERK: Dickens. 17 COUNCIL MEMBER DICKENS: Permission to 18 explain my vote, Majority Leader? 19 MAJORITY LEADER RIVERA: So ordered. 20 COUNCIL MEMBER DICKENS: In today's 21 recession, when mortgage foreclosures are at its 22 height, forcing families, seniors out of their 23 homes, away from families and communities that they 24 help to build, it is a travesty of justice in the 25 people's house that we are asked to support nearly 39 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 100 homes in College Point rezoning that are totally 3 unaffordable, that will be sold at market rate. 4 How long will these families be able 5 to hold on? In the next two years will these 6 families be asking what happened? Why didn't our 7 representatives protect us, take the responsibility 8 to access available sources to lower purchase 9 prices? 10 Because of my commitment and my 11 constant fight for affordability, not only in my 12 community but throughout the entire City, and as I 13 ask for support for Resos 1461, FHA Housing and 14 Stabilization Home Ownership Retention Act, and 1460 15 Housing Assistance Tax for all of our communities, 16 we want to remain and afford to remain in our 17 communities of choice. 18 Home ownership is important. The 19 ability to continue to own is an imperative 20 priority. And as my colleagues spoke of high costs 21 of food and gas in New York City, the same can be 22 said for housing. 23 Therefore, I vote no on Land Use 24 items 751, 752, 753 and 754 and its Resos 1478, 25 1479, 1480 and 1481 and yes on all others. 40 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 Thank you. 3 COUNCIL CLERK: Dilan. 4 COUNCIL MEMBER DILAN: Mr. President 5 Pro Tem, may I have a brief moment to explain my 6 vote? 7 MAJORITY LEADER RIVERA: Approved. 8 COUNCIL MEMBER DILAN: I want to vote 9 aye on all items, except for SLRs 111, and 10 preconsidered SLR 123. And it's difficult for me to 11 sit here and vote no for them, because I believe 12 that they will accomplish their goal. 13 One bill in particular, which is the, 14 I believe the Block The Box bill, I'm getting the 15 numbers mixed up right now as I sit here. I believe 16 it accomplishes a goal. There are benefits to the 17 bill. The bill would take something that was a 18 moving violation and make it just a parking ticket. 19 So, there is benefits to motorists. But I believe 20 that more tickets to New Yorkers will be issued as a 21 result of this state action, and I agree with my 22 colleague Charles Barron, who is walking in front of 23 me right now, more tickets will be issued because 24 transit -- excuse me -- Traffic Enforcement Agents 25 now will be allowed to write these tickets, and the 41 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 tickets, my basic problem with this is that the 3 fines for these tickets are going to be increased. 4 So, not only are we going to have 5 more of these type of fines, but the amount that 6 motorists are going to have to pay will 7 significantly go up. 8 And I understand the Block The Box 9 argument. I understand the congestion argument. I 10 vote no against both of them. Yes, I've got the 11 right ones. 12 I understand the argument. I think 13 the argument makes sense, and I might have voted for 14 it had the fines remained at the current levels. But 15 because of the increased fine structure, I can't 16 vote for that one. 17 And on the bus lane bill that's being 18 done similar to the red light traffic bill, I've 19 always voted for those red light traffic bills but I 20 always had fundamental problems against them. 21 I view this as an expansion of that 22 and I have to vote no. 23 I think if a police officer or 24 Traffic Enforcement Agent sees it, that's fine. But 25 there is also a human element that is needed here. 42 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 If somebody has to swerve out of traffic to avoid an 3 accident and a camera captures a picture, I don't 4 think that's necessarily fair and I don't know how 5 we resolve that issue, so I'm going to vote no on 6 that one, as well. 7 COUNCIL CLERK: Eugene. 8 COUNCIL MEMBER EUGENE: I vote yes on 9 all, except SLR 11 (sic) and preconsidered SLR 123, 10 I vote no. 11 SLR 11 (sic) I vote no. 12 SPEAKER QUINN: 111. 13 COUNCIL MEMBER EUGENE: 111. 111 and 14 preconsidered SLR 123, I vote no. 15 COUNCIL CLERK: Felder. 16 COUNCIL MEMBER FELDER: May I be 17 excused to explain my vote? 18 MAJORITY LEADER RIVERA: Yes. 19 COUNCIL MEMBER FELDER: Thank you very 20 much. 21 I want to echo the comments made by 22 Council Member Erik Dilan. 23 There is no question that traffic in 24 the City is a big problem and the box blocking the 25 box throughout the boroughs is a big problem. 43 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 Can you do it quiet, please. Thank 3 you. Or do you want me to do it myself? 4 So, the problem certainly exists. The 5 question is the solution, and if you look at the 6 details. I know that when we got elected, we voted 7 to increase fines to an extraordinary amount I 8 believe today on many parking violations. I don't 9 want to do the same thing again. 10 The issue that the City is proposing 11 of allowing Traffic Enforcement Agents to issue 12 these summonses, that alone is going to be a 13 deterrent, because we know they're going to be out 14 in force issuing these summonses into sections 15 throughout the City where there are problems. But 16 why are they raising the price $25? For what reason? 17 It's going from $90 to $115, not that I'm in favor 18 of it, but if the City proposed charging $180, 19 somebody could make an argument that that's the 20 deterrent. But $25 more is not going to stop 21 somebody from going into the box intentionally, 22 that's for sure, or from being less or more careful. 23 Why the extra $25? That's not a 24 deterrent, that's revenue producing, and we're back 25 to a slippery slope. This bill is flawed, not with 44 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 its intention, but you are taxing people $25 more 3 for no reason other than to raise money for the City 4 and it's unacceptable. 5 I dare say that I'm wary about 6 Traffic Enforcement Agents somewhat having the 7 ability to do it, but even if I give in on that, we 8 should not be penalizing people for no reason other 9 than making money. Thank you. And I vote no on SLR 10 111. 11 COUNCIL CLERK: Fidler. 12 COUNCIL MEMBER FIDLER: I vote aye on 13 all, except for Land Use 751, 752, 753 and 754, and 14 they're accompanying resos on which I vote no. 15 COUNCIL CLERK: Foster. 16 COUNCIL MEMBER FOSTER: Aye on all. 17 COUNCIL CLERK: Garodnick. 18 COUNCIL MEMBER GARODNICK: Mr. 19 Majority Leader, a moment to explain my vote? 20 MAJORITY LEADER RIVERA: Yes. 21 COUNCIL MEMBER GARODNICK: Thank you. 22 I just wanted to address first the 23 subject of Intro. 699-A. And I very much agree with 24 the comments of my colleague Council Member Gale 25 Brewer. While I want to thank Council Member Foster 45 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 and the Parks Committee for their efforts to create 3 openness and transparency in parks, I'm supporting 4 the bill because I think it is openness and 5 transparency that should be the hallmark of all 6 levels of government, and that includes parks, of 7 course. 8 But I want the message to be clear 9 today that we appreciate the generosity of those New 10 Yorkers who give to our parks, those who volunteer, 11 those who give private dollars through acts of 12 philanthropy. We certainly do not want to chill 13 that. We don't want to discourage that. 14 So, while the bill is promoting 15 disclosure, it is done with the recognition and 16 appreciation of those New Yorkers who have no 17 relationship to government who generously support 18 our parks in the various ways that they do so. And 19 just a comment on the Blocking the Box, as somebody 20 who represents a district which has an extraordinary 21 problem on that, I think it is important for us to 22 empower our officials to be able to issue non-moving 23 violations to be able to avoid that problem. I do 24 not see it as simply a revenue-generating measure, 25 and if the dollars that are prescribed are not high 46 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 enough to create a deterrent, they should be higher. 3 Because when you have cars blocking 4 the box and you create an inability to move, it 5 costs time, it costs money to our City's economy, to 6 our regional economy. It is a real offense, and it 7 is something that we need to take action to correct, 8 particularly since we do not have congestion 9 pricing. We need to find other measures. So, I 10 absolutely support this and I encourage my 11 colleagues to do the same. And with that, I vote aye 12 on all. 13 COUNCIL CLERK: Gentile. 14 COUNCIL MEMBER GENTILE: Aye on all, 15 except preconsidered SLR 120, I vote no. 16 COUNCIL CLERK: Gioia. 17 COUNCIL MEMBER GIOIA: Thank you. I 18 vote yes on all. 19 COUNCIL CLERK: Gonzalez. 20 COUNCIL MEMBER GONZALEZ: Aye on all. 21 COUNCIL CLERK: Ignizio. 22 COUNCIL MEMBER IGNIZIO: No on Land 23 Use 794 and companion Resolution 1491, and no on SLR 24 120. Aye on all others. 25 COUNCIL CLERK: Jackson. 47 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 COUNCIL MEMBER JACKSON: May I be 3 excused to explain my vote? 4 MAJORITY LEADER RIVERA: Yes. 5 COUNCIL MEMBER JACKSON: Thank you. 6 This afternoon I will be voting aye 7 on all, with the exception of Land Use No. 751, and 8 resos 1478, Land Use 752, and Reso 1479, Land Use 9 753 and Reso 1480 and Land Use Number 754 and Reso 10 1481. 11 All of these items deal with the 12 rezoning and College Point, Queens, in which my 13 colleague Inez Dickens has spoke in detail her 14 opposition to this particular rezoning, and I ditto 15 what she said. 16 Home ownership is the American dream, 17 and these homes are not the American dream for the 18 average New Yorker. And considering the fact that 19 when rezoning takes place in New York City, 20 advocates, Council members that are representing 21 their area, are looking for what can they get for 22 the community residents that live there, the average 23 New Yorker? In essence, affordability of home 24 ownerships, affordability as far as different other 25 incentives for the community. Housing, more 48 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 specifically. 3 In my understanding, this rezoning 4 did nothing, and as a result of that, what my 5 colleague said and what I've said, I vote no on 6 those items and yes on everything else. 7 COUNCIL CLERK: James. 8 COUNCIL MEMBER JAMES: I vote aye on 9 all. 10 COUNCIL CLERK: Katz. 11 COUNCIL MEMBER KATZ: Permission to 12 explain my vote? 13 MAJORITY LEADER RIVERA: Yes. 14 COUNCIL MEMBER KATZ: I will be voting 15 aye on all, except for SLR 123. I have issues with 16 both 111 and 123, but as some of my colleagues said, 17 at least in 111 with blocking the box, there is a 18 human element that I think one can rely on a little 19 better than just having a mechanical camera picture 20 being made when you're in a bus lane. 21 I have so many issues with our 22 piecemeal way that we are going about the congestion 23 issue in the City of New York, especially in 24 Manhattan. 25 Nobody would doubt that there is a 49 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 problem in Manhattan that we need to deal with. This 3 is not the answer. There is no human element here. 4 Every time you have to go into the bus lane to get 5 around a double-parked car, any time you might have 6 a police officer or someone moving you along into a 7 bus lane because there is a double-parked car or 8 traffic in the bus lane, you are at risk of getting 9 a ticket and there is no human element there saying, 10 you know, go ahead, please, there is not going to be 11 a ticket issued, you will end up, I believe, 12 defending yourself on it. 13 If we want to look at traffic issues 14 in Manhattan, as well, in addition to the bus lanes, 15 we need to look at so many different things, 16 enforcing the double parking, the fact that you 17 can't turn down so many streets in the City of New 18 York. You can go down Madison Avenue for 20 blocks 19 without being able to turn off, if that's where you 20 want to go. Different issues like that. 21 I do think we are in danger in this 22 City of getting rid of a lot of the human element 23 and discretion amongst those that we give the 24 authority to do these things. We give them authority 25 for a certain reason, and that is to sometimes use 50 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 their discretion as they move forward with 3 ticketing. 4 I vote no on 123. Aye on everything 5 else. Thank you. 6 COUNCIL CLERK: Liu. 7 COUNCIL MEMBER LIU: Yes. 8 COUNCIL CLERK: Mark-Viverito. 9 COUNCIL MEMBER MARK-VIVERITO: May I 10 be excused to explain my vote? 11 MAJORITY LEADER RIVERA: Yes. 12 COUNCIL MEMBER MARK-VIVERITO: Thank 13 you. 14 I will be joining my colleagues and 15 voting for all items and opposing Land Use item 751, 16 752, 753, 754 and the accompanying resolutions as 17 cited by Council Member Dickens and Jackson. 18 This is rezoning that does cause 19 concern. There are public benefits currently exist, 20 meaning our public streets which are being demapped 21 and given over for private use. And when something 22 of that nature happens, we need to ensure maximizing 23 and use the leverage of this Council to fight on 24 behalf of communities throughout the City that are 25 clamoring for affordable housing and to ask for 51 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 protection and to also ask for some level of 3 contribution for affordable housing. 4 To be told that that is not an issue 5 that is pertinent to this Council member's community 6 is not acceptable to me. 7 Affordability is a crisis throughout 8 this City, and we all have a responsibility to 9 address it, and which ever ways we can maximize 10 anything that we're giving up as a public benefit, 11 then we need to ensure that we do regain some 12 benefit as a City for that. 13 So, I have some concern about the 14 fact that very little community benefit was 15 negotiated on behalf of affordable housing in this 16 City, and with this crisis that has been indicated 17 and with the cost of living increasing, we may not 18 get it right all the time, but there are many of us 19 in this room that do fight for that issue day in and 20 day out, and I want to just again vote on all items, 21 except Land Use 751, 752, 53, 54 and relevant 22 accompanying resolutions. Thank you. 23 COUNCIL CLERK: Martinez. 24 COUNCIL MEMBER MARTINEZ: Pass. 25 COUNCIL CLERK: McMahon. 52 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 COUNCIL MEMBER McMAHON: Aye on all, 3 except no on preconsidered SLR 120. 4 COUNCIL CLERK: Martinez. 5 COUNCIL MEMBER MARTINEZ: With your 6 permission, I wanted to vote aye on all the Land Use 7 Call-Ups, and all General Orders with the exception 8 of Land Use items 771 and accompanying resolution 9 785 and accompanying Resolution 720 and accompanying 10 Resolution, and 791 and its resolution. 11 I also want to state for the record 12 that I will be voting aye on SLR 111; however, I 13 want to say for the record that as we do understand 14 -- 15 SPEAKER QUINN: Can we get a little 16 quiet in the Chambers, please? 17 COUNCIL MEMBER MARTINEZ: I'm sorry, 18 Madam -- not Madam, sorry, Mr. Majority Leader, I 19 read the wrong Land Use item which I will be voting 20 no against, which is 751, 752, 753 and 754, for the 21 record. Can we get that straight? And the 22 accompanying resolution. 23 I was stating that I will be voting 24 aye for SLR 111, however, I want to state for the 25 record, that just as we are concerned for the 53 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 blocking the box and ensuring to mitigate traffic 3 congestion, we also must address the issue of the 4 courtesy and professionalism in which the traffic 5 enforcement officers are out there in the community. 6 In one of the districts which 7 recently had an article which stated that my 8 community was targeted and false tickets were issued 9 by the dozens in our communities. So, we also 10 present the resolution favoring the increase of the 11 summonses and giving them the power to issue parking 12 violations for blocking the box, I would say that we 13 also, as a Council and as a City, need to address 14 the type of training, the type of professionalism, 15 and courtesy, that the Traffic Violation Officers 16 are going into our communities. 17 Thank you, Mr. Majority Leader. 18 COUNCIL CLERK: Mealy. 19 COUNCIL MEMBER MEALY: Can I explain 20 my vote? 21 MAJORITY LEADER RIVERA: Yes. 22 COUNCIL MEMBER MEALY: Aye on all Land 23 Use Call-Ups, and all General Orders, and I would 24 like to vote no on SLR 111 and SLR 123. 25 And I want to commend Inez Dickens, 54 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 our leader, of this body, for seeing that injustice 3 anywhere is injustice everywhere. 4 She will cross borders to make sure 5 affordable housing is for everyone, and I don't know 6 how we are letting this project go through without 7 any affordability. How scarce land is now-a-days, 8 and affordability of housing, and I want to let you 9 know I am voting no on Land Use 751, 752, 753 and 10 754, and Resos 1478, 79, 80, and 81. Thank you. 11 And I just want everybody to know, 12 enjoy your summer, and remember, don't let the 13 summer heat blow your fuse. 14 Thank you. 15 COUNCIL CLERK: Monserrate. 16 COUNCIL MEMBER MONSERRATE: Mr. Chair, 17 may I be excused to explain my vote? 18 MAJORITY LEADER RIVERA: Yes. 19 COUNCIL MEMBER MONSERRATE: Thank you 20 very much. 21 I just want to stand here and echo 22 the previous sentiments of my colleagues regarding 23 the zonings in Queens, the demappings and the 24 different language actions. 25 It is imperative that we, as 55 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 municipal government, take advantage of the 3 opportunities, any opportunities we might have to 4 ensure affordable housing for our residents. 5 College Point is in extremely close 6 proximity to Willets Point, a place where the City 7 now wants to redevelop. And I have been very clear 8 with the Administration that they must ensure a very 9 large percentage of affordable housing for working 10 class people in our City and our borough. And any 11 time the government has an opportunity to create 12 more wealth to private developers, then we should 13 also be asking them to give back to our community 14 and to our residents. 15 The actions that we will take will 16 immediately raise the value of those properties and 17 provide for development. Developers, as an exchange 18 should provide at a minimum some basic affordability 19 percentages, and that's why I will be voting no on 20 751, Land Use 751, 752, 753 and 754 and the 21 accompanying resolutions. Thank you very much. Aye 22 on the rest. 23 COUNCIL CLERK: Nelson. 24 COUNCIL MEMBER NELSON: Swept the 25 planes like wildfire. Aye on all. 56 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 COUNCIL CLERK: Palma. 3 COUNCIL MEMBER PALMA: Aye on all. 4 COUNCIL CLERK: Recchia. 5 COUNCIL MEMBER RECCHIA: I vote aye on 6 everything, except SLR 120, which I vote no. 7 COUNCIL CLERK: Reyna. 8 COUNCIL MEMBER REYNA: Permission to 9 explain my vote? 10 MAJORITY LEADER RIVERA: Yes. 11 COUNCIL MEMBER REYNA: I'd like to 12 vote no on Land Use 751, Land Use 752, Land Use 753, 13 Land Use 754, and accompanying resolutions 1478, 14 1479, 1480 and 1481. 15 This Land Use application 16 understandably is a private application, 17 nevertheless, no one should be exempted from being 18 given a free pass on the issue and crisis the City 19 is facing in the lack of affordable home ownership, 20 as well as affordable rental units in the City of 21 New York. 22 We are living in times where we are 23 being squeezed out of the City. 24 There is no space for the middle 25 class, low-income and very low-income working 57 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 classes of the City of New York. And in a time when 3 we should be scrutinizing these applications, we're 4 just allowing them to pass through with very little 5 effort to push these property owners that get 6 windfalls of up to 30 percent profit margins, once 7 these lands are converted to residential upon the 8 rezoning. 9 In addition to that, as far as SLR 10 111 and SLR 123, traffic mitigation should not fall 11 upon the effort of collecting fines. I see very 12 little being done to accomplish decongestion. Since 13 the congestion pricing has died down, as far as 14 discussions are concerned, and I need to see 15 resolution as far as traffic signals are concerned 16 so that we are able to see some type of solution 17 when it comes to blocking the intersections of the 18 City of New York, and when I can't see the left and 19 right signal arrows and dedicated lines for such 20 traffic movement, then what is a fine going to do to 21 allow for these things to be resolved. 22 And so, I vote no on SLR 111 and SLR 23 123, understanding that bus rapid bus transit routes 24 are the way to go, I also don't think that we have 25 given full thought behind the issue of whether or 58 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 not we're going to be penalized for picking up 3 passengers on the streets as we pull in or pull out. 4 And, so, this captures the vulnerability of moving 5 vehicles to just be highlighted for the collection 6 of hundreds of millions of dollars for the City of 7 New York where we're going to see very little being 8 put back into the investments of traffic 9 decongestion. Thank you. 10 I vote aye on all matters. 11 COUNCIL CLERK: Sanders. 12 COUNCIL MEMBER SANDERS: Permission to 13 vote on previous Land Use items and then explain my 14 vote? 15 MAJORITY LEADER RIVERA: Yes. 16 COUNCIL MEMBER SANDERS: I vote on 17 those yay, and I rise as a proud resident of Queens, 18 having been born and raised there, and I am really 19 disturbed when we talk about giving away our most 20 valuable assets, the asset that there is no more 21 being created, and of course, that's land, without 22 having an affordable housing component. 23 I have fought my entire political 24 life for working people, and this one is one that we 25 cannot allow to go in the manner that it's going. 59 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 So, I urge everyone who has been a supporter of this 3 to take this one back. We need to rethink this one, 4 and with that I vote no on Land Use items 751 5 through 754 and the accompanying resolutions. 6 I also am a little disturbed that the 7 SLR 111, the civil libertarian in me doesn't like 8 the way we're putting out cameras everywhere that a 9 person can walk, seemingly there are ten cameras out 10 there. We really need to be careful about this 11 business where we still have some liberties, and 12 increasing the fine is not simply the answer. And I 13 say that as someone who has supported congestion 14 pricing, that we need to go back again and relook at 15 the whole thing and not come up with piecemeal 16 solutions to an incredibly gridlock process and this 17 has nothing to do with the author of SLR 111. We 18 need all to go back and boldly grapple with the 19 over-congested City that New York has become. 20 Thank you very much. 21 COUNCIL CLERK: Seabrook. 22 COUNCIL MEMBER SEABROOK: Yes, 23 Majority Leader, I'd like permission to vote aye on 24 all Land Use Call-Ups and all General Order, and I 25 also would like to vote aye on all. 60 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 MAJORITY LEADER RIVERA: Yes. 3 COUNCIL CLERK: Sears. 4 COUNCIL MEMBER SEARS: Aye. 5 COUNCIL CLERK: Stewart. 6 COUNCIL MEMBER STEWART: Permission to 7 explain my vote? 8 MAJORITY LEADER RIVERA: Yes. 9 COUNCIL MEMBER STEWART: I would like 10 to vote no on Land Use 751 to 754 and the 11 accompanying resos. Also, no on SL 111 and 12 preconsidered SL 123 no, and I will vote yes on all 13 the others. Thank you. 14 COUNCIL CLERK: Vallone. 15 COUNCIL MEMBER VALLONE: Permission to 16 explain? 17 MAJORITY LEADER RIVERA: Yes. 18 COUNCIL MEMBER VALLONE: Thank you. 19 First of all, I would like to vote no 20 on SLR 120. Regarding 699-A, I expressed concerns in 21 caucus about the potential chilling effect of 22 private donations. However, I spoke to New Yorkers 23 for Parks today and I will support it as they do. 24 Regarding SLR 111, I would like to 25 address my colleague, Simcha Felder's concerns 61 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 regarding the raising of the fine. 3 First of all, the points are being 4 taken away, so we didn't want anyone to think that 5 we were giving anyone a break for blocking the box, 6 so that's one reason the fine went up. And second of 7 all, I can think of no better way to raise revenue 8 than on the backs of people who block the box or 9 litter or break the law. That's why I voted against 10 120, which is a tax increase. Because we do have to 11 raise revenue, but it shouldn't be done by taxes. 12 So, I don't have any problem raising the fine for 13 that, and that's where we should be raising revenue. 14 Regarding 117, I love tax credits for 15 renters or anyone else, however, we did promise land 16 owners, property owners, that we would repeal the 18 17 percent tax cut, tax raise that we implemented after 18 9/11 and forced them to bear the burden. We have not 19 done that yet. We have not rolled back that tax 20 increase, and until we do, that should be the first 21 tax break we give. I'm going to vote for this, 22 because it gives us the authority to do this, 23 authority we should have anyway. 24 Regarding bus lanes, while I'm a 25 sponsor of the blocking the box, the bus lanes I 62 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 actually have a problem with. 3 I think giving the power to prosecute 4 such a subjective offense based on cameras alone, 5 that bothers me. I know that may surprise people, 6 but that does actually bother me. But there is a 7 provision here where it is repealed upon expiration, 8 so we can reassess it at that time, if it is being 9 abused, I will vote for that also. 10 So, aye on all, except SLR 120. Thank 11 you. 12 COUNCIL CLERK: Vann. 13 COUNCIL MEMBER VANN: Mr. Speaker, I 14 vote aye on all, except I vote no on Land Use 751, 15 752, 753, 754 and the accompanying resolutions, and 16 I vote no on SLR 111 and preconsidered SLR 123. 17 Thank you. 18 COUNCIL CLERK: White. 19 COUNCIL MEMBER WHITE: May I be 20 allowed consent to vote on Land Use items? 21 MAJORITY LEADER RIVERA: Yes. 22 COUNCIL MEMBER WHITE: I vote no on LU 23 751, 752, 753 and 754, and I vote aye on all other 24 coupled General Orders. 25 COUNCIL CLERK: Yassky. 63 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 COUNCIL MEMBER YASSKY: Aye on all. 3 COUNCIL CLERK: Barron. 4 COUNCIL MEMBER BARRON: Thank you for 5 allowing me to change my vote. 6 I want to thank Council Member 7 Dickens for giving us the information, or at least 8 giving me the information on this particular item. 9 I'd like to change my vote on LU 751 to 754 and the 10 accompanying resos, I'd like to vote no on; and 11 preconsidered Reso SLR 120, I also would like to 12 vote no on that. 13 Thank you very much. 14 MAJORITY LEADER RIVERA: Council 15 Member James. 16 COUNCIL MEMBER JAMES: I'd like to 17 vote no on Land Use 751 through 754 and accompanying 18 Resolutions 1478 through 1481. Thank you. 19 COUNCIL CLERK: Oddo. 20 COUNCIL MEMBER ODDO: May I be 21 temporarily excused to explain my vote? 22 MAJORITY LEADER RIVERA: Yes. 23 COUNCIL MEMBER ODDO: Ooh, I could 24 have some fun right now. I vote yes on all, with the 25 exception of preconsidered SLR 120. I would just 64 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 like to commend Council Member James on her bill. I 3 don't think there is anyone in this body who is a 4 big fan of professional certification, but the 5 unfortunate economic reality is that it's not going 6 to be done away with any time soon. 7 We have asked the IBO to give the 8 Housing and Buildings Committee a financial analysis 9 of exactly what the cost would be to hire the 10 inspectors, if we wanted to do away with it, so when 11 we have those hard numbers we can work in that 12 direction. But until then, we have to put some teeth 13 into the process so that people who abuse the 14 privilege, and that's what it is, a privilege, to 15 professionally certify, we have some teeth to pull 16 that from them so that the bad apples don't get a 17 chance to ply their trait across the City, and this 18 bill is yet another legislative step in that 19 direction so I commend Council Member James and to 20 say that there are other pieces of legislation that 21 we will be enacting in the coming weeks and months 22 to further tighten those regulations. 23 So, I vote yes on all, with the 24 exception of SLR 120. 25 COUNCIL CLERK: Seabrook. 65 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 COUNCIL MEMBER SEABROOK: Yes, Mr. 3 Majority Leader, with permission I would like to 4 change my vote and vote in the negative on 751, 752, 5 753, 754 and all coupling resolutions. 6 MAJORITY LEADER RIVERA: Council 7 Member Vann. 8 COUNCIL MEMBER VANN: Yes, Mr. 9 Speaker, in order to maintain my integrity here, I'd 10 like to change my vote. 11 MAJORITY LEADER RIVERA: If we could 12 get silence in the back I'd really appreciate it. 13 Thank you. 14 COUNCIL MEMBER VANN: I vote aye on 15 SLR 111, and preconsidered SLR 123, but I vote no on 16 SLR 120. 17 COUNCIL CLERK: Rivera. 18 MAJORITY LEADER RIVERA: I vote aye 19 on all. 20 COUNCIL CLERK: Gentile. 21 COUNCIL MEMBER GENTILE: I want to 22 vote no on Land Use 751 through 754 and accompanying 23 resos. 24 COUNCIL CLERK: Speaker Quinn. 25 SPEAKER QUINN: Aye. Aye. 66 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 MAJORITY LEADER RIVERA: Council 3 Member Foster. 4 Council Member Foster. 5 COUNCIL MEMBER FOSTER: I'm over here. 6 MAJORITY LEADER RIVERA: Yes. 7 COUNCIL MEMBER FOSTER: Just if you're 8 quiet, real quickly, you'll hear me change my vote. 9 I'd like to change my vote to vote on on -- 10 SPEAKER QUINN: Could we have quiet. 11 COUNCIL MEMBER FOSTER: -- 751, 752, 12 753 and the accompanying resolutions. 754, all of 13 them no. 14 MAJORITY LEADER RIVERA: Council 15 Member Comrie. 16 COUNCIL MEMBER COMRIE: Yes, I would 17 like to change my vote on Land Use Call-Ups number 18 751 to 754 and the accompanying resolutions, I'd 19 like to vote no. 20 MAJORITY LEADER RIVERA: Council 21 Member Arroyo. 22 COUNCIL MEMBER ARROYO: Thank you. 23 I'd like to change my vote on LU 751 24 through 754 and their accompanying resolutions, I 25 vote no. 67 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 MAJORITY LEADER RIVERA: Anyone else? 3 I would also like to, if the clerk 4 can register my re-vote, I would like to change my 5 vote as well. Okay, I want to change my vote on Land 6 Use items 751, 752, 753 and 754, I vote in the 7 negative on those items, as well. 8 Also, if anyone is interested in 9 changing their vote, make your voice heard now, 10 because once the tally is read it cannot be changed. 11 So, if you want to change your vote 12 on a particular item, please raise your hand now so 13 we can register your re-vote. 14 Again, if anyone is interested in 15 changing their vote, you need to make your voice 16 heard before we read out the tally. Once the tally 17 is read, you will not be able to change your vote. 18 So, if you're interested in changing your vote, 19 please raise your hand or forever hold your peace. 20 Ignizio. Ignizio. 21 COUNCIL MEMBER IGNIZIO: In a sign of 22 solidarity with my colleagues who have lobbied me 23 and asked me to, I would like to reverse my vote on 24 751 and vote in the negative, thank you. And 752, 25 753 and 754. And the accompanying resolutions 68 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 therein. This is at the request of my colleagues and 3 lobbying efforts and I'm happy to stand by them. 4 MAJORITY LEADER RIVERA: We also have 5 Council Member Mathieu Eugene, followed by Council 6 Member Gioia, then followed by Council Member Helen 7 Sears. 8 COUNCIL MEMBER EUGENE: Yes, I want to 9 change my vote also, and on LU 751, 752, 753 and 10 754, and the accompanying resolution. 11 MAJORITY LEADER RIVERA: Thank you 12 very much. 13 If we're going to do this and we're 14 going to applaud, just raise your hands like that. I 15 think I learned that from Council Member James. 16 COUNCIL CLERK: Sears. 17 MAJORITY LEADER RIVERA: Council 18 Member Sears, then Council Member Gioia, then 19 Council Member Brewer. 20 Why don't we move on to Council 21 Member Gioia. 22 COUNCIL MEMBER GIOIA: Thank you, 23 Council member. 24 Thank you, Council member. I'd like 25 to change my vote and I'd like to thank Council 69 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 Members Reyna and Jackson who have illuminated this 3 issue for me. And I'd like to change my vote on 751, 4 752, 753, 754 and accompanying resolutions, I'd like 5 to vote no. Thank you. 6 COUNCIL CLERK: Felder. 7 COUNCIL MEMBER FELDER: On all of 8 those items that he just mentioned I want to 9 abstain. Well, voting no is no big deal. 751, 752, 10 753, 754 and accompanying resolutions, I vote no. 11 MAJORITY LEADER RIVERA: We have 12 Council Member Brewer. 13 Council Member Brewer. 14 COUNCIL MEMBER BREWER: I would just 15 like to abstain and join Council Member Felder. I 16 hope he has the right numbers. If he has the right 17 numbers, I'd like to abstain on those items. 18 COUNCIL CLERK: Council Member Brewer, 19 can you vote again, please. 20 COUNCIL MEMBER BREWER: Sure. 21 I just wanted to abstain on the 22 numbers that Council Member Inez Dickens listed 23 earlier, 751 to 755. 24 MAJORITY LEADER RIVERA: We need to 25 conclude this portion of the Stated, so I'm going to 70 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 call on the final vote change who will be Council 3 Member Sears. 4 Okay, so this will be the end, 5 conclusion of the re-votes. If we can get the tally. 6 COUNCIL MEMBER BREWER: I'm sorry, 7 751, 2, 3 and 4. Thank you. I changed the numbers. 8 MAJORITY LEADER RIVERA: Actually, we 9 will reopen it for Council Member Oddo. 10 COUNCIL MEMBER ODDO: I'd like to vote 11 no on Land Use Items 751, 52, 53, 54 and 12 accompanying resolutions. Thank you. 13 MAJORITY LEADER RIVERA: Again, that 14 will close off the vote casting for the Land Use 15 Call-Ups. 16 I will reopen the Land Use Call-Ups. 17 We're going to call on Council Member Peter Vallone. 18 COUNCIL MEMBER VALLONE: I wish I knew 19 what was going on, but since I don't, and since I 20 usually try to be informed about what's happening, 21 I'm going to abstain on those four matters, seventy 22 -- whatever the hell the numbers were, so one 23 through four, and hope to learn a lot more about 24 them in the coming days. Thank you. 25 MAJORITY LEADER RIVERA: Thank you. 71 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 This will be the final closure of the Land Use 3 Call-Ups, if the clerk can give me the tally real 4 quick, before I get called again. 5 Let's see if I can get this correct. 6 All items on today's General Order calendar were 7 adopted by a vote of 47 in the affirmative, zero in 8 the negative and zero abstentions; with the 9 exception of SLR 111, which was adopted by 40 in the 10 affirmative and seven in the negative; and 11 preconsidered SLR 120, which was adopted by a vote 12 of 38 in the affirmative, nine in the negative; 13 preconsidered SLR 123, which was adopted by a vote 14 of 40 in the affirmative and seven in the negative; 15 Land Use vote 751 and Resolution 1478 was defeated 16 by 20 in the affirmative, 25 in the negative, with 17 two abstentions; Land Use vote 752 and Resolution 18 1479 was defeated by 20 in the affirmative, 25 in 19 the negative, and two abstentions; Land Use vote 753 20 and Resolution 1480 was defeated by 20 in the 21 affirmative, 25 in the negative and two abstentions; 22 Land Use 754 and Resolution 1481 was defeated by 20 23 in the affirmative, 25 in the negative and two 24 abstentions; and Land Use 794 and Resolution 1491 25 was adopted with 46 in the affirmative, one in the 72 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 negative and zero abstentions. 3 COUNCIL MEMBER FELDER: Can you repeat 4 those numbers one more time? 5 MAJORITY LEADER RIVERA: You want that 6 one more time? 7 Okay, Introduction and Reading of the 8 Bills. 9 SPEAKER QUINN: All bills are referred 10 to committees as indicated on the agenda. 11 Let me just remind folks that this 12 meeting stands in recess. Folks may be called back 13 on an hour's notice to deal with budget matters, or 14 Home Rule matters. And we will start a budget 15 negotiating team in the Council lounge 15 minutes 16 after the Stated Meeting concludes. 17 Thank you very much. 18 MAJORITY LEADER RIVERA: No, we have 19 resolutions. 20 SPEAKER QUINN: No, I'm not saying 21 everything is up. I'm just giving people some 22 information here. They got other work to do but 23 thank you. 24 MAJORITY LEADER RIVERA: Something's 25 in the Cool Aid today I guess. 73 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 Discussion of Resolutions. 3 Council Member Brewer. 4 COUNCIL MEMBER BREWER: I would just 5 like to introduce some interns. We have about 29 of 6 them this summer. Venita Tannen is here from NYU. If 7 you'd stand up. Faul Nigen (phonetic) from McCali 8 Honors College at CUNY; Christina David, NYU, 9 Christine Baptiste from Cornell; and James Scherer 10 from NYU. Rebecca Breach, Hunter, had to leave, and 11 Sam Warren from Fordham. Thank you very much. 12 MAJORITY LEADER RIVERA: Thank you. 13 Seeing no other discussions on 14 resolutions, I'm calling for -- Council Member 15 Jackson. 16 COUNCIL MEMBER JACKSON: Thank you 17 Majority Leader, my colleagues, I ask you to vote a 18 positive yes on Resolution 896-A, which is amended 19 resolution calling on the New York State Legislature 20 to pass and the Governor to sign into law the Pay 21 Equity Legislative Package, and this was submitted 22 by the Committee on Women's Issues. When it comes to 23 pay, it should not matter whether you're a woman, in 24 order to receive the same salary. It's a given that 25 if you can do the job, you deserve the pay. So, I 74 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 ask all of my colleagues to vote a positive yes on 3 Resolution 896-A and Resolution 1152, which deals 4 with the whole issue of paycheck fairness and pay 5 equity. 6 Women deserve all of the benefits and 7 all of the salaries, just like men do, and there 8 should be no difference. If it is, you're 9 discriminating. So, vote yes. 10 MAJORITY LEADER RIVERA: Next we have 11 Council Member Sears. 12 COUNCIL MEMBER SEARS: Thank you. I 13 urge my colleagues to vote on the resolution 896-A 14 and 1152. As my colleague Jackson has said, it is to 15 deal with pay equity, and it is just a very 16 difficult thing to keep women up for pay equity. 17 This is an opportunity for us to at least get this 18 moving further and further for the federal 19 government to do what they have to do, and the 20 State. So, I urge you all to support the 21 resolutions. Thank you. 22 MAJORITY LEADER RIVERA: Thank you 23 very much. 24 Council Member James. 25 COUNCIL MEMBER JAMES: Statistics 75 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 indicate that in 2005 women earned 70 cents for 3 every dollar earned by men. A figure further 4 exasperated by additional consideration of race, as 5 this figure shrinks to 71 cents for African-American 6 women and 58 cents for Latino women. 7 Therefore, we are calling in this 8 resolution to pass a package of bills that are 9 pending in Albany which call for pay equity for 10 women, bringing some equity into women's pay which 11 will go and will address the feminization of 12 poverty, not only in this City and this State, but 13 in this country. 14 I urge all of my colleagues to vote 15 yes. 16 MAJORITY LEADER RIVERA: Thank you 17 very much. 18 Any other members wanting to speak on 19 resolutions? 20 Seeing none, at this point in time 21 I'm going to call the vote. 22 All in favor, say aye. 23 All opposed, say nay. 24 COUNCIL MEMBER JACKSON: Which one, 25 Majority Leader, please. 76 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 MAJORITY LEADER RIVERA: We're going 3 to couple them all together. 4 COUNCIL MEMBER JACKSON: They're 5 coupled together? 6 MAJORITY LEADER RIVERA: Yes, we're 7 going to couple all of the resolutions together. 8 All in favor, say aye. 9 All opposed say nay. 10 Any abstentions? 11 The ayes have it. 12 General Discussion. 13 Council Member Dickens. 14 COUNCIL MEMBER DICKENS: I want to 15 commend my colleagues in the defeating of Land Use 16 items 751 through 754 and its resolutions, because 17 this is the people's house and we stood together to 18 send a message to all that we support our community 19 residents in their needs to be able to stay here. 20 I stand to ask my colleagues to sign 21 onto Resolution 1462, which supports the pending 22 State legislation that was a package put forth by 23 Governor David Paterson to create a more 24 comprehensive and stringent gun law to prevent 25 illegal guns from ending up in the hands of our 77 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 youth. 3 On Memorial Day, May 26th, my 4 district was shocked when there were ten shootings 5 with ten children between the ages of 13 and 18 that 6 were shot on 125th and Lenox and 142nd and Eighth 7 and 132nd and Seventh. And the hours before and 8 after this shooting spree, there were four 9 additional shootings involving young people in 10 Harlem. 11 Other areas of the City have 12 experienced similar tragedies in recent weeks. 13 In addition, I ask my colleagues to 14 support and sign onto Resolution 1460 and 1461. As I 15 spoke about before, 1460, I am asking for support 16 for the US Congress to enact House and Ways Means 17 Chairman Rengal's Housing Assistance Tax Act of 2008 18 that will provide first-time home-buyers in 19 assistance in making a downpayment on a home and 20 allow first-time home-buyers to deduct property 21 taxes from their federal income taxes, as well as to 22 increase the national limit on tax-exempt housing 23 bonds to allow for the issuance of an additional $10 24 billion in tax-exempt bonds for the first-time 25 home-buyers and construction of low-income rental 78 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 housing. 3 The second resolution, 1461, calls 4 upon Congress to support the FHA Housing 5 Stabilization and Home Owner Retention Act, which 6 would expand the standards and scope of the FHA to 7 provide safe home alternatives and make home 8 ownership more accessible. 9 Thank you. 10 MAJORITY LEADER RIVERA: Thank you 11 very much. 12 Next we have Council Member Jackson 13 followed by Council Member Brewer, then Council 14 Member Garodnick. 15 COUNCIL MEMBER JACKSON: Thank you, 16 Majority Leader. 17 My colleagues, I ask you to support 18 Resolution 1472, which is introduced by Council 19 Member Weprin, myself, and Council Member Nelson. 20 And this would amend our Congress to amend the 21 federal bankruptcy law to allow bankruptcy courts to 22 modify the terms of home mortgages in the same 23 manner that the courts now allow and modify other 24 debt, in order to give homeowners who have been 25 adversely affected in the subprime mortgage crisis, 79 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 the opportunity to restructure their mortgages. 3 So, we need to help all those people 4 that are in trouble that own homes. So, I ask you to 5 sign on to Resolution 1472. 6 Thank you. 7 MAJORITY LEADER RIVERA: Council 8 Member Brewer. 9 Council Member Garodnick. 10 COUNCIL MEMBER GARODNICK: Thank you, 11 Mr. Majority Leader. 12 I wanted to draw my colleagues' 13 attention to Resolution 1493, which I am 14 co-introducing with Council Member James, calling 15 upon Congress to pass and the President to sign into 16 law HR 3896, which is the National Infrastructure 17 Development Act. 18 Our recent infrastructure failures 19 here in the City of New York from our exploding 20 83-year-old steam pipe last summer to our subways 21 weeks after that event being shut down from heavy 22 but not exactly Biblical rains point to the need for 23 steady investment to maintain and improve these 24 critical systems. 25 And it's increasingly clear to me 80 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 that we're going to need to find new sources of 3 dedicated funds to maintain our infrastructure in a 4 State of good repair and to prepare for growth. 5 In the United States, State and local 6 governments like ours shoulder most of the burden. 7 Some in Washington have begun to propose bold 8 solutions. Legislation pending in Congress, HR 3896, 9 would create a national infrastructure development 10 corporation, which would issue loans, provide 11 guarantees and otherwise assist State and local 12 governments in financing infrastructure projects. 13 The federal guarantees would 14 significantly lower financing costs and ultimately 15 would be supported by private investment much like 16 mortgage systems, Fannie Mae and Ginny Mae. 17 Council Member James and I as the 18 co-chairs of the Council's Task Force On 19 Infrastructure are introducing this resolution to 20 encourage the federal government to take a more 21 aggressive role in rebuilding America's 22 infrastructure and cities like New York will surely 23 benefit. 24 And when it comes to our 25 infrastructure, and the jobs and economic activity 81 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 that it creates, we simply cannot afford to wait 3 until it breaks down before we do something about 4 it, so I ask my colleagues to take a hard look at 5 Intro. 14 -- sorry, Resolution 1493, and I ask them 6 to join us in supporting it. 7 Thank you very much. 8 MAJORITY LEADER RIVERA: Thank you 9 very much, Council members. 10 Any other talk on General Discussion? 11 Seeing none, I am going to call this 12 Stated Meeting into recess. We have budget 13 negotiating starting in 15 minutes, ladies and 14 gentlemen, in the lounge, so all BNT members join us 15 downstairs. 16 (Hearing recessed at 4:15 p.m.) 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 82 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 12th day of June 2008. 19 20 21 22 23 --------------------- 24 CINDY MILLELOT, CSR. 25 83 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