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 March 12, 2008 11 Start: 2:20 p.m. Recess: 3:00 p.m. 12 City Hall 13 Council Chambers New York, New York 14 15 B E F O R E: 16 BETSY GOTBAUM Public Advocate 17 18 COUNCIL MEMBERS: Speaker Christine Quinn Joseph Addabbo 19 Maria Arroyo Tony Avella 20 Maria Baez Charles Barron 21 Gale Brewer Leroy Comrie 22 23 24 LEGAL-EASE COURT REPORTING SERVICES, INC. 17 Battery Place - Suite 1308 25 New York, New York 10004 800-756-3410 2 1 2 A P P E A R A N C E S (CONTINUED) 3 COUNCIL MEMBERS: 4 Bill DeBlasio Inez Dickens 5 Matthew Eugene Simcha Felder 6 Lewis Fidler Helen Foster 7 Dennis Gallagher Daniel Garodnick 8 James Gennaro Vincent Gentile 9 Eric Gioia Vincent Ignizio 10 Robert Jackson Letitia James 11 Melinda Katz G. Oliver Koppell 12 Jessica Lappin John Liu 13 Michael McMahon Rosie Mendez 14 Hiram Monserrate Michael Nelson 15 James Oddo Domenic Recchia 16 Diana Reyna Joel Rivera 17 James Sanders Larry Seabrook 18 Helen Sears Kendall Stewart 19 James Vacca Peter Vallone, Jr. 20 Albert Vann Melissa Mark-Viverito 21 David Weprin Thomas White 22 David Yassky 23 24 25 3 1 2 A P P E A R A N C E S (CONTINUED) 3 STAFF: Billy Martin 4 Council Clerk 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 4 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 PUBLIC ADVOCATE GOTBAUM: Ladies and 3 gentlemen, please rise for the Pledge of Allegiance. 4 (Pledge of Allegiance.) 5 PUBLIC ADVOCATE GOTBAUM: Roll call. 6 COUNCIL CLERK: Addabbo. 7 COUNCIL MEMBER ADDABBO: Here. 8 COUNCIL CLERK: Arroyo. 9 (No response.) 10 COUNCIL CLERK: Avella. 11 COUNCIL MEMBER AVELLA: Here. 12 COUNCIL CLERK: Baez. 13 COUNCIL MEMBER BAEZ: Here. 14 COUNCIL CLERK: Barron. 15 COUNCIL MEMBER BARRON: Here. 16 COUNCIL CLERK: Brewer. 17 COUNCIL MEMBER BREWER: Here. 18 COUNCIL CLERK: Comrie. 19 COUNCIL MEMBER COMRIE: Here. 20 COUNCIL CLERK: DeBlasio. 21 COUNCIL MEMBER DEBLASIO: Here. 22 COUNCIL CLERK: Dickens. 23 COUNCIL MEMBER DICKENS: Here. 24 COUNCIL CLERK: Dilan. 25 (No response.) 5 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 COUNCIL CLERK: Eugene. 3 COUNCIL MEMBER EUGENE: Here. 4 COUNCIL CLERK: Felder. 5 COUNCIL MEMBER FELDER: Here. 6 COUNCIL CLERK: Fidler. 7 COUNCIL MEMBER FIDLER: Here. 8 COUNCIL CLERK: Foster. 9 COUNCIL MEMBER FOSTER: Here. 10 COUNCIL CLERK: Gallagher. 11 COUNCIL MEMBER GALLAGHER: Here. 12 COUNCIL CLERK: Garodnick. 13 COUNCIL MEMBER GARODNICK: Here. 14 COUNCIL CLERK: Gennaro. 15 COUNCIL MEMBER GENNARO: Here. 16 COUNCIL CLERK: Gentile. 17 COUNCIL MEMBER GENTILE: Here. 18 COUNCIL CLERK: Gerson. 19 (No response.) 20 COUNCIL CLERK: Gioia. 21 COUNCIL MEMBER GIOIA: Here. 22 COUNCIL CLERK: Gonzalez. 23 (No response.) 24 COUNCIL CLERK: Ignizio. 25 COUNCIL MEMBER IGNIZIO: Here. 6 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 COUNCIL CLERK: Jackson. 3 COUNCIL MEMBER JACKSON: Here. 4 COUNCIL CLERK: James. 5 COUNCIL MEMBER JAMES: Here. 6 COUNCIL CLERK: Katz. 7 COUNCIL MEMBER KATZ: Here. 8 COUNCIL CLERK: Koppell. 9 COUNCIL MEMBER KOPPELL: Here. 10 COUNCIL CLERK: Lappin. 11 COUNCIL MEMBER LAPPIN: Here. 12 COUNCIL CLERK: Liu. 13 COUNCIL MEMBER LIU: Here. 14 COUNCIL CLERK: Mark-Viverito. 15 COUNCIL MEMBER MARK-VIVERITO: Here. 16 COUNCIL CLERK: Martinez. 17 (No response.) 18 COUNCIL CLERK: McMahon. 19 COUNCIL MEMBER McMAHON: Here. 20 COUNCIL CLERK: Mealy. 21 (No response.) 22 COUNCIL CLERK: Mendez. 23 COUNCIL MEMBER MENDEZ: Here. 24 COUNCIL CLERK: Monserrate. 25 COUNCIL MEMBER MONSERRATE: Here. 7 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 COUNCIL CLERK: Nelson. 3 COUNCIL MEMBER NELSON: Here. 4 COUNCIL CLERK: Palma. 5 (No response.) 6 COUNCIL CLERK: Recchia. 7 COUNCIL MEMBER RECCHIA: Here. 8 COUNCIL CLERK: Reyna. 9 COUNCIL MEMBER REYNA: Here. 10 COUNCIL CLERK: Sanders. 11 COUNCIL MEMBER SANDERS: Here. 12 COUNCIL CLERK: Seabrook. 13 COUNCIL MEMBER SEABROOK: Here. 14 COUNCIL CLERK: Sears. 15 COUNCIL MEMBER SEARS: Here. 16 COUNCIL CLERK: Stewart. 17 COUNCIL MEMBER STEWART: Here. 18 COUNCIL CLERK: Vacca. 19 COUNCIL MEMBER VACCA: Here. 20 COUNCIL CLERK: Vallone. 21 COUNCIL MEMBER VALLONE: Here. 22 COUNCIL CLERK: Vann. 23 COUNCIL MEMBER VANN: Here. 24 COUNCIL CLERK: Weprin. 25 COUNCIL MEMBER WEPRIN: Here. 8 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 COUNCIL CLERK: White. 3 COUNCIL MEMBER WHITE: Here. 4 COUNCIL CLERK: Yassky. 5 COUNCIL MEMBER YASSKY: Here. 6 COUNCIL CLERK: Oddo. 7 COUNCIL MEMBER ODDO: Here. 8 COUNCIL CLERK: Rivera. 9 COUNCIL MEMBER RIVERA: Here. 10 COUNCIL CLERK: Speaker Quinn. 11 SPEAKER QUINN: Here. 12 COUNCIL CLERK: We have a quorum. 13 PUBLIC ADVOCATE GOTBAUM: All rise, 14 please, for the invocation. 15 SPEAKER QUINN: If we could get a 16 little quiet for the invocation. 17 PUBLIC ADVOCATE GOTBAUM: All rise for 18 the invocation to be delivered by Reverend Julie 19 Taylor. 20 REVEREND TAYLOR: Spirit of life and 21 light, today we join in honoring and remembering the 22 women who are serving and have served this great 23 City, as well as the unseen women whose labor, 24 passion, imagination, ingenuity, generosity, 25 activism, pain and joy undergird the life of New 9 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 York City. 3 We lift up the women who care for our 4 children, for the healers, the bridge builders, 5 educators and students, housekeepers and CEOs; women 6 in law enforcement, fire and emergency services who 7 protect us; women who go unnoticed because they are 8 poor, uneducated, incarcerated or undocumented. We 9 pray for them, and today, in this Council Chamber 10 pray for the women who govern and lead. We honor the 11 women in our lives, hearts and memories. 12 We pray for the people whose lives 13 are affected by the decisions made in this Chamber. 14 Guide the deliberations and decision-making of this 15 body, that they may work for the welfare of all New 16 Yorkers. Ready this Council to govern with wisdom, 17 justice and honor, amen. 18 PUBLIC ADVOCATE GOTBAUM: Motion for 19 the invocation. 20 Council Member Jackson. 21 COUNCIL MEMBER JACKSON: Madam Chair, 22 I make a motion to spread the invocation in full 23 upon the record. 24 SPEAKER QUINN: Thank you. 25 If I could ask my colleagues to rise 10 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 again for a moment, please? 3 Thankfully, and these moments are 4 rare, sadly, thankfully we have no soldiers or 5 members of the Armed Services we have lost since our 6 last Stated Meeting, which is most certainly a 7 blessing. 8 I do, though, want to mention three 9 things. One, I want to let folks know that Council 10 Member Gonzalez is not with us today because her 11 father is not doing well and is in the hospital and 12 has taken a turn for the worse. So, I ask all of us 13 to keep Council Member Gonzalez and her father and 14 Sara's family in our thoughts and prayers. 15 Council Member Dilan is not with us 16 today. His grandmother is also in failing health and 17 he got to City Hall and then got a call and had to 18 go back because his grandmother had taken a turn for 19 the worse. So, I wanted to ask everyone to keep 20 Erik, and, of course, his father who served in this 21 body, and their whole family in our thoughts and 22 prayers. 23 I also just wanted to make a note and 24 ask us to have a moment of silence regarding Sapere 25 College, which is in the City of Sirote (phonetic) 11 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 in Israel, and I think as most of us know, in 3 February 2007, a delegation of ten members of the 4 New York City Council, with Michael Miller and the 5 Jewish Community Relations Council, we had an 6 opportunity to visit Israel, to visit Sirote 7 (phonetic) and to visit the College of Sapere. 8 At that time and since, the citizens 9 of Sirote (phonetic) have been subjected to 10 thousands of bombings and ongoing attacks of Kasami 11 rockets fired on them. 12 When we were actually in Sirote, just 13 a couple of hours before we visited the College of 14 Sapere, there was actually a rocket attack a mile 15 from where we were. We were in City Hall meeting 16 with the Mayor and a kibbutz was hit by a rocket 17 about a mile from where we were. 18 And when we went later on and visited 19 the college, I know we were all struck by the fact 20 that at that point about four- or five-hundred 21 rockets had hit on the college's campus and on the 22 grounds of the campus. 23 Sadly, on February 27th, 2008, at 24 Sapere College where we visited and spent time, a 25 student who was a married father of four was killed 12 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 by a rocket while he was obviously attempting to 3 study at school. And since we have had a personal 4 connection to this city and to this college and 5 university, I want us to remember this father who 6 was lost on February 27th at Sapere College. Oh, and 7 also thank you very much, Robert Jackson reminded 8 me, Chelsea Rutter (phonetic), who is the Executive 9 Director of the Black, Latino and Asian Caucus of 10 the City Council, sadly lost her father between our 11 last Stated Meeting and now, and we want to keep 12 Chelsea and her family in our thoughts and prayers. 13 Thank you, Robert. 14 Thank you, Madam Public Advocate. 15 PUBLIC ADVOCATE GOTBAUM: Adoption of 16 the Minutes, by Council Member Gentile. 17 COUNCIL MEMBER GENTILE: Madam Public 18 Advocate, I move that the minutes of the Stated 19 Meeting on January 30th and February 13th, 2008, be 20 adopted as printed. 21 PUBLIC ADVOCATE GOTBAUM: So ordered. 22 Messages and Papers from the Mayor. 23 COUNCIL CLERK: M 962. Mayor's veto of 24 Introductory Number 61-A. 25 SPEAKER QUINN: General Welfare. 13 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 PUBLIC ADVOCATE GOTBAUM: 3 Communication from City, County and Borough Offices. 4 COUNCIL CLERK: M 963. Certified 5 statement from City Comptroller. 6 SPEAKER QUINN: Received, Ordered, 7 Printed and Filed. 8 PUBLIC ADVOCATE GOTBAUM: Petitions 9 and Communications. 10 COUNCIL CLERK: Preconsidered M 964. 11 Recalling Introduction No. 104-A. 12 SPEAKER QUINN: Sanitation and Solid 13 Waste Management. 14 PUBLIC ADVOCATE GOTBAUM: Land Use 15 Call-Ups. 16 COUNCIL CLERK: M 965. Unenclosed 17 sidewalk cafe. 18 SPEAKER QUINN: If we can now have a 19 roll call on the Land Use Call-Up item, 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: Aye. 14 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 COUNCIL CLERK: Baez. 3 COUNCIL MEMBER BAEZ: Aye. 4 COUNCIL CLERK: Barron. 5 COUNCIL MEMBER BARRON: Madam Chair, 6 I'd like to request unanimous consent to vote aye on 7 all General Order calendar items? 8 PUBLIC ADVOCATE GOTBAUM: So ordered. 9 COUNCIL MEMBER BARRON: Thank you. 10 Aye on all. 11 COUNCIL CLERK: Brewer. 12 COUNCIL MEMBER BREWER: Aye. 13 COUNCIL CLERK: Comrie. 14 (No response.) 15 COUNCIL CLERK: DeBlasio. 16 COUNCIL MEMBER DEBLASIO: Aye. 17 COUNCIL CLERK: Dickens. 18 COUNCIL MEMBER DICKENS: Aye. 19 COUNCIL CLERK: Eugene. 20 COUNCIL MEMBER EUGENE: Aye. 21 COUNCIL CLERK: Felder. 22 (No response.) 23 COUNCIL CLERK: Fidler. 24 COUNCIL MEMBER FIDLER: Aye. 25 COUNCIL CLERK: Foster. 15 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 COUNCIL MEMBER FOSTER: Aye. 3 COUNCIL CLERK: Gallagher. 4 COUNCIL MEMBER GALLAGHER: Madam 5 Public Advocate, may I ask unanimous consent to vote 6 on all items on the General Order Calendar? 7 PUBLIC ADVOCATE GOTBAUM: So ordered. 8 COUNCIL MEMBER GALLAGHER: I vote in 9 the affirmative on all. Thank you. 10 COUNCIL CLERK: Garodnick. 11 COUNCIL MEMBER GARODNICK: Aye. 12 COUNCIL CLERK: Gennaro. 13 (No response.) 14 COUNCIL CLERK: Gentile. 15 COUNCIL MEMBER GENTILE: Aye. 16 COUNCIL CLERK: Gerson. 17 (No response.) 18 COUNCIL CLERK: Ignizio. 19 (No response.) 20 COUNCIL CLERK: Jackson. 21 COUNCIL MEMBER JACKSON: Aye. 22 COUNCIL CLERK: James. 23 COUNCIL MEMBER JAMES: Aye. 24 COUNCIL CLERK: Katz. 25 COUNCIL MEMBER KATZ: Aye. 16 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 COUNCIL CLERK: Koppell. 3 COUNCIL MEMBER KOPPELL: Madam Public 4 Advocate, I ask unanimous consent to vote aye on all 5 items on the Land Use Call-Up, all items on the 6 General Orders calendar, and all resolutions. 7 PUBLIC ADVOCATE GOTBAUM: So ordered. 8 COUNCIL MEMBER KOPPELL: Thank you. 9 COUNCIL CLERK: Lappin. 10 COUNCIL MEMBER LAPPIN: Aye. 11 COUNCIL CLERK: Liu. 12 COUNCIL MEMBER LIU: Yes. 13 COUNCIL CLERK: Mark-Viverito. 14 COUNCIL MEMBER MARK-VIVERITO: Aye on 15 all. 16 COUNCIL CLERK: Martinez. 17 (No response.) 18 COUNCIL CLERK: McMahon. 19 COUNCIL MEMBER McMAHON: Aye on all. 20 COUNCIL CLERK: Mealy. 21 (No response.) 22 COUNCIL CLERK: Mendez. 23 COUNCIL MEMBER MENDEZ: Aye on all. 24 COUNCIL CLERK: Monserrate. 25 COUNCIL MEMBER MONSERRATE: Aye on 17 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 all. 3 COUNCIL CLERK: Nelson. 4 COUNCIL MEMBER NELSON: Aye on all. 5 COUNCIL CLERK: Palma. 6 (No response.) 7 COUNCIL CLERK: Recchia. 8 COUNCIL MEMBER RECCHIA: Aye on all. 9 COUNCIL CLERK: Reyna. 10 COUNCIL MEMBER REYNA: Aye on all. 11 COUNCIL CLERK: Sanders. 12 COUNCIL MEMBER SANDERS: Aye on all. 13 COUNCIL CLERK: Seabrook. 14 COUNCIL MEMBER SEABROOK: Yes, with 15 permission I would like to vote aye on all, and aye 16 on all Land Use Call-Ups, please. 17 PUBLIC ADVOCATE GOTBAUM: So ordered. 18 COUNCIL CLERK: Sears. 19 COUNCIL MEMBER SEARS: Aye. 20 COUNCIL CLERK: Stewart. 21 COUNCIL MEMBER STEWART: Aye. 22 COUNCIL CLERK: Vacca. 23 COUNCIL MEMBER VACCA: Aye. 24 COUNCIL CLERK: Vallone. 25 COUNCIL MEMBER VALLONE: Aye. 18 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 COUNCIL CLERK: Vann. 3 COUNCIL MEMBER VANN: Aye. 4 COUNCIL CLERK: Weprin. 5 COUNCIL MEMBER WEPRIN: Aye. 6 COUNCIL CLERK: White. 7 COUNCIL MEMBER WHITE: I vote aye and 8 ask unanimous consent to vote on all coupled General 9 Orders on the General Order calendar, and all 10 resolutions. 11 PUBLIC ADVOCATE GOTBAUM: So ordered. 12 COUNCIL MEMBER WHITE: I vote aye. 13 COUNCIL CLERK: Yassky. 14 (No response.) 15 COUNCIL CLERK: Oddo. 16 COUNCIL MEMBER ODDO: Yes. 17 COUNCIL CLERK: Rivera. 18 COUNCIL MEMBER RIVERA: Yes. 19 COUNCIL CLERK: Speaker Quinn. 20 SPEAKER QUINN: Yes. 21 PUBLIC ADVOCATE GOTBAUM: Today's Land 22 Use Call-Ups were adopted by a vote of 41 in the 23 affirmative and zero in the negative. 24 Communication from the Speaker. 25 SPEAKER QUINN: Thank you. 19 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 First, today we're voting on Intro. 3 674-A. 4 PUBLIC ADVOCATE GOTBAUM: Quiet, 5 please. 6 SPEAKER QUINN: This is a piece of 7 legislation that was passed out of the Parks 8 Committee and I want to thank Chairperson Foster for 9 her work on this piece of legislation, and was also 10 sponsored by Council Member Jessica Lappin, and I 11 want to thank her for this piece of legislation. 12 This bill requires that the City of 13 New York prune trees, bushes and other vegetation 14 that obstructs traffic control signals, devices or 15 signs. 16 You know, Jessica will tell us about 17 the personal experience it came out of, but this 18 bill is a very smart piece of legislation that 19 requires that when it's clear and obvious and been 20 proven that a tree or something else is blocking a 21 traffic light, blocking a stop sign, the City go out 22 and correct that situation in a timely fashion. 23 It's a way to make sure that our 24 streets are as safe as they possible could be for 25 motorists and for pedestrians. 20 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 I want to thank the Chair for her 3 work on this and also Council Member Lappin for her 4 work. I want to call first on the sponsor, and then 5 the Chair of the Committee. 6 COUNCIL MEMBER LAPPIN: Thank you, 7 Madam Chair. 8 Drivers can't obey traffic signals if 9 they can't see them. Yet, sometimes overgrown trees 10 block lights and stop signs from view. They block 11 things that drivers need to see. 12 In fact, tree pruning, removal and 13 replacement is the number one cause of 3-1-1 calls, 14 letters and e-mails on Parks-related issues. And 15 clearly, we need trees, we love trees, we're going 16 to plant 1 million more of them in the coming years, 17 so we have an obligation to maintain and prune them 18 once they are on our streets. 19 Unfortunately, as the Speaker 20 referenced, this is an issue that I do have personal 21 experience with. Last year I had an accident while I 22 was driving in Queens. Luckily nobody was hurt. But 23 as we were waiting for the police to come, folks 24 from the community came over to check on my and my 25 son and they told me that they had called this issue 21 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 into 3-1-1 many times, but nothing had happened. 3 They told me that there had been other accidents at 4 the very same corner. 5 In the end, it took the City three 6 months to prune that particular tree. The goal of 7 this bill is to prevent that from happening again. 8 It requires the Parks Department to inspect within 9 four days of notification and prune critical signs 10 and stop lights within ten days, non-critical signs 11 within 20. 12 The bottom line is this: The City 13 will now prune trees that block critical signs to 14 keep drivers and pedestrians safe and do it in a 15 timely manner. It is a common sense and important 16 public safety measure. 17 I want to thank the Speaker for her 18 support. I want to thank the Parks Committee Chair, 19 Helen Diane Foster, who very quickly became a 20 co-sponsor and held a hearing in a very timely 21 fashion. I want to thank the other 26 co-sponsors, 22 the Parks Department, Lyle Frank, who is the Counsel 23 to the Committee, Laura Popa and Caroline Mellow on 24 my staff for all of their hard work. 25 Thank you. 22 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 SPEAKER QUINN: Thank you very much. 3 And I also want to join with Jessica 4 in thanking Lyle Frank, Laura Popa and Phil Hom for 5 their work on this piece of legislation. 6 And I will call on the Chair of the 7 Parks Committee, Council Member Foster. 8 COUNCIL MEMBER FOSTER: Thank you. 9 Just very briefly, I'd like to thank 10 Councilwoman Lappin, for not having the accident but 11 for bringing it to our attention quickly. And as 12 soon as I heard I said, yes, let's have a hearing, 13 let's get it done, and I thank the Parks Department 14 for responding and agreeing to work with us to get 15 it done. And as always, I thank the staff to the 16 Parks Committee, who worked so diligently to get it 17 done so we could vote it out today. 18 Thank you. 19 SPEAKER QUINN: Thank you. 20 We are also voting today on Intro. 21 567-A, a bill relating to pedestrian and traffic 22 accident locations. 23 I want to thank John Liu, the Chair 24 of our Transportation Committee, for taking this 25 matter up. I want to thank Vinnie Gentile, the 23 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 sponsor of the bill, for introducing and drafting 3 this important piece of legislation. They have been 4 very busy. I also want to thank Lyle Frank and Laura 5 Popa and Phil Hom, who also worked on 567-A. 6 This is a bill that really is very 7 important in that it is going to require that the 8 Department of Transportation do a couple of 9 different things: 10 One, that they do consistent analysis 11 of the 20 sites in the City that have the most 12 frequent number of crashes and accidents. 13 Two, that they do analysis of sites 14 where there are deaths related to accidents; and 15 Three, that they move forward with 16 solutions. Three, that they make the remedy to these 17 accident sites public, and then, of course, move 18 forward to make them safer. 19 This piece of legislation is going to 20 do a great deal to make sure that our streets 21 reflect the fact that they are not made just for 22 cars, but they are also made for folks on bicycles 23 and for pedestrians. 24 And I want to thank Council Member 25 Gentile for making sure this piece of legislation is 24 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 truly five boroughs and requiring that the 20 3 highest crash sites include all five boroughs, 4 because the last thing we would want to hear is the 5 Staten Island Delegation saying that they were left 6 out. This piece of legislation does not do that, 7 and I want to thank Council Member Gentile for that. 8 I want to call on the sponsor and the 9 Chair of the Committee. 10 COUNCIL MEMBER GENTILE: Thank you, 11 Madam Speaker. 12 My bill, better known as the 13 "Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety Act, represents the 14 21st Century approach for prioritizing pedestrians 15 and bicyclists in New York City. 16 The legislation, as the Speaker said, 17 is three-pronged: First, the bill requires 18 identifying the 20 most dangerous intersections for 19 pedestrians, and to audit those locations for 20 possible safety and capital improvements. 21 Those locations will be selected 22 based on a previous year calendar in DMV, State DMV 23 crash data. The results of the inspection and 24 planned improvements would be forwarded to the 25 relevant community board and the Council member. 25 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 The second aspect, as the Speaker 3 said, would require the DOT to inspect patterns of 4 crashes involving pedestrians and/or bicyclists. 5 Patterns are five accidents in a 12-month period, 6 and in addition, any site that is a location of 7 fatality would also be inspected. 8 Similar to the first part of the 9 bill, the Department would implement safety measures 10 if warranted. 11 Finally, the bill would mandate that 12 the DOT performs a Citywide five borough 13 comprehensive analysis of pedestrian fatalities or 14 serious injuries with data from the most recent five 15 years. 16 The findings will seek to find common 17 factors among the accidents, and develop strategies 18 to improve pedestrian safety. 19 So, with this legislation, no longer 20 will pedestrians and bicyclists feel like the City 21 treats them as second class citizens. Pedestrians 22 are the largest at-risk group in our City, with 23 fatalities and serious injuries hovering around the 24 50 percent mark, when compared to other classes of 25 street fatalities. 26 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 This, my colleagues, is 3 ground-breaking legislation on many fronts. Indeed, 4 we were contacted, my office was contacted two weeks 5 ago by the City of Seattle asking to share our 6 legislation with them, based on the request from a 7 Council Member in Seattle to model similar 8 legislation for pedestrians in that City. 9 So, with this legislation to be 10 passed today, I'd like to thank the Speaker, 11 Chairman Liu, the staff, including Rob Newman, Laura 12 Popa, Terzah Nasser, Phil Hom, also the Mayor's 13 Office and the Department of Transportation, both 14 who worked very well with us in getting this into 15 final draft, particularly Commissioner Sadik Kahn 16 for their efforts in helping New York City lead the 17 nation for pedestrian and bicyclist safety. 18 Thank you, Madam Chair. 19 SPEAKER QUINN: Thank you, Chairperson 20 Liu. 21 CHAIRPERSON LIU: Thank you, Madam 22 Speaker. 23 I want to commend Council Member 24 Gentile on this bill. This bill addresses a common 25 complaint from our constituents where people may, 27 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 who unfortunately have been victims of accidents, 3 and when they inquire on their family member victims 4 we have what the City is doing about those accident 5 locations, that they find out nothing is being done. 6 And, so, this will address a 7 long-standing problem, and I want to thank Council 8 Member Gentile, the Speaker's Office, the Mayor's 9 Legislative Office and the Department of 10 Transportation for working together on this bill. 11 Thank you. 12 SPEAKER QUINN: Thank you. 13 And I just also want to thank both 14 the Department of Parks and Recreation for their 15 work and support of Intro. 674-A, and the Department 16 of Transportation for their support and work around 17 Intro. 567-A. 18 I just want to say we are voting 19 today also on the Council's Operating Budget for the 20 next fiscal year. Because everyone knows the budget 21 we are voting on today reflects a 4.3 cut from the 22 budget we have this year. It's about a $2.3 million 23 reduction. We are making this proposed cut today to 24 make sure that as the months move forward and we 25 negotiate the City's budget, and may in a very real 28 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 way have to look to make cuts to City agencies, that 3 we don't hold ourselves to a different standard than 4 the standard we may be forced to hold agencies and 5 City workers to. 6 I want to thank everyone for their 7 support as this item moves forward. I also want to 8 thank the Land Use Staff and Land Use Committee for 9 the number of items that they have worked on today, 10 Amy Levitan, Gail Benjamin, Carol Schein and 11 Christian Milton for their work on the Land Use 12 items today. I want to thank Ed O'Malley, Joyce 13 Singerman and also Wayne Coadler (phonetic) for 14 their work on the Council budget. 15 We're voting on two important 16 appointments today, Jose Maldonado and Jane Kalmus, 17 and I want to thank the Chair of that Committee, 18 Chairperson Reyna, for her work on that. 19 Two quick final things. I wanted to 20 announce that there will be two briefings relating 21 to Council Member allocations in the budget process 22 on Wednesday, March 19th from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 23 p.m. It is the 16th floor conference room. There 24 will be a briefing on your Expense Budget items and 25 the process for that. 29 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 There will be on March 20th, 10:00 3 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., also in the 16th floor hearing 4 room, a briefing on your Capital Budget items and 5 how that process works. You'll be getting a memo 6 about this, but I wanted to just underscore the 7 importance of this briefing, and urge folks to 8 participate. 9 And just in closing, I know I speak 10 for all of us when I say we wish our soon-to-be 11 Governor Patterson the best of luck as he takes over 12 the reins of leadership in our State Capital, and 13 that concludes Communication from the Speaker. 14 PUBLIC ADVOCATE GOTBAUM: Discussion 15 of General Orders. 16 SPEAKER QUINN: Madam Public Advocate, 17 can we get a little quiet in the Chambers? 18 PUBLIC ADVOCATE GOTBAUM: Quiet, 19 please. Quiet. Sit down. 20 The Discussion of General Orders, we 21 don't have anybody at this time. 22 Seeing nobody, Report of Special 23 Committees. 24 COUNCIL CLERK: None. 25 PUBLIC ADVOCATE GOTBAUM: Madam 30 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 Speaker? Report of Special Committees. Quiet, 3 please. 4 COUNCIL CLERK: None. There are none. 5 SPEAKER QUINN: None. 6 PUBLIC ADVOCATE GOTBAUM: Reports of 7 Standing Committees. 8 COUNCIL CLERK: Report of the 9 Committee on Finance. 10 Resos 1279-A and 1290-A, Business 11 Improvement Districts. 12 SPEAKER QUINN: Amended and coupled on 13 General Orders. 14 COUNCIL CLERK: Preconsidered Reso 15 1310. Fiscal 2008 Expense Budget. 16 SPEAKER QUINN: Coupled on General 17 Orders. 18 COUNCIL CLERK: Preconsidered M 966 19 and Reso 1312. Council Operating Budget. 20 SPEAKER QUINN: Coupled on General 21 Orders. 22 COUNCIL CLERK: Preconsidered M 967 23 and Reso 1313. Lump sum OTPS, Council Operating 24 Budget. 25 SPEAKER QUINN: Coupled on General 31 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 Orders. 3 COUNCIL CLERK: Preconsidered LU 690 4 and Reso 1314. Housing Program for the Elderly. 5 SPEAKER QUINN: Coupled on General 6 Orders. 7 COUNCIL CLERK: Report of the 8 Committee on Land Use. LU 612 and Reso 1315. UDAAP, 9 Brooklyn. 10 SPEAKER QUINN: Approved with 11 modifications. Referred to the City Planning 12 Commission pursuant to Rule 11.70(b) of the Rules of 13 the Council -- oh, I'm sorry, I'm one ahead. 14 Coupled on General Orders. 15 COUNCIL CLERK: LU 623. Zoning map 16 amendment. 17 SPEAKER QUINN: This is going to be 18 shocking, but it's been approved with modifications 19 and referred to the City Planning Commission, 20 pursuant to Rule 11.70(b) of the Rules of the 21 Council, and Section 197-(d) of the New York City 22 Charter. 23 COUNCIL CLERK: LU 647 and Reso 1316 24 through LU 649, various UDAAPs. 25 SPEAKER QUINN: Coupled on General 32 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 Orders. 3 COUNCIL CLERK: LU 667. Community 4 Board 6. 197-A Plan. 5 SPEAKER QUINN: Approved with 6 modifications and referred to the Planning 7 Commission, pursuant to Rule 11.70(b) of the Rules 8 of the Council and Section 197-(d) of the New York 9 City Charter. 10 COUNCIL CLERK: LU 668 and Reso 1319 11 through LU 669 and Reso 1320. Various ULURPs. 12 SPEAKER QUINN: Coupled on General 13 Orders. 14 COUNCIL CLERK: LU 675 and Reso 1321. 15 Landmarks Preservation Commission designation. 16 SPEAKER QUINN: Coupled on General 17 Orders. 18 COUNCIL CLERK: LU 680 through LU 686 19 on page five. 20 SPEAKER QUINN: Approved with 21 modifications and referred to the City Planning 22 Commission, pursuant to Rule 11.70(b) of the Rules 23 of the Council and Section 197-(d) of the New York 24 City Charter. 25 COUNCIL CLERK: LU 687 and Reso 1322. 33 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 Zoning map amendment. 3 SPEAKER QUINN: Coupled on General 4 Orders. 5 COUNCIL CLERK: Report of the 6 Committee on Parks and Recreation. 7 Intro. 674-A. Pruning vegetation that 8 obstructs traffic devices. 9 SPEAKER QUINN: Amended and coupled on 10 General Orders. 11 COUNCIL CLERK: Report of the 12 Committee on Rules, Privileges and Elections. 13 M 942 and Reso 1323. Approving the 14 appointment of Jose Maldonado, Civil Service 15 Commission. 16 SPEAKER QUINN: Coupled on General 17 Orders. 18 COUNCIL CLERK: Preconsidered M 968 19 and Reso 1324. Approving reappointment of Jane C. 20 Kalmus, Commissioner of Voter Assistance Commission. 21 SPEAKER QUINN: Coupled on General 22 Orders. 23 COUNCIL CLERK: Report of the 24 Committee on Sanitation and Solid Waste Management. 25 Preconsidered M 964. Filing of 34 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 electronic equipment. 3 SPEAKER QUINN: Coupled on General 4 Orders. 5 COUNCIL CLERK: Preconsidered Intro. 6 728, handling of electronic equipment. 7 SPEAKER QUINN: Adopted and laid over. 8 COUNCIL CLERK: Preconsidered Intro. 9 729. Electronic equipment collection standards. 10 SPEAKER QUINN: Adopted and laid over. 11 COUNCIL CLERK: Preconsidered Resos 12 1300 and 1301. 13 SPEAKER QUINN: Adopted and laid over. 14 COUNCIL CLERK: Report of the 15 Committee on Transportation. 16 Intro. 567-A. Pedestrian safety. 17 SPEAKER QUINN: Amended and coupled on 18 General Orders with a Message of Necessity. 19 PUBLIC ADVOCATE GOTBAUM: General 20 Order Calendar. 21 COUNCIL CLERK: Resolution appointing 22 various persons Commissioner of Deeds. 23 SPEAKER QUINN: Coupled on General 24 Orders. 25 At this point I ask for a roll call 35 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 on all items that have been coupled on the General 3 Order Calendar, please. 4 COUNCIL CLERK: Addabbo. 5 COUNCIL MEMBER ADDABBO: Yes. 6 COUNCIL CLERK: Arroyo. 7 (No response.) 8 COUNCIL CLERK: Avella. 9 COUNCIL MEMBER AVELLA: Aye. 10 COUNCIL CLERK: Baez. 11 COUNCIL MEMBER BAEZ: Aye. 12 COUNCIL CLERK: Brewer. 13 COUNCIL MEMBER BREWER: Aye. 14 COUNCIL CLERK: Comrie. 15 COUNCIL MEMBER COMRIE: Present. 16 Permission to vote Land Use Call-Ups? 17 Aye on all. I'm going to take it 18 permission was granted. Aye on all. 19 PUBLIC ADVOCATE GOTBAUM: So ordered. 20 COUNCIL CLERK: DeBlasio. 21 COUNCIL MEMBER DEBLASIO: Aye on all. 22 COUNCIL CLERK: Dickens. 23 (No response.) 24 COUNCIL CLERK: Eugene. 25 COUNCIL MEMBER EUGENE: Aye. 36 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 COUNCIL CLERK: Felder. 3 COUNCIL MEMBER FELDER: May I be 4 excused to vote on all of the Land Use items as 5 well, please? 6 PUBLIC ADVOCATE GOTBAUM: So ordered. 7 COUNCIL MEMBER FELDER: Thank you. I 8 vote yes on all. 9 COUNCIL CLERK: Fidler. 10 COUNCIL MEMBER FIDLER: Aye on all. 11 COUNCIL CLERK: Foster. 12 COUNCIL MEMBER FOSTER: Aye on all. 13 COUNCIL CLERK: Garodnick. 14 COUNCIL MEMBER GARODNICK: Aye. 15 COUNCIL CLERK: Gentile. 16 COUNCIL MEMBER GENTILE: Aye. 17 COUNCIL CLERK: Gennaro. 18 COUNCIL MEMBER GENNARO: Yes. 19 COUNCIL CLERK: Gerson. 20 (No response.) 21 COUNCIL CLERK: Gioia. 22 COUNCIL MEMBER GIOIA: Yes. 23 COUNCIL CLERK: Ignizio. 24 COUNCIL MEMBER IGNIZIO: Yes. 25 COUNCIL CLERK: Jackson. 37 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 COUNCIL MEMBER JACKSON: Aye on all. 3 COUNCIL CLERK: James. 4 COUNCIL MEMBER JAMES: Aye on all. 5 COUNCIL CLERK: Katz. 6 COUNCIL MEMBER KATZ: Aye on all. 7 COUNCIL CLERK: Lappin. 8 COUNCIL MEMBER LAPPIN: Aye on all. 9 COUNCIL CLERK: Liu. 10 COUNCIL MEMBER LIU: Yes. 11 COUNCIL CLERK: Mark-Viverito. 12 COUNCIL MEMBER MARK-VIVERITO: Aye on 13 all. 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 COUNCIL MEMBER MENDEZ: Aye on all. 22 COUNCIL CLERK: Dickens. 23 COUNCIL MEMBER DICKENS: Aye. 24 COUNCIL CLERK: Monserrate. 25 COUNCIL MEMBER MONSERRATE: Aye on 38 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 all. 3 COUNCIL CLERK: Nelson. 4 COUNCIL MEMBER NELSON: Aye on all. 5 COUNCIL CLERK: Palma. 6 (No response.) 7 COUNCIL CLERK: Recchia. 8 COUNCIL MEMBER RECCHIA: Aye on all. 9 COUNCIL CLERK: Reyna. 10 COUNCIL MEMBER REYNA: Aye on all. 11 COUNCIL CLERK: Sanders. 12 COUNCIL MEMBER SANDERS: Yes to all. 13 COUNCIL CLERK: Sears. 14 COUNCIL MEMBER SEARS: Yes. 15 COUNCIL CLERK: Stewart. 16 COUNCIL MEMBER STEWART: Yes on all. 17 COUNCIL CLERK: Vacca. 18 COUNCIL MEMBER VACCA: Aye on all. 19 COUNCIL CLERK: Vallone. 20 COUNCIL MEMBER VALLONE: Aye on all. 21 COUNCIL CLERK: Vann. 22 COUNCIL MEMBER VANN: Aye on all. 23 COUNCIL CLERK: Weprin. 24 COUNCIL MEMBER WEPRIN: Aye on all. 25 COUNCIL CLERK: Yassky. 39 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 COUNCIL MEMBER YASSKY: I request 3 permission to vote on the Land Use Call-Ups as well. 4 I'm assuming that's granted. I vote aye. 5 PUBLIC ADVOCATE GOTBAUM: So ordered. 6 COUNCIL MEMBER YASSKY: I vote aye on 7 all Land Use Call-Ups and aye on the General Order 8 calendar, as well. 9 PUBLIC ADVOCATE GOTBAUM: So ordered. 10 Sorry. 11 COUNCIL CLERK: McMahon. 12 COUNCIL MEMBER McMAHON: Aye. Can I 13 just say, Madam Public Advocate, you look wonderful 14 in your St. Patrick's Day green colors there today. 15 Happy St. Patrick's Day to you. 16 COUNCIL MEMBER YASSKY: Second. 17 COUNCIL CLERK: Oddo. 18 COUNCIL MEMBER ODDO: Is Council 19 Member McMahon done? 20 PUBLIC ADVOCATE GOTBAUM: Quiet, 21 please. 22 COUNCIL MEMBER ODDO: Who else looks 23 good? Aye. 24 COUNCIL CLERK: Rivera. 25 COUNCIL MEMBER RIVERA: I vote aye. 40 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 COUNCIL CLERK: Speaker Quinn. 3 SPEAKER QUINN: Yes. The camera guy 4 looks lovely, too, in his green, you know. 5 PUBLIC ADVOCATE GOTBAUM: All items on 6 today's General -- 7 SPEAKER QUINN: Maria Baez. There are 8 a lot of other people -- I've gotten off message. 9 I'm sorry, Madam Public Advocate. 10 PUBLIC ADVOCATE GOTBAUM: That's all 11 right. It's all unintentional, believe me. 12 All items on today's General Order 13 calendar were adopted by a vote of 46 in the 14 affirmative, zero in the negative, and zero 15 abstentions. Quiet, please. 16 Introduction and Reading of Bills. 17 SPEAKER QUINN: All bills are referred 18 to committees as indicated on the agenda. 19 Just if I could for one second on a 20 St. Patrick's Day note, tonight starting at 5:30 we 21 do have our St. Patrick's Day event here in the 22 Chambers, and I would not just welcome but urge 23 folks to attend because we're going to have a great 24 program for a host of reasons, not the least of 25 which we're going to be joined and honoring Senator 41 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 George Mitchell, who is, of course, one of the most 3 important people as it relates to the Good Friday 4 Agreement. We're honored to have him, and I hope as 5 many Council members and Council staff can join us 6 tonight at 5:30 in this Chambers, and the Public 7 Advocate, as well. 8 PUBLIC ADVOCATE GOTBAUM: Discussion 9 of Resolutions. 10 Quiet, please. 11 Okay, there are three resolutions, 12 all by the Committee on Veterans. So, Resolution 13 1005 is calling upon the United States Congress to 14 pass the Heroes at Home Act. 15 Resolution 1117 is a resolution 16 calling on the Congress to pass the Bridging the Gap 17 for Wounded Warriors Act. 18 Just a minute. Let me finish reading 19 these and then I'll call on the Council Member. 20 And then Resolution 1150, which is on 21 the Congress to pass the Traumatic Brain Injury 22 Access to Options. 23 Council Member Monserrate. 24 COUNCIL MEMBER MONSERRATE: Thank you, 25 Madam Chair. 42 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 Just very quickly -- 3 SPEAKER QUINN: If we can just get a 4 little quiet in the Chambers, please, just before 5 the sponsor of the resolutions speak. Thank you. 6 COUNCIL MEMBER MONSERRATE: Thank you 7 very much. 8 My colleagues, I just wanted to add 9 that as our service members are serving overseas, we 10 understand that Traumatic Brain Injury, which is 11 considered now the signature wound for our service 12 members involved in conflicts in Iraq and 13 Afghanistan, are hard reality. 14 Due to advancements in body arm and 15 medicine, many more soldiers are surviving these 16 current conflicts compared to previous wars. But 17 unfortunately, many more are coming home with 18 terrible injuries. 19 These three measures in the Congress 20 will go a long way towards helping better the 21 quality of life of our returning vets. 22 I ask all my colleagues to support 23 the three resolutions. Thank you very much. 24 PUBLIC ADVOCATE GOTBAUM: Anybody 25 else? 43 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 Okay, let's vote on Resolution 1005. 3 All in favor? 4 Opposed? 5 Adopted. 6 Resolution 1117. 7 All in favor? 8 Opposed? 9 Adopted. 10 Resolution 1150. 11 All in favor? 12 Opposed? 13 Adopted. 14 General Discussion. 15 Council Member Mark-Viverito. 16 COUNCIL MEMBER MARK-VIVERITO: Thank 17 you, Madam Public Advocate. 18 I wanted to just rise today and speak 19 very quickly on an issue of great importance. 20 PUBLIC ADVOCATE GOTBAUM: Quiet, 21 please. 22 COUNCIL MEMBER MARK-VIVERITO: Next 23 week, Wednesday, March 19, marks a full five years 24 since the start of the war in Iraq. Almost 4,000 US 25 service men and women and 1 million Iraqis have 44 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 died, 2 million Iraqis living as refugees, 25 3 million are displaced within Iraq. And as Council 4 Member Hiram Monserrate mentioned with regards to 5 the resolution, and it stated in the text, over 6 30,000 service men and women are wounded in action 7 and returning to use wounded. 8 More than 1 trillion dollars have 9 been spent on this illegal, immoral war. That's $720 10 million a day, $500,000 a minute. The ongoing 11 allocation to this war require us to make many 12 sacrifices. Seven-hundred and twenty-million dollars 13 a day, the cost of war, means 6,400 families with 14 homes, 84 new elementary schools, 34,900 four-year 15 scholarships for university students, 12,478 16 elementary school teachers, 95,364 Head Start places 17 for children, 1.2 million homes with renewable 18 energy, 1.2 children with free school lunches, 19 423,000 children with health care. 20 Next week thousands across this 21 country will march to commemorate this day. The cost 22 of war, $720 million a day, $500,000 a minute, 4,000 23 dead service men and women. We really need to think 24 hard about this. 25 Let's keep raising our voices to 45 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 demand an end to this war, and to ensure that we 3 prioritize our monies correctly, that we do take 4 care of those soldiers that are returning to us 5 wounded, that we do right by them. And personally, I 6 know that this body does recognize those service men 7 and women that have given the ultimate sacrifice by 8 recognizing them every time that we have these 9 Stated Meetings. 10 So, with that, thank you for your 11 time. 12 PUBLIC ADVOCATE GOTBAUM: Speaker 13 Quinn. 14 SPEAKER QUINN: Thank you. Just two 15 quick things. 16 PUBLIC ADVOCATE GOTBAUM: Quiet, 17 please. 18 SPEAKER QUINN: I wanted to 19 congratulate our First Deputy Chief of Staff Ramon 20 Martinez, who since the last time he was at one of 21 our Stateds, he had a beautiful wedding and has been 22 married and gone on a very relaxing honeymoon, so we 23 wanted to congratulate him. 24 We saw it, Jimmy and I, we saw it, 25 and we want to congratulate Ramon, wish Laura the 46 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 best of luck, and generally find another reason to 3 mock Ramon Martinez. So, congratulations, Ramon. And 4 also -- he's ignoring me now - Laura Gordon in our 5 Press Office, who was here a moment ago but may have 6 stepped out. She recently moved over to our Press 7 Office from the Policy Unit. She is getting married 8 this weekend, and we wanted to wish Laura the best 9 of luck and hope that she has a wonderful wedding on 10 Saturday. Thank you. 11 PUBLIC ADVOCATE GOTBAUM: Seeing 12 nobody -- oh, Council Member Felder. 13 Quiet, please. 14 COUNCIL MEMBER FELDER: It's not the 15 first time I've been called that. 16 I want to talk about Intro. 730, and 17 Intro. 735, for a moment. 18 Intro. 730 obligate the Parks 19 Department to repair any sidewalks that are ripped 20 up by the roots of trees, coming up. 21 Right now the process is that the 22 City had a program that was a pilot program, and 23 it's under-funded, so many of those cases that we 24 call in where the sidewalks are uprooted by the 25 trees do not get repaired, and DOT comes and issues 47 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 violations to the home owners for the repair of 3 those sidewalks. 4 This bill would compel the City Parks 5 Department, or the City in general, to repair those 6 broken sidewalks. 7 And Intro. 735 relates to the City 8 providing funds for security for all schools. At 9 this moment the only money that the City spends on 10 non-public schools relate to an old law mandated by 11 New York State 20 years ago, which talks about 12 transportation, food, textbooks and nurses. 13 And, obviously, at that time the 14 State law did not discuss security because security 15 was not an issue. There was no need for that in 16 public schools as well. But non-public schools 17 deserve security as well. We're not discussing 18 spending millions of dollars to put policemen into 19 non-public schools. We're talking about funding for 20 basic needs, such as buzzers, video cameras, to make 21 sure that people who don't belong in the school 22 never wind up getting through the door. 23 And with the events in Israel as a 24 reminder, tragic reminder, certainly this is 25 something that we should think about and try and get 48 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 done immediately. 3 Thank you. 4 PUBLIC ADVOCATE GOTBAUM: Madam 5 Speaker, would you like to add something? 6 SPEAKER QUINN: Laura has come back, 7 and so just -- this is not the Laura that Ramon 8 married, that's a different Laura. It's Laura 9 Gordon, who does a terrific job in our press office, 10 and before that in our Policy Unit, and she just 11 came back up. So, we all want to wish you the best 12 of luck and a wonderful, wonderful and terrific day 13 on Saturday. So, congratulations. Thank you. 14 PUBLIC ADVOCATE GOTBAUM: Council 15 Member Ignizio. 16 COUNCIL MEMBER IGNIZIO: Thank you, 17 Madam Public Advocate. 18 I just wanted to rise to actually, in 19 this, the most sacred time of the year, to call for 20 prayers, from the people of New York City, this 21 Council and anybody who is within the sound of my 22 voice, for Governor Spitzer and his family at this 23 time. Nobody should be reveling in this situation. 24 And to pray for the in-coming Governor Patterson, 25 that he succeeds in his mission to support and work 49 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 for the people of the people of New York, and 3 honestly and with integrity. 4 So, I just wanted to rise because I 5 will be celebrating the Easter holiday coming up, 6 and quite frankly, wanted to encourage my friends 7 here to say a prayer for him, his family and for the 8 in-coming Governor at this trying time. 9 Thank you. 10 PUBLIC ADVOCATE GOTBAUM: Thank you. 11 Anybody else? Okay, thus the Stated 12 Meeting of March 12th is hereby over. 13 (Hearing concluded at 3:00 p.m.) 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 50 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 March 2008. 19 20 21 22 23 --------------------- 24 CINDY MILLELOT, CSR. 25 51 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