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 February 27, 2008 11 Start: 2:40 p.m. Recess: 5:35 p.m. 12 City Hall 13 Council Chambers New York, New York 14 15 B E F O R E: 16 LEROY COMRIE Acting 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 Erik Martin-Dilan Mathieu Eugene 6 Simcha Felder Lewis Fidler 7 Helen Foster Dennis Gallagher 8 Daniel Garodnick James Gennaro 9 Vincent Gentile Alan Gerson 10 Eric Gioia Sara Gonzalez 11 Vincent Ignizio Robert Jackson 12 Letitia James Melinda Katz 13 G. Oliver Koppell Jessica Lappin 14 John Liu Miguel Martinez 15 Michael McMahon Rosie Mendez 16 Hiram Monserrate Michael Nelson 17 James Oddo Diana Reyna 18 Joel Rivera James Sanders 19 Larry Seabrook Helen Sears 20 Kendall Stewart James Vacca 21 Peter Vallone, Jr. Albert Vann 22 Melissa Mark-Viverito David Weprin 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 City Clerk Hector Diaz 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: The 3 proclamation to be given out is from esteemed 4 colleague Vincent Ignizio and it's to Staff Sergeant 5 David W. Karnes for his valiant response to the 6 tragic events on September 11th. 7 You know, every time we recall this 8 tragic day, it gives us a somber feeling and we 9 always have to look at our brave heroes that went 10 down there and represented our City and our nation, 11 as well, and we have a debt of gratitude that we 12 will probably never be able to repay for your 13 services, but this is our way of saying thank you. 14 Now I want to give my colleague the 15 opportunity to say a few words. 16 COUNCIL MEMBER IGNIZIO: Thank you, 17 Mr. Majority Leader. 18 We're here with a great story of a 19 true American hero, true hero to New York. 20 Staff Sergeant Karnes was working in 21 his office in Connecticut, as an accountant, but 22 don't hold that against him at 9/11. When he had 23 heard of the tragedy which ensued, being the proud 24 Marine, being the proud military man that he was, he 25 jumped in his car, and went down to the site and saw 5 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 what he could do to help. And you may have 3 remembered Sergeant Karnes, because he was the lead 4 character, I would say, in the movie by Oliver 5 Stone. He pulled out the last two of the three known 6 survivors, the Port Authority police officers, and 7 our City owes you a debt of gratitude, we really do 8 appreciate your efforts. And we have other really 9 great people who are here today. The Agello family. 10 Megan Agello, who is right over here. C'mon, Megan. 11 You have to come up with us. Megan has been waiting 12 all day, and she was communicating with Staff 13 Sergeant Karnes while he was in Iraq, because after 14 all the great work that he did on 9/11, it moved him 15 to re-enlist and he served two tours of duty in 16 Iraq. 17 Is this not a true American hero, I 18 don't know what one is, friends. 19 And Megan is here to communicate with 20 him, and in fact, she cooked him dinner; is that 21 true? 22 STAFF SERGEANT KARNES: Yes, it is. 23 COUNCIL MEMBER IGNIZIO: She cooked 24 him dinner not too long ago, and we're proud to have 25 you here. Thank you for coming to the City Council. 6 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 It's great to have you, Megan. And it really is a 3 testament to this man's character, that he has given 4 to this community, he has given his service to the 5 Marines for 23 years, was a hero on 9/11 and then 6 signed up yet again and did two tours in Iraq. And I 7 am humbly grateful to your service to our country 8 and to this City, and I really do appreciate you 9 being here today, sir. 10 Thank you very much. 11 My colleague, Michael McMahon. 12 COUNCIL MEMBER McMAHON: There is 13 nothing more than I can add, except Sergeant, state 14 the obvious, that you know that whether when you ran 15 into the devastation after the bombing of 9/11 and 16 saved lives or when you went to Iraq, like all the 17 men and women who put on the uniform of this 18 country, you do is so proudly, that you're fighting 19 for us all, but especially for the Megan Agellos and 20 for her sister, whose name is? 21 ERIN: Erin. 22 COUNCIL MEMBER McMAHON: And the Erin 23 Agellos. You know better than I do that this is what 24 you're fighting for, and all I can do, as someone 25 who has benefitted from your sacrifice, is to say 7 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 thank you. Thank you. 3 COUNCIL MEMBER IGNIZIO: And Minority 4 Leader James Oddo. 5 COUNCIL MEMBER ODDO: Thank you. 6 I just want to say thank you. And 7 it's probably not coincidental that we're honoring 8 you on the same day that we're honoring the young 9 men from Curtis, and if you're ever looking for a 10 role model in this room, don't look at the elected 11 officials, frankly, look at this gentleman right 12 here. And we all need to follow the standard he set. 13 God bless. Thank you. 14 COUNCIL MEMBER IGNIZIO: And a true 15 civic leader and somebody who has been there the 16 whole way is Joe Delaney from Deloitte & Touche. 17 And I want to have a little asterisk 18 if I can? There was a staffing error on my part. My 19 colleagues from Staten Island were supposed to be on 20 this but we got it in too late and the Speaker 21 already signed it and it was already framed. So, I 22 will be getting you another one with everybody's 23 signatures, and I apologize to both my colleagues 24 for that. I wanted to do that publicly. 25 Joe Delaney. 8 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 MR. DELANEY: Thank you, Vinnie. 3 I think that we once heard in the 4 Great Book that no greater love does a man have that 5 he would risk his own life for another. And on 9/11 6 David risked his own life because he believed in 7 life and he believed in our country. And on the 8 first day of the scrimmage of this terrible war on 9 terror, Staff Sergeant Karnes was a hero and 10 continues to be an inspiration for all of us. So, I 11 thank you, Councilman Vincent, Councilman Oddo, 12 Mike, all of the City Council. As a citizen of New 13 York, I can't tell you how proud I am of this day 14 and of all of you for your recognition of Staff 15 Sergeant David Karnes. 16 God bless you, David. 17 MAJORITY LEADER RIVERA: Now if the 18 City Clerk can please read the Proclamation. 19 CITY CLERK: The Council of the City 20 of New York is proud to honor Staff Sergeant David 21 W. Karnes for his valiant response to the tragic 22 events of September 11th, 2001; and 23 Whereas: David Karnes, an accountant 24 by profession, was in Wilton Connecticut in his 25 office at Deloitte & Touche, and after witnessing 9 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 the horrific events unfold on television, and 3 praying for a clear course of action, he answered 4 the call by setting off toward the World Trade 5 Center site. A devout Christian and former Marine, 6 Staff Sergeant Karnes stopped at a local church to 7 ask the pastor and parishioners to say a prayer that 8 God would lead him to survivors; and 9 Whereas: After the World Trade Center 10 towers had fallen, only twelve survivors were pulled 11 from the rubble, despite the tireless efforts of so 12 many rescuers. Staff Sergeant Karnes and Sergeant 13 Thomas rescued two of the last three survivors, both 14 of whom were Port Authority Police Officers, trapped 15 twenty feet below the surface. Staff Sergeant Karnes 16 continued helping with the rescue efforts at ground 17 zero for another nine days; and 18 Be It Known, that with deepest 19 gratitude, the Council of the City of New York 20 honors Staff Sergeant David W. Karnes for his heroic 21 response to the tragic events of September 11th, 22 2001. 23 Christine C. Quinn, Speaker of the 24 Entire Council, and Vincent M. Ignizio, Council 25 Member, 51st District, Staten Island. 10 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 STAFF SERGEANT KARNES: Thank you very 3 much. This was an extreme honor for me to be here 4 today, and have this recognition. 5 Councilman Vinnie, I appreciate your 6 efforts in this. Distinguished Council members, 7 thank you. Special thanks to Joseph Delaney from 8 Deloitte & Touche, who I know is the man behind 9 pushing this through, I really appreciate it. 10 And I just wanted to say, as I heard 11 the Proclamation, I reflected back on when we were 12 attacked and it reminded me that yesterday was the 13 15th anniversary of the bombing of the World Trade 14 Center, 1993, and it just makes you realize the 15 importance of never forgetting that we were attacked 16 in '93 and 2001, who attacked us, why they attacked 17 us and that they still want to attack us. They will 18 attack us, if they get the opportunity. 19 As far as what I've did, I'm sure you 20 all know the story, it was through reflection and 21 prayer that God had put on my heart to go down there 22 and look for those survivors, and without a doubt, I 23 believe that God led me to those two trapped 24 officers. So, I give the honor and praise to God for 25 that. 11 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 And I would ask that everyone here, 3 and watching on television, to please continue to 4 remember our troops in your prayers, as they daily 5 risk their lives to protect our country, and prevent 6 further attacks to our City. 7 And if you say you support the 8 troops, I would ask you to support their mission. 9 Because the troops, we believe in the mission and 10 everyone that is over there fighting is willing to 11 give their lives, if necessary, to ensure success, 12 missions' success. I did three continuous tours over 13 there in Iraq, because I did not want to leave the 14 battle zone because I realized how vital and 15 important it was, what we were doing over there. And 16 there are a lot of people just like me that feel 17 that way. And I, once again I thank you for this 18 great honor. I share this honor with 343 firemen 19 that perished on 9/11, 37 Port Authority cops, and 20 23 NYPD police officers and the countless other 21 military personnel and other brave souls that went 22 into those tours that were either, they either died 23 saving lives or trying to save lives. 24 That's what this is all about and our 25 country is worth it. Thank you. 12 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 And I also, of course, want to thank 3 my wife, Rosemary, for all of her support she's 4 given to me. She had to endure 17 months of me being 5 in the combat zone in Iraq, and she also endured me 6 being deployed over in the Philippines in Okinawa 7 for a year, so I've been gone at least four and a 8 half of the last five years, and thank you, 9 Rosemary, for your support. You're also a hero. 10 COUNCIL MEMBER IGNIZIO: Thank you 11 very much. 12 Ladies and gentlemen, a true American 13 hero, Staff Sergeant Karnes. 14 MAJORITY LEADER RIVERA: And next we 15 have the opportunity to call up the Curtis High 16 School Football Team for their contributions. 17 We know that the New York Giants won 18 the Super Bowl and I know we're going to see some of 19 these star athletes in the National Football League 20 pretty soon, but I'm going to call up my colleague, 21 Council Member McMahon and the football players to 22 please come up. Take formation. 23 And at this point in time, I will 24 turn the microphone over to my colleague, Council 25 Member Mike McMahon to say a few words on behalf of 13 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 the Curtis Warriors High School Football Team. 3 COUNCIL MEMBER McMAHON: Thank you 4 very much, Majority Leader Rivera. I want to point 5 out to everybody here that you're not just looking 6 at a football team. You're not just looking at New 7 York City's very own dynasty, and I want to point 8 out that Coach Olivieri did it without cheating or 9 in any way spying on the other team, but he did it, 10 and what you're also looking at, though, is what he 11 did it with, which is our City's and our nation's 12 future. Because this is not just any old football 13 team. This is a football team made up of scholar 14 athletes, who under Coach Olivieri, and I just want 15 to say Coach Olivieri, Coach Peter Gambardella, 16 Andrew Schron, Joe Baratta, Peter McNamara, and, of 17 course, the Athletic Director, Eric Ritzer, this is 18 a team that represents the best in us, because they 19 work hard, they sacrifice. When other kids are going 20 out to parties or sweet 16s or dances, these kids 21 are doing what Coach O tells them all year-round, 22 which is to live a good life, and during the year he 23 takes them to heights that we can only dream of. 24 Winning undefeated this year, fourth City 25 championship in ten years. And you guys have to know 14 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 that not only are we proud of you on Staten Island, 3 but you lift our spirits all the time. When you're 4 having a bad day, maybe a bad Sunday or a bad 5 Monday, you pick up the paper, you see how Curtis 6 Football Team is doing, or if you get to watch the 7 game in person or watch it on TV, you provide an 8 uplifting inspiration to all Staten Islanders. It is 9 just for all of us I think a great treat to know you 10 and to support you, and these kids are not only 11 great on the field, I know a great Quarterback, Mr. 12 LeGrande, is going to Boston College on a full 13 scholarship. Where is he? There he is. Come on over 14 here, Dom. This is Dominick LeGrande, going to 15 Boston College on a full scholarship. And I know, 16 you know, this is a team, and all of the time, 17 whether we're at the Advance, All Stars, or 18 whatever, everybody is talking about the 19 Quarterback. You know, well, he is the best looking 20 guy on the team, but other than that, you guys are a 21 team and you showed us for every position every 22 player works and deserves and savors, not only this 23 championship, being part of this dynasty, being part 24 of Coach O's life, but being part of Staten Island 25 history. And 25 years from now you're going to pick 15 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 up the Advance Newspaper and they're going to talk 3 about the great dynasties in sporting events that 4 happened in the history of our borough, and the 5 Curtis legacy under Coach Olivieri will be listed, 6 and you guys will be listed front and center. 7 So, on behalf of my colleagues, I 8 just want to say, Coach, great job. 9 COACH OLIVIERI: Thank you very much. 10 COUNCIL MEMBER McMAHON: And also, 11 James Oddo, our Minority Leader, Vincent Ignizio, my 12 colleague, join me in that. 13 At this time I'd ask the clerk to 14 read the proclamation. 15 CITY CLERK: Whereas, the City of New 16 York is pleased and proud to honor the Curtis High 17 School football team of 2007. 18 Whereas: The offense, which averaged 19 over 40 points a game, was led by four-year starting 20 quarterback Dominick LeGrande, running back Shaahiyn 21 Alston, Linemen Jermaine Endeley, Lionel Salomen, 22 and Lawrence Ricks, and wide receivers Micklos Blake 23 and Davis Easley; and 24 Whereas: Led by two three-year 25 starters, linebacker Christopher Thomas and 16 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 defensive end Davon Colbert, who together combined 3 for over 20 quarterback sacks and numerous 4 turnovers; and 5 Whereas: Coach Fred Olivieri and his 6 fine staff - Peter Gambardella, Andrew Schron, 7 Joseph Baretta and Peter McNamara - did an 8 outstanding job of motivating and inspiring the team 9 week after week; now, therefore 10 Be It Known: That the Council of the City of New 11 York, on behalf of the people, families and 12 organizations that make up the community of Staten 13 Island, proudly and publicly celebrates the 14 undefeated season of the City Title Championship of 15 Curtis High School Warriors of 2007. 16 Signed this 27th day of February in 17 the Year of 2008, Christine C. Quinn, Speaker for 18 the Entire Council; Michael E. McMahon, Council 19 Member, 49th District, Staten Island; James Oddo, 20 Majority Leader, 50th District, Staten Island; 21 Vincent Ignizio, Council Member, 51st District, 22 Staten Island; and Domenic M. Recchia, Jr., Council 23 Member, 47th District, Brooklyn. 24 COUNCIL MEMBER McMAHON: Ladies and 25 gentlemen, the man who won this fourth championship 17 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 in ten years and with the title championship won his 3 170th career game for Curtis, he's a great 4 inspiration to all of us, Fred Olivieri. 5 COACH OLIVIERI: Thank you very much, 6 Councilman McMahon. We're really honored to be here, 7 and we really cherish this honor that's being 8 bestowed upon us and I just couldn't say enough 9 about this year's team. If you look behind me, there 10 is only 30 strong, and after losing last year's City 11 championship game in '06 and going 12 and 1, the 12 boys got right back there after it, and the only 13 thing we could do better than 12 and 1 is go 13 and 14 0. We did what the Patriots could not do, we won the 15 last game. And you don't know, I mean 30 guys, 30 16 teenagers on the same page for 13 weeks, I tip my 17 hat to them, they were terrific. It doesn't get any 18 better than this. We're really honored to be here 19 and I thank you very much for all of your efforts on 20 our behalf, Councilman McMahon. 21 COUNCIL MEMBER McMAHON: Thank you. 22 Thank you, guys. Keep up the great 23 careers, either at Curtis or as you go on to 24 college, and the last thing we can say is Go 25 Warriors. Thanks, guys. 18 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 Hold on. 3 COACH OLIVIERI: Let's not forget, we 4 have a lot of seniors, they're all planning for 5 college, and you heard Dominick LeGrande, you know, 6 full scholarship to college, on the defensive side, 7 where is Chris Thomas? Just step up for a minute. 8 He's actually following Dominick's brother. Dominick 9 LeGrande's brother, Shamila LeGrande, is finishing 10 Hofstra, you know, playing football there, and this 11 Christopher Thomas, full scholarship to Hofstra on 12 the defensive side. He's a linebacker. He's a past 13 rusher (phonetic) forte, is his main thing, and 14 we're very happy for both boys and all the other 15 seniors. Thank you very much. 16 COUNCIL MEMBER McMAHON: Thank you, 17 Coach. Thank you. 18 Go Warriors. 19 MAJORITY LEADER RIVERA: At this point 20 in time, I want to call up my colleague, Council 21 Member Vincent Gentile, to bring up his honoree, who 22 we should all be proud of, and be proud of what she 23 represents. Colonel Tracey Nicholson, you know, is a 24 Colonel, and she represents what so much have 25 aspired to do for so long, and that's represent our 19 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 country in the US Army. And we want to bring her up 3 for her proclamation and I want to give my 4 colleague, Councilman Gentile, the opportunity to 5 say a few words. 6 COUNCIL MEMBER GENTILE: Thank you, 7 Mr. Majority Leader. Thank you very, very much. 8 You know, in honoring Colonel Tracey 9 Nicholson, who today the Daily News called "Fort 10 Hamilton's rising star," -- and you can join us up 11 here -- you know, it's very difficult to decide 12 whether to honor Colonel Nicholson during Women's 13 History Month in March or Black History Month in 14 February, because she has been a role model both to 15 women and African-Americans everywhere. 16 But certainly, certainly today I know 17 Colonel Tracey Nicholson as the commander of Fort 18 Hamilton Army Installation in Bayridge, Brooklyn, 19 and she will go down in history as the first female 20 commander in the 183-year-old history of the 21 installation, and one of the first few 22 African-American females to command an installation 23 in the continental United States. And that really is 24 an accomplishment. 25 And besides making history, Colonel 20 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 Nicholson has also made progress at Fort Hamilton. 3 She has overseen a $20 million building project on 4 the base which has improved the quality of life for 5 the men and women who serve in the military at Fort 6 Hamilton. She has made a mark in our community, and 7 she is certainly someone that we all look up to as a 8 role model. Unfortunately, or fortunately, because 9 it advances her career, she will be leaving us in 10 just a very few months, and she will be heading to 11 Bagdad and she will be part of General Petrase's 12 (phonetic) personal staff, and so it is a big job 13 and something that we all pray and hope for the 14 best. And we want to take this time today in the 15 City Council, and my members here who are with me to 16 present this proclamation to Colonel Tracey 17 Nicholson for all her efforts and accomplishments 18 and all our best wishes. 19 And as the official seal of the City 20 of New York, I ask the Clerk to please read the 21 proclamation. 22 CITY CLERK: Whereas: The Council of 23 New York are proud to honor Colonel Tracey E. 24 Nicholson for her accomplishments during her 25 professional career as an officer in the United 21 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 States Army; and 3 Whereas: In her current role as 4 Commander of the United States Army Garrison Fort 5 Hamilton, Colonel is an inspirational role model to 6 African-American women, and indeed, to all young 7 people in the Fort Hamilton Army community, and in 8 the Borough of Brooklyn; and 9 Whereas: Colonel Nicholson's awards 10 and decorations include the Defense Meritorious 11 Service Medal (1st Oak Leaf Cluster); the 12 Meritorious Service Medal (4th Oak Leaf Cluster); 13 the Army Commendation Medal (4th Oak Leaf Cluster); 14 the Navy Achievement Medal; the National Defense 15 Service Medal; the Global War on Terrorism-Service 16 Medal; Army Reserve; Overseas; and Service ribbons; 17 now, therefore 18 Be It Known: That the Council of the 19 City of New York most gratefully honor Colonel 20 Tracey E. Nicholson for her outstanding service to 21 our City, State and Nation, signed this 27th day of 22 February in the Year 2008. 23 Christine C. Quinn, Speaker for the 24 Entire Council; Vincent J. Gentile, Council Member, 25 43rd District, Brooklyn; Erik Martin Dilan, Council 22 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 Member, 37th District, Brooklyn; Letitia James, 3 Council Member, 35th District, Brooklyn; Darlene 4 Mealy, Council Member, 41st District, Brooklyn; 5 Kendall Stewart, Council Member, 45th District, 6 Brooklyn; Mathieu Eugene, Council Member, 40th 7 District, Brooklyn; Albert Vann, Council Member, 8 36th District, Brooklyn. 9 COUNCIL MEMBER GENTILE: And now we 10 want to give Colonel Tracey Nicholson an opportunity 11 to say a few words. 12 Colonel. 13 COLONEL NICHOLSON: Thank you very 14 much, Councilman Gentile, and all of the Council 15 representatives here today, thank you so very much, 16 and particularly to the Brooklyn Council Members, 17 because I tend to spend quite a bit of time with all 18 of you and I sure appreciate, or most of you, I 19 guess I should say, some we haven't had an 20 opportunity to spend time with yet. But I want to 21 thank all of you so very much, this is really, it's 22 an overwhelming -- I just could not believe it when 23 I got the phone call to be here, so this is 24 overwhelming. It's an incredible opportunity for me. 25 I love what I do. I love the military. I am so very, 23 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 very proud of the young men and women in uniform who 3 are serving our country valiantly each and every 4 day. 5 So, for you all to acknowledge me, I 6 just want to accept this on behalf of all of those 7 wonderful young men and women who are paying the 8 ultimate sacrifice in this global war on terrorism. 9 Thank you all very much. I'm 10 overwhelmed. I'm speechless. Thank you all. Thank 11 each and every one of you for being here today. It's 12 a pleasure. God bless you. 13 Can I just say real quickly, 14 Councilman Gentile, I want to thank you in 15 particular. You spent a lot of time at Fort Hamilton 16 and you actually spend quality time with our 17 military members on a regular basis. So, I want to 18 thank you, because I assume that this was your idea, 19 probably with member -- that's right, it was a 20 collective, but I just want to thank you so much for 21 that, because you were tremendous and we appreciate 22 what you do for us in our district. Thank you, 23 again. 24 COUNCIL MEMBER FELDER: Let me ask the 25 few members, my colleagues who are here, to please 24 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 come to the front for one moment. We have an 3 emergency ceremonial. I promise you won't be sorry. 4 Council Member Gonzalez, Council 5 Member Stewart. You want me to come to you? Carl. 6 Council Member Yassky. Excellent. 7 Well, we're really delighted to have 8 a very special -- and Council Member Garodnick. It's 9 been a very busy day. Unfortunately, we don't have 10 all the members here with us, Council Member Ignizio 11 is joining us. We have a special, special ceremonial 12 today to honor Rich Lamb, who has been doing his 13 work for 30 years. 14 Would you mind joining us, Vinnie? 15 Rich, can you come to the front? Council Member 16 Nelson. Yes, come to the front. If you have any 17 friends here, bring them with you. It's legitimate. 18 Do you want to join us, Frank? Come 19 over here, Rich. 20 I'd like to invite the Minority 21 Leader Councilman James Oddo and Councilman David 22 Yassky to the front, and we should give Rich Lamb a 23 PBA card. 24 I think Council Member Helen Sears, 25 come join us. We're going to first allow the Clerk 25 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 to read it, and please don't read too much, all 3 right? 4 CITY CLERK: Thank you. 5 COUNCIL MEMBER FELDER: Thank you. 6 CITY CLERK: The Council of the City 7 of New York is proud to honor Rich Lamb for his 8 outstanding contributions to the life of our City 9 over the last 30 years at WCBS 880 Radio; and 10 Whereas: Rich Lamb, a native of 11 Hartford, Connecticut, began his career at WCBS 880 12 radio in February 1978, that month his first story 13 featured the Brooklyn Polar Bears taking in an icy 14 dip. But his talents and skills came in especially 15 useful while covering the 88-day newspaper strike 16 that year. 17 During 30 years at WCBS 880 Radio, 18 Rich has matured into a seasoned New York 19 correspondent, reporting on diverse subjects, 20 including the transit strikes of 1980 and 2005, in 21 1993, World Trade Center bombing; destruction and 22 aftermath of 9/11; vibrant parades; and 23 Be It Known: That the Council of the 24 City of New York honors Rich Lamb for 30 years of 25 distinguished service to WCBS Radio 880 and New York 26 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 City. 3 Christine C. Quinn, Speaker for the 4 Entire Council; Simcha Felder, Council Member, 44th 5 District, Brooklyn; and the Brooklyn Delegation. 6 COUNCIL MEMBER FELDER: Thank you. 7 Before we allow Rich to say anything, 8 I want to ask the Minority Leader James Oddo to say 9 a few words. He's known Rich longer than I have. To 10 say a few words about this auspicious occasion. Come 11 over here. 12 COUNCIL MEMBER ODDO: What do I say, 13 Rich? Seriously, there is a natural tension between 14 what we do and what you folks do, and all we ask in 15 our side of this ledger is for fairness and honesty 16 and integrity. And in the 16 years I've been up here 17 as a staff person, as an elected, you've always been 18 fair and honest with me and all of my colleagues. We 19 appreciate it, and we respect you. We genuinely like 20 you, and congratulations. 21 MR. LAMB: Thank you. 22 COUNCIL MEMBER FELDER: Would you like 23 to say a few words? 24 MR. LAMB: I'll have the boss say a 25 few words. 27 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 MR. SHELDON: I'll give it to Rich, 3 but -- 4 COUNCIL MEMBER FELDER: Introduce 5 yourself. 6 MR. SHELDON: I'm Tim Sheldon. I'm the 7 News Director at WCBS. 8 COUNCIL MEMBER FELDER: Excellent. 9 MR. SHELDON: And I grew up as a 10 reporter under Rich, so now I'm very pleased and 11 proud to work with him as a colleague side-by-side. 12 The only thing that I would say here 13 is thank you, all, for honoring what we know, that 14 Rich is a New York treasure. 15 COUNCIL MEMBER FELDER: It would be 16 nice if you paid him a little more. 17 MR. SHELDON: Yes, it would. 18 COUNCIL MEMBER FELDER: You see, I 19 told you I'd get you that raise today. 20 MR. SHELDON: We thank you for this 21 honor, and we thank you for realizing what we do 22 everybody, that we treasure Rich as a friend, as a 23 colleague, and we're very, very, very proud that 24 he's on our side of the team. 25 Thank you. 28 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 COUNCIL MEMBER FELDER: Thank you. 3 Rich. 4 MR. LAMB: Well, you guys ambushed me. 5 You got me. I had no idea. Thank you so much for 6 this honor. I think about the history of this place 7 that, you know, the cornerstone was laid in 1803, 8 this room was put together when it became Greater 9 New York 110 years ago, you know, the portrait that 10 hangs up here by Samuel Finley Breeze Morris, who 11 invented the telegraph, and in essence the modern 12 age. This place is so filled with history and has 13 been so filled with such great people, including 14 yourselves, that I am humbled to get a proclamation 15 like this. And you totally caught me off guard, and 16 I'm going to shut up now because there are a lot of 17 long-winded speeches that happen in this room and I 18 don't want me to be one of them. 19 COUNCIL MEMBER FELDER: This is Rich 20 Lamb, CBS 880. 21 But before you leave, we'd like to 22 invite all your colleagues, not together with the 23 Council members, it's a family picture without 24 politicians, Dr. Lombardi, Dr. Brooks, Dr. Ardozian 25 (phonetic), we don't care. Any other reporters that 29 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 are here that are willing to stand with Rich Lamb 3 alone. Sirefman? Come on. No elected officials will 4 be in this picture at all. We wouldn't even look 5 while they're taking it. Okay, only family. Are 6 there any other reporters that we don't know about? 7 Staten Island Advance, are you in the 8 house? Come on, don't hide. No hiding. Everybody 9 smile. Smile. Say vegetables. Everybody do that 10 again. Three vegetables. Don't go away. 11 Thank you very much. 12 MR. LAMB: Thank you. Thank you very 13 much. 14 COUNCIL MEMBER FELDER: We don't want 15 any hurt feelings but with the budget crunch, we'd 16 like the frame back. 17 ACTING PUBLIC ADVOCATE COMRIE: Pledge 18 of Allegiance. 19 (Pledge of Allegiance.) 20 COUNCIL MEMBER COMRIE: Roll call. 21 COUNCIL CLERK: Addabbo. 22 COUNCIL MEMBER ADDABBO: Here. 23 COUNCIL CLERK: Arroyo. 24 COUNCIL MEMBER ARROYO: Here. 25 COUNCIL CLERK: Avella. 30 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 COUNCIL MEMBER AVELLA: Here. 3 COUNCIL CLERK: Baez. 4 COUNCIL MEMBER BAEZ: Here. 5 COUNCIL CLERK: Barron. 6 COUNCIL MEMBER BARRON: Here. 7 COUNCIL CLERK: Brewer. 8 COUNCIL MEMBER BREWER: Here. 9 COUNCIL CLERK: Comrie. 10 COUNCIL MEMBER COMRIE: Here. 11 COUNCIL CLERK: DeBlasio. 12 COUNCIL MEMBER DEBLASIO: Here. 13 COUNCIL CLERK: Dickens. 14 COUNCIL MEMBER DICKENS: Here. 15 COUNCIL CLERK: Dilan. 16 COUNCIL MEMBER DILAN: Here. 17 COUNCIL CLERK: Eugene. 18 COUNCIL MEMBER EUGENE: Here. 19 COUNCIL CLERK: Felder. 20 COUNCIL MEMBER FELDER: Here. 21 COUNCIL CLERK: Fidler. 22 COUNCIL MEMBER FIDLER: Here. 23 COUNCIL CLERK: Foster. 24 COUNCIL MEMBER FOSTER: Here. 25 COUNCIL CLERK: Gallagher. 31 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 COUNCIL MEMBER GALLAGHER: Here. 3 COUNCIL CLERK: Garodnick. 4 COUNCIL MEMBER GARODNICK: Here. 5 COUNCIL CLERK: Gennaro. 6 COUNCIL MEMBER GENNARO: Here. 7 COUNCIL CLERK: Gentile. 8 COUNCIL MEMBER GENTILE: Here. 9 COUNCIL CLERK: Gerson. 10 COUNCIL MEMBER GERSON: Here. 11 COUNCIL CLERK: Gioia. 12 COUNCIL MEMBER GIOIA: Here. 13 COUNCIL CLERK: Gonzalez. 14 COUNCIL MEMBER GONZALEZ: Here. 15 COUNCIL CLERK: Ignizio. 16 COUNCIL MEMBER IGNIZIO: Here. 17 COUNCIL CLERK: Jackson. 18 COUNCIL MEMBER JACKSON: Here. 19 COUNCIL CLERK: James. 20 COUNCIL MEMBER JAMES: Here. 21 COUNCIL CLERK: Katz. 22 COUNCIL MEMBER KATZ: Here. 23 COUNCIL CLERK: Koppell. 24 COUNCIL MEMBER KOPPELL: Here. 25 COUNCIL CLERK: Lappin. 32 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 COUNCIL MEMBER LAPPIN: Here. 3 COUNCIL CLERK: Liu. 4 COUNCIL MEMBER LIU: Here. 5 COUNCIL CLERK: Mark-Viverito. 6 COUNCIL MEMBER MARK-VIVERITO: Here. 7 COUNCIL CLERK: Martinez. 8 COUNCIL MEMBER MARTINEZ: Here. 9 COUNCIL CLERK: McMahon. 10 COUNCIL MEMBER McMAHON: Here. 11 COUNCIL CLERK: Mealy. 12 (No response.) 13 COUNCIL CLERK: Mendez. 14 COUNCIL MEMBER MENDEZ: Here. 15 COUNCIL CLERK: Monserrate. 16 COUNCIL MEMBER MONSERRATE: Here. 17 COUNCIL CLERK: Nelson. 18 COUNCIL MEMBER NELSON: Here. 19 COUNCIL CLERK: Palma. 20 (No response.) 21 COUNCIL CLERK: Recchia. 22 (No response.) 23 COUNCIL CLERK: Reyna. 24 COUNCIL MEMBER REYNA: Here. 25 COUNCIL CLERK: Sanders. 33 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 COUNCIL MEMBER SANDERS: Here. 3 COUNCIL CLERK: Seabrook. 4 COUNCIL MEMBER SEABROOK: Here. 5 COUNCIL CLERK: Sears. 6 COUNCIL MEMBER SEARS: Here. 7 COUNCIL CLERK: Stewart. 8 COUNCIL MEMBER STEWART: Been here 9 since 1:00. 10 SPEAKER QUINN: Yes, he has. 11 COUNCIL CLERK: Vacca. 12 COUNCIL MEMBER VACCA: Here. 13 COUNCIL CLERK: Vallone. 14 COUNCIL MEMBER VALLONE: Here. 15 COUNCIL CLERK: Vann. 16 COUNCIL MEMBER VANN: Here. 17 COUNCIL CLERK: Weprin. 18 COUNCIL MEMBER WEPRIN: Here. 19 COUNCIL CLERK: White. 20 COUNCIL MEMBER WHITE: Here. 21 COUNCIL CLERK: Yassky. 22 COUNCIL MEMBER YASSKY: Here. 23 COUNCIL CLERK: Oddo. 24 COUNCIL MEMBER ODDO: Here. 25 COUNCIL CLERK: Rivera. 34 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 COUNCIL MEMBER RIVERA: Here. 3 COUNCIL CLERK: Speaker Quinn. 4 SPEAKER QUINN: Here. 5 COUNCIL CLERK: We have a quorum. 6 ACTING PUBLIC ADVOCATE COMRIE: We 7 have a quorum. We're honored to have the Invocation 8 which will now be delivered by the Reverend Emma 9 Jordan-Simpson, Association Minister, Concord 10 Baptist Church of Christ. 11 REVEREND JORDAN-SIMPSON: Let us 12 gather every beating heart and turn our hopes 13 outside of ourselves. 14 Compelled by gratitude for the great 15 and the ordinary work You have given our hands to 16 do, made humble by Your grace and mercy, to walk 17 tall with You in the fight to gather all New Yorkers 18 into the abundant life, we thank You and we 19 acknowledge You, oh precious love, for the gift of 20 Your presence today. 21 We honor You in this Chamber in our 22 gathering here from every walk of life to speak for 23 the hopes of people from every walk of life. 24 In our dialogues across the aisles, 25 across communities, above and beyond differences in 35 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 our struggle to be courageous, on behalf of people 3 all across this City, we beg You for Your 4 continuing, agitating spirit in this Chamber today. 5 Make us restless, make us angry, make 6 us inconsolable, make us work together, until we see 7 all of Your children fed, healthy, housed, loved and 8 set free. 9 Amen. 10 ACTING PUBLIC ADVOCATE COMRIE: 11 Council Member Vann. 12 COUNCIL MEMBER VANN: Yes, before I 13 spread the Invocation, let me first thank Reverend 14 Simpson. 15 We are honored that you are here with 16 us today, Reverend Simpson, and I commend you on 17 your patience as well, and I know that you've been 18 keeping the faith all afternoon, and we thank you 19 for that as well. 20 I would like to mention that Reverend 21 Simpson is not only the Associate Minister in one of 22 the largest churches in Brooklyn. She is also, I 23 guess the New York City Director of the Children's 24 Defense Fund, as well. 25 Having said that, motion to spread 36 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 the Invocation in full upon the record. 3 Should I say it again? Was it heard? 4 ACTING PUBLIC ADVOCATE COMRIE: Yes, 5 please do. 6 COUNCIL MEMBER VANN: Say it again? 7 ACTING PUBLIC ADVOCATE COMRIE: If you 8 like, because the people were not listening. 9 COUNCIL MEMBER VANN: Okay. 10 First I said I am very honored that 11 Reverend Simpson is here with us this afternoon. Not 12 only is she the Associate Minister of one of the 13 largest most distinguished churches in Brooklyn, but 14 she also directs I guess the New York City Office 15 for the Children's Defense Fund. And I also thanked 16 her for your patience, her indulgence and for 17 keeping the faith. 18 Having said that, motion to spread 19 the Invocation in full upon the record. 20 ACTING PUBLIC ADVOCATE COMRIE: Thank 21 you. 22 Council Member Gennaro. 23 COUNCIL MEMBER GENNARO: Yes. I make a 24 motion that the minutes of the Stated Meeting of 25 January 9th, 2008 be adopted and printed. 37 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 ACTING PUBLIC ADVOCATE COMRIE: Okay. 3 Council Member Mendez. 4 COUNCIL MEMBER MENDEZ: I ask for 5 unanimous consent to vote aye on all the matters in 6 the General Order Calendar. 7 ACTING PUBLIC ADVOCATE COMRIE: So 8 ordered. 9 Council Member Avella. 10 COUNCIL MEMBER AVELLA: I ask for 11 unanimous consent to vote on all items, General 12 Orders and Land Use items. 13 ACTING PUBIC ADVOCATE COMRIE: All 14 items on the General Item calendar, so ordered. 15 COUNCIL MEMBER AVELLA: I didn't vote 16 yet, though. 17 ACTING PUBLIC ADVOCATE COMRIE: Oh, go 18 ahead. 19 COUNCIL MEMBER AVELLA: I vote no on 20 Intro. 665-A and no on Land Use No. 678, Reso 1296, 21 Land Use No. 679 and Reso 1297; and I vote aye on 22 the rest. 23 ACTING PUBLIC ADVOCATE COMRIE: 24 Council Member Barron. 25 COUNCIL MEMBER BARRON: I request 38 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 unanimous consent to vote aye on all -- Vann you 3 said, or Barron? 4 ACTING PUBLIC ADVOCATE COMRIE: Pardon 5 me? 6 COUNCIL MEMBER BARRON: You said 7 Barron, right? 8 ACTING PUBLIC ADVOCATE COMRIE: Yes. 9 COUNCIL MEMBER BARRON: Okay. 10 I vote aye on all items, except on 11 Land Use Item 678 and accompanying Reso 1296 and 12 Land Use item 679 and accompanying Reso 1297, I vote 13 no; and I vote aye on all other General Order 14 calendar items and Land Use items. 15 Thank you. 16 ACTING PUBLIC ADVOCATE COMRIE: 17 Council Member Rivera and Weprin, then White, then 18 Martinez, Gerson, Fidler, DeBlasio, Addabbo, 19 Vallone, Garodnick. Gioi and that's it after that. 20 We're cutting it off after the names I listed. 21 COUNCIL MEMBER RIVERA: Thank you very 22 much. I just want to ask for unanimous consent to 23 vote aye on all Land Use orders and General Order, 24 everything on the General Order calendar. 25 ACTING PUBLIC ADVOCATE COMRIE: So 39 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 ordered. 3 COUNCIL MEMBER RIVERA: Thank you. 4 ACTING PUBLIC ADVOCATE COMRIE: 5 Weprin. 6 COUNCIL MEMBER WEPRIN: I request 7 unanimous consent to vote on all Land Use and 8 General Order calendar? 9 ACTING PUBLIC ADVOCATE COMRIE: So 10 ordered. 11 COUNCIL MEMBER WEPRIN: I vote aye on 12 all. 13 ACTING PUBLIC ADVOCATE COMRIE: White. 14 COUNCIL MEMBER WHITE: I vote aye on 15 all Land Use items, and ask unanimous consent to 16 vote on all coupled General Orders. 17 ACTING PUBLIC ADVOCATE COMRIE: So 18 ordered. Your vote? 19 COUNCIL MEMBER WHITE: I vote aye. I 20 vote aye. 21 ACTING PUBLIC ADVOCATE COMRIE: 22 Martinez. 23 COUNCIL MEMBER MARTINEZ: Unanimous 24 consent to vote on the General Calendar on all 25 items. 40 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 ACTING PUBLIC ADVOCATE COMRIE: So 3 ordered. 4 Your vote? 5 COUNCIL MEMBER MARTINEZ: I vote aye 6 on all items, with the exception of Intro. 665-A. 7 ACTING PUBLIC ADVOCATE COMRIE: Okay. 8 How do you vote? 9 COUNCIL MEMBER MARTINEZ: Aye. 10 ACTING PUBLIC ADVOCATE COMRIE: No, 11 no, how do you vote on 665-A? 12 COUNCIL MEMBER MARTINEZ: I vote aye 13 on all items, with the exception of Intro. 665-A, 14 no. 15 ACTING PUBLIC ADVOCATE COMRIE: Okay. 16 I just wanted to be clear. 17 Council Member Gerson. 18 COUNCIL MEMBER GERSON: My colleagues, 19 I request unanimous consent, et cetera, and I vote 20 aye on all matters before us with consent. 21 ACTING PUBLIC ADVOCATE COMRIE: So 22 ordered. 23 COUNCIL MEMBER McMAHON: I'm not sure 24 if I'd give consent. 25 ACTING PUBLIC ADVOCATE COMRIE: 41 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 Council Member Fidler. 3 COUNCIL MEMBER FIDLER: Be gentle. 4 I've never done this before. 5 I request unanimous consent of my 6 colleagues to vote on all items of the General Order 7 Calendar. 8 That was a so ordered I heard? 9 ACTING PUBLIC ADVOCATE COMRIE: So 10 ordered. 11 COUNCIL MEMBER FIDLER: I vote aye on 12 all. 13 ACTING PUBLIC ADVOCATE COMRIE: 14 DeBlasio. 15 COUNCIL MEMBER DeBLASIO: I request 16 unanimous consent to vote on all orders on the 17 General Order -- all items on the General Order 18 calendar. There we go. I vote aye on all. 19 ACTING PUBLIC ADVOCATE COMRIE: So 20 ordered. 21 COUNCIL MEMBER DeBLASIO: Thank you. 22 ACTING PUBLIC ADVOCATE COMRIE: 23 Addabbo. 24 COUNCIL MEMBER ADDABBO: I would like 25 to ask unanimous consent to vote on all General 42 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 Order calendar items? 3 ACTING PUBLIC ADVOCATE COMRIE: So 4 ordered. 5 COUNCIL MEMBER ADDABBO: Thank you. 6 ACTING PUBLIC ADVOCATE COMRIE: How do 7 you vote? 8 COUNCIL MEMBER ADDABBO: I vote yes. 9 ACTING PUBLIC ADVOCATE COMRIE: 10 Condolences to Frank. 11 Vallone. 12 COUNCIL MEMBER VALLONE: I would like 13 to request unanimous consent to vote on the General 14 Order calendar. 15 ACTING PUBLIC ADVOCATE COMRIE: So 16 ordered. How do you vote? 17 COUNCIL MEMBER VALLONE: Aye. 18 ACTING PUBLIC ADVOCATE COMRIE: 19 Garodnick. 20 COUNCIL MEMBER GARODNICK: I'd like to 21 ask unanimous consent to vote on all Land Use 22 Call-Ups and all General Orders, and I would like to 23 vote aye on all, except for 665-A, I'd like to vote 24 no. Thank you. 25 ACTING PUBLIC ADVOCATE COMRIE: I 43 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 don't accept a no vote on 665-A. 3 So ordered. 4 Gioia. 5 COUNCIL MEMBER GIOIA: Thank you, Mr. 6 Chair. 7 I request unanimous consent to vote. 8 I would like to vote yes on all matters before us 9 today. Thank you. 10 ACTING PUBLIC ADVOCATE COMRIE: So 11 ordered. How do you vote? 12 COUNCIL MEMBER GIOIA: Yes. 13 ACTING PUBLIC ADVOCATE COMRIE: Oh, 14 sorry. 15 Sanders. 16 COUNCIL MEMBER SANDERS: Thank you. 17 I'd like to request unanimous consent 18 to vote yes on the General Calendar and Land Use 19 items. 20 ACTING PUBLIC ADVOCATE COMRIE: So 21 ordered. 22 COUNCIL MEMBER SANDERS: I vote yes. 23 ACTING PUBLIC ADVOCATE COMRIE: James. 24 COUNCIL MEMBER JAMES: Unanimous 25 consent to vote on all Land Use Call-Ups and General 44 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 Orders. 3 ACTING PUBLIC ADVOCATE COMRIE: So 4 ordered. 5 How do you vote? 6 COUNCIL MEMBER JAMES: I vote aye. 7 ACTING PUBLIC ADVOCATE COMRIE: So 8 ordered, and that's it. 9 I don't see anybody else. 10 SPEAKER QUINN: Keep it moving, Leroy. 11 We don't see anybody else. 12 ACTING PUBLIC ADVOCATE COMRIE: I 13 don't see anybody else. 14 COUNCIL MEMBER McMAHON: We will 15 remember. 16 ACTING PUBLIC ADVOCATE COMRIE: We've 17 got to have enough here for a quorum. 18 Sorry. Messages and Papers from the 19 Mayor. 20 COUNCIL CLERK: M 946. Preliminary 21 Mayor's Management Report. 22 SPEAKER QUINN: Received, ordered, 23 printed and filed. 24 ACTING PUBLIC ADVOCATE COMRIE: 25 Communications from City, County and Borough 45 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 Offices. 3 COUNCIL CLERK: M 947 through M 960 on 4 page three. Base station licenses. 5 SPEAKER QUINN: Transportation. 6 COUNCIL CLERK: M 961. Business 7 Integrity Commission annual report. 8 SPEAKER QUINN: Received, ordered, 9 printed and filed. 10 ACTING PUBLIC ADVOCATE COMRIE: 11 Petitions and communications. 12 COUNCIL CLERK: None. 13 ACTING PUBLIC ADVOCATE COMRIE: Land 14 Use Call-Ups. 15 COUNCIL CLERK: None. 16 ACTING PUBLIC ADVOCATE COMRIE: Roll 17 call for Land Use. 18 SPEAKER QUINN: No, there is none. 19 ACTING PUBLIC ADVOCATE COMRIE: Oh, 20 none. Sorry. 21 Communications from the Speaker. 22 SPEAKER QUINN: Thank you. I will be 23 very brief in deference to time. 24 First, I just want to make sure all 25 members of the Council know that Maura Keeney, our 46 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 Deputy Chief of Staff, last week had a beautiful 3 baby boy, Max Charles Gumer (phonetic). He is five 4 and a half pounds and he's e-mailed many times today 5 to get an update on tenant harassment and Green 6 Carts. So, he's very happy to hear about how the 7 first votes are going in his life. 8 But let me very quickly, I just want 9 to, I'm not going to elaborate on the important 10 legislation we're passing today, Intro. 627-A, our 11 tenant harassment legislation, that will protect 12 tenants in a very, very significant way. 13 I do want to take a second, though, 14 to thank the staff who worked on this. I want to 15 Jeff Haberman, I want to thank Kamilla Sjodin, I 16 want to thank Ben Goodman, I want to thank Baaba 17 Halm, and I want to thank Rob Newman, for all of 18 their work on this legislation. 19 I want to thank the staff at HPD who 20 have been more accessible to us than they ever 21 thought they would have to be, and I want to thank 22 them very, very much. 23 I want to thank the Chair of the 24 Committee, Erik Dilan, and also Council Members 25 Garodnick and Melissa Mark-Viverito, and I want to 47 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 thank all of the advocates who worked on this bill, 3 A&HD, Make The Road, UHAB, my home tenants 4 association, London Terrace Tenants Association, and 5 so many others who worked very, very hard on this 6 legislation. And I want to call on Council Member 7 Melissa Mark-Viverito. 8 COUNCIL MEMBER MARK-VIVERITO: Thank 9 you, Madam Speaker. And I just want to reiterate the 10 thanks to everyone that worked on this. And I think 11 it's been very well said, in terms of the reasons 12 and the rationale for this legislation, and the 13 protections that it will offer, and just, 14 interestingly enough, yesterday it was reported that 15 in my district, 22 buildings representing 365 units 16 of rent-regulated apartments, owned by Pinacle, will 17 be sold for over $80 million, which I think this is 18 very timely, in that it will provide protection. 19 Obviously the new owners will want rate of return on 20 their investment, and, so, I really am really proud 21 of everyone who has contributed to today and to this 22 historic moment, and this legislation is for all 23 those advocates who are here and all these 24 constituents that we represent who fight each and 25 every day for better conditions. 48 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 So, thank you very much to all. And 3 thanks for your support. 4 SPEAKER QUINN: I again really want to 5 thank Council Member Melissa Mark-Viverito, and Dan 6 Garodnick, for all of their work on this piece of 7 legislation. 8 And today we're passing, you know, 9 important tenant protection laws that will help 10 tenants in all five boroughs, from Staten Island to 11 the Bronx. We're also recommitting to our efforts to 12 repeal the Urstadt Law through sending another Home 13 Rule Message again to Albany urging the repeal of 14 the Urstadt Law, and I want to thank the sponsors of 15 that bill and the Chair of our State and Federal 16 Legislation Committee, Maria Baez, for her advocacy 17 on that. 18 We're also voting today on Intro. 19 665-A, the Green Carts legislation. Much has been 20 said about it, so let me just take a moment to thank 21 all of the advocates who worked on this, in 22 particular the Citizens' Committee for Children, but 23 also Food Change, and the Food Bank and Joel Berg 24 and the many other advocates out there who helped us 25 on this legislation. I want to thank Adira Siman, 49 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 Karen Mirowitz, Terzah Nasser, Lacey Clark, Alex 3 Pastilnick, Rob Newman and in particular, David 4 Pristin, for his work on this important legislation. 5 I want to thank the Chair of our Consumer Affairs 6 Committee, Leroy Comrie, for his great work on this 7 bill. I want to thank our Department of Health, the 8 Health Commissioner, Tom Freedman (sic) -- excuse 9 me, Tom Frieden. Ben Thomases, our Food Policy 10 Coordinator, Chris Manning, Patrick Whaley and all 11 the other folks in Legislative Affairs and DOH, who 12 have worked on this legislation, and I have spoken 13 way too many times on this bill, so let me call on 14 Council Member Leroy Comrie again and thank him and 15 ask him to comment on this important piece of 16 legislation that is sponsored, in addition to myself 17 and many Council members, also by Mayor Bloomberg, 18 who has worked long and hard with us on this 19 important piece of legislation. 20 ACTING PUBLIC ADVOCATE COMRIE: Well, 21 I want to echo the Speaker's thanks to all of those 22 parties that were named. I don't want to be 23 repetitive. 24 I think that this bill created an 25 opportunity to have a lot of discussion about many 50 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 issues that are of concern to members. It's opened 3 up some opportunities to really do some things, but 4 the primary issue of this bill was to try to create 5 another opportunity to make New York have more 6 accessibility to fruits and vegetables. 7 With that, I want to thank all of the 8 people that were involved and promise all of the 9 parties that have weighed in on this matter, that 10 this will not be the last time that you have an 11 opportunity to weigh in on matters regarding 12 vendors. 13 This Council and I am committed to 14 doing everything we can to make sure that all of the 15 parties that are involved with that issue have a 16 chance to be heard and that the issue is fully 17 vetted. 18 I want to thank all of those people 19 that reached out and encouraged all of those people 20 that still have concerns to work with us so that we 21 can help solve these problems. 22 I think there is a light at the end 23 of a long tunnel, but this legislation clearly is 24 needed to try to help lower the issues of health, 25 increase the availability of fruits and vegetables 51 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 in our community. 3 And I want to thank all of those that 4 had expressed opinions, and I would encourage all of 5 us to continue to work together to make sure that we 6 find other ways to make New Yorkers healthy. 7 Thank you. 8 SPEAKER QUINN: Thank you very much, 9 Chairperson Comrie. And that concludes 10 Communications from the Speaker. I tried to be 11 brief. 12 ACTING PUBLIC ADVOCATE COMRIE: Okay, 13 Discussion of General Orders? 14 I see no hands up. 15 Since we have no resolutions, I will 16 call, if we could do roll call. 17 I will start with the two hands that 18 popped up. Council Member -- 19 SPEAKER QUINN: No, no, no. 20 ACTING PUBLIC ADVOCATE COMRIE: Report 21 from Special Committees. 22 COUNCIL CLERK: Non. 23 ACTING PUBLIC ADVOCATE COMRIE: Report 24 from Standing Committees. 25 COUNCIL CLERK: Report of the 52 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 Committee on Consumer Affairs. 3 Intro. 665-A, Green Carts. 4 SPEAKER QUINN: Amended and coupled on 5 General Orders with a message of necessity. 6 COUNCIL CLERK: Report of the 7 Committee on Finance. 8 Reso 1191-A, Myrtle Avenue Business 9 Improvement District. 10 SPEAKER QUINN: Amended and coupled on 11 General Orders. 12 COUNCIL CLERK: Report of the 13 Committee on Housing and Buildings. 14 Intro. 627-A. Harassment of Tenants. 15 SPEAKER QUINN: Amended and coupled on 16 General Orders with a message of necessity. 17 COUNCIL CLERK: Intro. 659-A. 18 Corrections of New York City Construction Codes. 19 SPEAKER QUINN: Amended and coupled on 20 General Orders. 21 COUNCIL CLERK: Report of the 22 Committee on Land Use. 23 Reso 1204. Telecommunication 24 Services. 25 SPEAKER QUINN: Coupled on General 53 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 Orders. 3 COUNCIL CLERK: LU 662 and Reso 1292 4 through LU 679 and Reso 1297, various ULURPs and 5 unenclosed sidewalk cafe. 6 SPEAKER QUINN: Coupled on General 7 Orders. 8 COUNCIL CLERK: Report of the 9 Committee on Rules, Privileges and Elections. 10 M 911 and Reso 1298. Approving the 11 reappointment of Angela Battaglia, City Planning 12 Commission. 13 SPEAKER QUINN: Coupled on General 14 Orders. 15 COUNCIL CLERK: Report of the 16 Committee on State and Federal Legislation. 17 SLR 81. 18 SPEAKER QUINN: Coupled on General 19 Orders. 20 COUNCIL CLERK: Preconsidered SLR 82 21 in relation to rent regulation. 22 SPEAKER QUINN: Coupled on General 23 Orders. 24 ACTING PUBLIC ADVOCATE COMRIE: 25 General Order Calendar. 54 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 COUNCIL CLERK: Resolution appointing 3 various persons Commissioner of Deeds. 4 SPEAKER QUINN: Coupled on General 5 Orders, and at this point I ask for a roll call on 6 all items that have been coupled on the General 7 Order Calendar, please. 8 ACTING PUBLIC ADVOCATE COMRIE: 9 Monserrate. 10 COUNCIL MEMBER MONSERRATE: Thank you, 11 Mr. Acting Chairman. I'm going to vote in the 12 affirmative on all items on today's calendar, with 13 the exception of Intro. 665-A, which I vote no on. 14 Thank you very much. 15 ACTING PUBLIC ADVOCATE COMRIE: So 16 ordered. 17 Council Member Gallagher. 18 COUNCIL MEMBER GALLAGHER: I vote aye 19 on all, with the exception of Intro. 665-A, and 20 preconsidered SLR 82, in which I vote no. 21 Thank you. 22 ACTING PUBLIC ADVOCATE COMRIE: You 23 voted no on my -- okay, roll call. 24 COUNCIL CLERK: Arroyo. 25 COUNCIL MEMBER ARROYO: Aye. 55 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 COUNCIL CLERK: Baez. 3 COUNCIL MEMBER BAEZ: Aye. 4 COUNCIL CLERK: Brewer. 5 COUNCIL MEMBER BREWER: I vote aye. 6 I just want to talk about the Green 7 Carts for one minute, which is to say that as 8 somebody who has put in a great deal of time 9 discussing green carts, and I should say carts, 10 vendor carts with fruits and vegetables and bodegas 11 in my neighborhood, almost on a daily basis, I 12 certainly support the concept of the bill. But I 13 will add that I hope it leads to more discussion, 14 because the police officers locally do not know the 15 rules and regulations as described to me by DOT, 16 Health Department and the Police Department at the 17 highest levels. And, so, there is an incongruous 18 enforcement procedure for the carts, and so that 19 needs to be straightened out so that the same 20 problem doesn't transfer over to green carts. 21 I do think that there's lots of 22 discussion left to be had on this topic, but on 23 balance, I think that the vegetables and fruits 24 should be the opportunity for better consumerism in 25 general. 56 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 Thank you very much. 3 COUNCIL CLERK: Comrie. 4 COUNCIL MEMBER COMRIE: Aye. 5 COUNCIL CLERK: Dickens. 6 COUNCIL MEMBER DICKENS: Aye. 7 COUNCIL CLERK: Dilan. 8 COUNCIL MEMBER DILAN: Aye on all. 9 COUNCIL CLERK: Eugene. 10 COUNCIL MEMBER EUGENE: Aye. 11 COUNCIL CLERK: Felder. 12 COUNCIL MEMBER FELDER: Pass. 13 COUNCIL CLERK: Gennaro. 14 COUNCIL MEMBER GENNARO: Yes on all 15 items, but no on 665-A. So, that's yes on all items, 16 no on 665-A. 17 COUNCIL CLERK: Gentile. 18 COUNCIL MEMBER GENTILE: Aye on all. 19 COUNCIL CLERK: Gonzalez. 20 COUNCIL MEMBER GONZALEZ: Aye. 21 COUNCIL CLERK: Ignizio. 22 COUNCIL MEMBER IGNIZIO: No on SLR 82, 23 aye on all others. 24 COUNCIL CLERK: Jackson. 25 COUNCIL MEMBER JACKSON: Aye on all. 57 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 COUNCIL CLERK: Katz. 3 COUNCIL MEMBER KATZ: Mr. Chairman, to 4 explain my vote? 5 ACTING PUBLIC ADVOCATE COMRIE: So 6 ordered. 7 COUNCIL MEMBER KATZ: In my district 8 we have many vendors that have started to come to 9 sell their products on the streets, and I think that 10 in general vending carts serve a great purpose in 11 the City of New York. My issue is that the 12 enforcement is almost impossible. To get enforcement 13 for the police to know exactly where they're going, 14 as much as they try, for Department of Health, for 15 Consumer Affairs, for all of the enforcement 16 involved, it is very, very difficult. But my biggest 17 issue, is that to exempt a street from vendors, you 18 must reopen the entire City's streets. You can't 19 just make a bill or ask the Department to exempt 20 certain streets. They have to then reopen the entire 21 City's vending placement. And I know that in this 22 particular bill it's a similar thing. 23 So, on that note, I must vote no on 24 this bill and ask the Administration really to look 25 at this as a whole issue. 58 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 We have a very large issue Citywide 3 that needs to be dealt with, in a good, productive 4 way, so that the best use for the best vendors and 5 service that they provide can truly be a good thing 6 for the City of New York. And I think until we 7 reopen this issue to look at it, I'm not sure that 8 adding to the issue Citywide is the right direction 9 to go in. 10 So, on that note, I will vote yes on 11 all items, except for 665 I vote no, and once again 12 request that the areas in my district be relooked 13 at. Thank you. 14 COUNCIL CLERK: Koppell. 15 COUNCIL MEMBER KOPPELL: Aye on all. 16 COUNCIL CLERK: Lappin. 17 COUNCIL MEMBER LAPPIN: I would 18 request consent to vote on the Land Use. We're not 19 doing that? There were no, excellent. 20 I will vote aye on all. Thank you. 21 COUNCIL CLERK: Liu. 22 COUNCIL MEMBER LIU: Yes on all items 23 on the General Order calendar, with the exception of 24 Intro. No. 665-A, on which I vote no. 25 COUNCIL CLERK: Mark-Viverito. 59 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 COUNCIL MEMBER MARK-VIVERITO: Can I 3 be given a moment? 4 ACTING PUBLIC ADVOCATE COMRIE: Yes. 5 COUNCIL MEMBER MARK-VIVERITO: I will 6 be voting aye on all, but I do want to kind of tag 7 on a little bit to what Council Member Katz 8 mentioned, that I do agree that we need to revisit 9 the whole issue of the street vending, and that I 10 think the system needs to be reformed. I think we 11 need to allow for more permits, and that's something 12 that I know that we will be discussing in the 13 future, and I look forward to those conversations. 14 And with that said, I vote aye on 15 all. 16 ACTING PUBLIC ADVOCATE COMRIE: I want 17 to remind members, we have a hearing on vending this 18 Friday, for anybody that is interested. 19 COUNCIL CLERK: McMahon. 20 COUNCIL MEMBER McMAHON: Aye on all. 21 COUNCIL CLERK: Mealy. 22 (No response.) 23 COUNCIL CLERK: Nelson. 24 COUNCIL MEMBER NELSON: Aye on all. 25 COUNCIL CLERK: Reyna. 60 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 COUNCIL MEMBER REYNA: Aye on all. 3 COUNCIL CLERK: Sears. 4 COUNCIL MEMBER SEARS: Aye. 5 COUNCIL CLERK: Stewart. 6 COUNCIL MEMBER STEWART: Aye on all. 7 COUNCIL CLERK: Vacca. 8 COUNCIL MEMBER VACCA: I ask 9 permission to explain my vote. 10 I vote aye on all, except for 665-A. 11 I support the concept of giving out more fruit and 12 vegetables to all citizens of our City, but I am 13 concerned about the impact that this may have on my 14 district, where there are already many good 15 supermarkets and many good fruit stores. 16 I think the impact that this bill 17 will have in the Bronx, since most of the borough 18 was included, is something that requires further 19 evaluation, and assessment. So, I vote no on 665-A. 20 COUNCIL CLERK: Vann. 21 COUNCIL MEMBER VANN: Aye. 22 COUNCIL CLERK: Yassky. 23 COUNCIL MEMBER YASSKY: I vote aye on 24 all items. I just would like to say about the food 25 vendors, Green Carts bill, that I vote for it and I 61 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 certainly support the goal of bringing fresh fruits 3 and vegetables to areas of the City where they are 4 hard to come by. I did have some concerns about the 5 impact on existing businesses, and I know that the 6 Speaker's staff is preparing additional legislation 7 that will make it somewhat easier for existing 8 businesses to sell these kind of products, sell them 9 outdoors, and that is something that certainly is a 10 factor for me, and also will work with me on trying 11 to get more aggressive enforcement. Because I, too, 12 have seen in my district, that vendors, the existing 13 vendors do operate often times in violation of the 14 rules, and while, you know, that shouldn't stop us 15 from trying this experiment, we do need to get 16 better enforcement from the Administration. So, with 17 those concerns noted, again, I vote aye on all 18 items. 19 COUNCIL CLERK: Felder. 20 COUNCIL MEMBER FELDER: I vote yes on 21 all. With the Green Cart bill I vote yes with 22 reservations. 23 ACTING PUBLIC ADVOCATE COMRIE: Duly 24 noted. 25 COUNCIL CLERK: Oddo. 62 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 COUNCIL MEMBER ODDO: No on SLR 82, 3 yes on all others. 4 COUNCIL CLERK: Speaker Quinn. 5 SPEAKER QUINN: Aye on all. 6 ACTING PUBLIC ADVOCATE COMRIE: All 7 items on today's General Order Calendar were adopted 8 by a vote of 46 affirmative, zero negative and zero 9 abstentions, with the exception of Intro. 665-A, 10 which was adopted by a vote of 37 affirmative, nine 11 negative, zero abstentions; and LU 678 and 12 accompanying Reso 1296, which was adopted by a vote 13 of 44 in the affirmative, two in the negative and 14 zero abstentions. And also LU 679, accompanying 15 Resolution 1297, which was adopted by a vote of 44 16 in the affirmative, two negative, zero abstentions, 17 and preconsidered SLR 82, which was adopted by a 18 vote of 43 in the affirmative and three in the 19 negative, with zero abstentions. And that ends the 20 tally. 21 Introduction and Reading of Bills. 22 SPEAKER QUINN: All bills are referred 23 to committees as indicated on the agenda. 24 ACTING PUBLIC ADVOCATE COMRIE: 25 Discussion of Resolutions. None. 63 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 General Discussion. We have three 3 Council members. 4 Quiet, please. Quiet, please. 5 Council Member Dickens. 6 COUNCIL MEMBER DICKENS: Thank you, 7 Council Member. 8 Due to the lateness of the hour, I'm 9 going to be rather quick. But last week Harlem's own 10 Impact Repertoire Theater and its visionary 11 founders, Jamal Joseph and Rosa Rivers, were at the 12 Emmies last week for Oscar nominations, and a 13 special mention for Ruby Dee, who is the first lady 14 of black theater, film and television. 15 Her early training and providing 16 ground is deeply rooted in Harlem's Historic Black 17 Theater Movement. Watching Ruby Dee at the Oscars 18 was truly a night emblazened in my heart and soul. 19 I will be asking the Council to 20 present proclamations to both Impact -- 21 ACTING PUBLIC ADVOCATE COMRIE: Quiet 22 please. Please exit quietly. 23 COUNCIL MEMBER DICKENS:-- And to Lady 24 Ruby Dee at a later date. Thank you. 25 ACTING PUBLIC ADVOCATE COMRIE: Thank 64 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 you. 3 Council Member Eugene. 4 COUNCIL MEMBER EUGENE: Thank you very 5 much, Mr. Chair. 6 Thank you, Madam Speaker. I want to 7 be very brief because we have been waiting so long. 8 On February 26, on 2008, a young 9 lady, Haitian, Ms. Carrie Dazir (phonetic), 44, of 10 Prospect Park in the 40th Councilmanic District, 11 which I represent, died onboard of American Airline 12 896 from Port-au-Prince Haiti to New York. This is a 13 tragic loss of life, in particular for immediate 14 family. And I want to call on all my colleagues to 15 join me to prepare the necessary legislation 16 resolution to make sure that the people who are 17 traveling and fly are safe. And I want to call all 18 my colleagues to join me also to ensure that all 19 airline carriers be equipped with necessary medical 20 supplies and have staff members trained to operate 21 them and also to administer in case of medical 22 emergency. 23 Thank you very much. 24 ACTING PUBLIC ADVOCATE COMRIE: Thank 25 you. 65 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 Council Member Jackson. 3 COUNCIL MEMBER JACKSON: My 4 colleagues, on Monday, March 3rd, the Education 5 Committee will be holding an oversight hearing on 6 Mayoral control and school reform from 10:00 a.m. to 7 7:00 p.m., so please advise all of your parents and 8 activists in your community about this very 9 important hearing, Monday, here in the Chambers, 10 from 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. 11 But also, my colleagues, I ask you to 12 sign onto Resolution 1281, which was resolution 13 calling upon the City Department of Education, to 14 incorporate the Muslim holidays as observed school 15 holidays on the school calendar. And we're asking 16 this resolution in support of the State bill A.6589 17 and Senate Bill 3412. So, I ask you to sign on this 18 resolution in support of making these two important 19 Muslim holidays incorporated into the school 20 calendar. 21 Thank you very much. 22 ACTING PUBLIC ADVOCATE COMRIE: 23 Council Member Brewer. 24 COUNCIL MEMBER BREWER: I just want to 25 mention that in Queens, on March 3rd, also at 1:00 66 1 STATED COUNCIL MEETING 2 p.m., at LaGuardia Community College, we're having 3 our fourth Mayor/City Council broadband committee 4 meeting. And we hope that everyone will join us to 5 talk about the needs for accessible low-cost 6 broadband in Queens. 7 Thank you very much. 8 ACTING PUBLIC ADVOCATE COMRIE: 9 Council Member Simcha Felder. 10 COUNCIL MEMBER FELDER: Thank you, Mr. 11 Chair. 12 I just wanted to welcome the new City 13 Clerk Hector Diaz. It was the first meeting that he 14 presided over. And he did a wonderful job and 15 Council Member Ignizio wants to second this motion. 16 CITY CLERK: Thank you. 17 ACTING PUBLIC ADVOCATE COMRIE: With 18 that, there being no further hands, I declare the 19 meeting, Stated Meeting for February 27th, closed. 20 (Hearing concluded at 5:35 p.m.) 21 22 23 24 25 67 1 2 CERTIFICATION 3 4 5 STATE OF NEW YORK ) 6 COUNTY OF NEW YORK ) 7 8 9 I, CINDY MILLELOT, a Certified 10 Shorthand Reporter, do hereby certify that the 11 foregoing is a true and accurate transcript of the 12 within proceeding. 13 I further certify that I am not 14 related to any of the parties to this action by 15 blood or marriage, and that I am in no way 16 interested in the outcome of this matter. 17 IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto 18 set my hand this 27th day of February 2008. 19 20 21 22 23 --------------------- 24 CINDY MILLELOT, CSR. 25 68 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