Second Avenue Small Business Tax Relief Bill Passes Assembly
June 25, 2008
Close to midnight last night, my Second Avenue Subway small business tax relief bill passed the New York State Assembly as we wrapped up the 2008 legislative session.
A.10924 offers a property tax abatement to property owners if they are able to sign or re-negotiate a reduced lease to current or prospective small business commercial tenants located in the construction area. The bill is sponsored in the State Senate by Senator José Serrano. While the bill has yet to pass there, the Senate bill has moved to committee and the Senate will reconvene in July.
Construction began on the most recent incarnation of the MTA’s Second Avenue Subway project in April 2007. Due to rising construction costs, the MTA recently announced that the first phase of the construction—from 96th Street to 63rd Street—will be delayed by two years, moving the completion date of this phase to 2015.
When the construction is finally complete and the new subway line opens for business, what kind of neighborhood will be there to greet it? Will we have driven Second Avenue’s small businesses into extinction or will we still have the same vibrant, family-friendly community we knew before the construction began? By passing this legislation, the Assembly has demonstrated its commitment to giving small business owners a fair shake and preserving the community we know and love.
YOU ARE INVITED —– Traffic Congestion & the Future of Mass Transit: What Next?
June 12, 2008
I am hosting a special panel discussion on Thursday, June 26, 7:00 PM at the New York Blood Center, 310 East 67th Street. With the recent failure of the Mayor’s congestion pricing proposal, it is vital that New York continues to seek solutions to the problem of traffic congestion and meeting the mass transit funding gap. This event will bring together leading experts to discuss how to address the challenges posed by too much traffic and not enough funding for mass transit.
The three panelists are a distinguished group that I am proud to have participating. They are Theodore Kheel (Institute for Rational Urban Mobility), Gene Russianoff (NYPIRG Straphangers Campaign), and Jeffrey Zupan (Regional Plan Association)..
I hope to see you there. Space is limited, so please RSVP to my community office by calling (212) 860-4906.
Waste Transfer Station Bill Update
June 12, 2008
As New York City pursues its Solid Waste Management plan, it is important to ensure that waste transfer facilities are not located in areas where they will cause undue harm to nearby economically disadvantaged neighborhoods, which have been shown to have higher asthma rates than other communities. Tthe City has proposed to construct a massive marine transfer station (MTS) at East 91st Street along the East River. The proposed MTS would be located less than 300 feet from two public housing projects - the Stanley Isaacs Houses and John Haynes Homes Towers. Additionally, the MTS would subject neighborhood residents - especially children, who are most vulnerable - to the pollution from constant streams of garbage trucks, while simultaneously destroying Asphalt Green, one of the area’s only parks.
Pictured here is the proposed site of a marine transfer station slated by Mayor Bloomberg for activation less than 600 feet away from two public housing projects. Photo taken from Gracie Point Community Council’s website.
Last month, I introduced a bill (A.10891A) that would prohibit the sighting of a solid-waste transfer station or facility within 600 feet of a public housing project, so that the City’s garbage management efforts do not unfairly burden communities that are already under-served. Senator Ruben Diaz, Sr. is sponsoring this legislation in the State Senate ( S.8168A).
I am pleased to report that yesterday the bill was unanimously reported out of the Assembly’s Environmental Conservation Committee. We are now one step closer to ensuring that a garbage station does not destroy our community.
Westview and Island House Rent Determination Hearing Granted 60-Day Extension
June 12, 2008
Several weeks ago, the residents of Westview and Island House were informed that the New York State Division of Housing and Community Renewal (DHCR) would be holding hearings on Roosevelt Island to consider a rent determination request from the lanlord for rent increases of up to 88%. This is outrageous and completely out of line with the affordability that these Mitchell-Lamas are supposed to provide to the hundreds of families that call them home. These are already the most expensive Mitchell-Lama buildings in New York State. Also, a significant amount of the rent increase is supposedly justified through the need to pay arrears on debt for the buildings, but it is totally unprecedented and unfair to raise rents to pay a landlord’s debt.
The hearings were originally scheduled for this month, but in order to give the tenant associations the time they need to hire accountants to review the proposal and prepare a thorough response, I wrote to DHCR Commissioner Deborah VanAmerongen and requested an extension to this process. She granted that request and the hearings will be rescheduled to August. I will continue to advocate for the hearings to be at a location, time, and date that allow working Roosevelt Islanders to be able to attend and make themselves heard.
Opposition to Unfair Rent Increases Proposed by Rent Guidelines Board
June 12, 2008
The New York City Rent Guidelines Board (RGB) has proposed a range of rent increases for rent regulated apartments. The increases would apply to leases renewed between October 1, 2008 and September 30, 2009. I strongly object to the size of the increases suggested by the RGB. The RGB proposes that rent increases on one-year renewal leases should be between 3.5% - 7%, while those for two-year leases should be between 5.5% - 9.5%.
While there is no doubt that landlord expenses have increased with rising fuel costs, the RGB’s proposed rent increases are significantly higher than usual, and would create a serious burden for low- and moderate-income New York tenants, who already face enough challenges in a stagnating economy and a city where food, transportation, medical, and other costs just continue to go up.
The final rent guidelines will be adopted at a meeting on June 19. In the meantime, the public will have the opportunity to comment. I will be testifying at a hearing on the proposed increases on Monday, June 16. The hearing will be from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., at the Great Hall at Cooper Union, 7 East 7th St., at the corner of 3rd Ave. I strongly urge you to come to the hearing and add your voice in opposition to the size of the suggested increases.
New Legislation to Support Second Avenue’s Small Businesses
June 12, 2008
I’m a big supporter of the Shop 2nd Avenue campaign and its mission. Visit their website to find out more.
On May 5, I introduced A.10924 a bill to ease the burden of subway construction on Second Avenue’s hard-working small business owners. My bill is designed to help small businesses by offering property tax relief to landlords who agree to sign or re-negotiate reduced-cost leases for their small business commercial tenants. Senator José Serrano is sponsoring this bill in the State Senate.
I’m also proud to co-sponsor legislation (A.10594/S.8154) introduced by my colleagues, Assembly Member Jonathan Bing and Senator José Serrano, which would create an economic development grant program to provide financial and technical assistance to small businesses in the affected area.
The Second Avenue Subway will bring tremendous benefits to the East Side (and to the whole metropolitan area) in the long run. But during the lengthy construction period - which will last well over two and a half decades - residents, business, and property owners within the affected area will suffer. Already, small business owners along Second Avenue between 91st and 96th Streets have seen dramatic losses in business since construction began, as they face torn-up sidewalks, impeded pedestrian access, lost signage, revoked sidewalk café licenses, and interruptions in utility service.
These business owners have worked hard to overcome such challenges, and I’m proud to support their Shop Second Avenue campaign, which highlights all the many wonderful stores and restaurants Second Avenue has to offer. But I also believe that, since these New Yorkers are making a sacrifice for the betterment of the East Side and the entire region, it is important that New York State lend a helping hand.
Huge Victory for Same-Sex Couples Married in Other Jurisdictions
June 12, 2008
Saturday June 14th, join me and Marriage Equality New York at 2:00 pm at City Hall, for a historic 5th anniversary celebration of legal same-sex marriage in Canada.
Last year, I was proud to be part of history and vote in favor of same-sex marriage when the bill was passed by the New York State Assembly. While there is a long way to go until same-sex couples can legally marry in New York (the New York State Senate must also pass the bill before the Governor can sign it into law), step by step we are coming closer to marriage equality.
The right to marry is a basic human right. Last month, the lesbian, gay, and bisexual caucus of the New York State Legislature (myself, Assembly Members Daniel O’Donnell, Deborah Glick, and Matt Titone, and State Senator Tom Duane) wrote to Governor Paterson asking him to take another important step forward and use his executive powers to ensure that state agencies recognize same-sex marriages from other jurisdictions (same-sex couples can legally marry in Canada, Belgium, Spain, South Africa, Massachusetts - and soon - California). We wrote this letter after the landmark Martinez v. County of Monroe decision made it clear earlier this year that New York must recognize these out of jurisdiction marriages. In Martinez, a public employee challenged a decision denying her right to extend benefits to her wife, and won.
After the court case was won, we realized that either married couples would have to challenge non-conforming agencies one by one or the state could choose to follow the law and make these changes operationalized throughout the entire state voluntarily. Luckily, Governor Paterson is a great friend to the LGBT community and had already been contemplating these issues himself. His directive was announced in the press a few days after our letter was sent. Here is a New York Times article that gives further background for those who are interested.
This change will have an enormously important and positive impact on these married couples’ lives. There are literally thousands of rights that have been denied to them, from joint income tax filing to the right to add a spouse on a rent regulated lease to inheriting a hunting license if a spouse dies. Governor Paterson deserves all our thanks for this simple yet powerful directive, we are all enhanced as citizens whenever human rights victories are won.
If you have questions about what this means for you and your family, the Empire State Pride Agenda has an excellent resource page on their website to explain what this means for same-sex couples.
**Update 6/14/2008*** The MENY event at City Hall was a beatuiful event, with dozens of couples who were married in Canada and a representative from the Canadian consulate. Pictured below, my Chief of Staff, Eliyanna Kaiser (center), and her wife Danielle DeCerbo (left) hold their giant British Columbia marriage certificate at the event.
Photo by Jeremy Wilson.
Latest Crane Accident Reveals Need for Buildings Reforms
June 12, 2008
I am pictured attending a press conference organized by Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer in response to the most recent crane collapse at 333 East 91st Street in my district on May 31.
This tragedy and the subsequent arrest of the city’s head crane inspector on bribery charges reveals that the City has yet to address the ongoing construction safety crisis. I have reviewed the Department of Building’s public records for 333 East 91st Street and I am angry to discover that 23 complaints were made by New Yorkers who called 311 to express their concern about safety at this worksite in the last year. New Yorkers are always being told, “If you see something, say something.” These 23 New Yorkers did their civic duty, but their government failed them.
The change in leadership at the New York City Department of Buildings was a good first step, but it’s not enough. In April, the Assembly Committee on Cities, of which I am a member, held a joint hearing with the Committees on Codes and Housing, to examine the power, duties, and accountability of New York’s construction authorities. At that hearing, I questioned Acting Commissioner Robert LiMandri about the events surrounding the tragic crane collapse at 400 East 67th Street, as well as the Department’s processes and procedures for enforcing safety violations in general.
It is all too clear that serious reforms are necessary and overdue. Assembly Member Joe Lentol, introduced a bill (A.11074) that I am a sponsor of that would split the Department of Buildings into two separate departments – so that the people that approve a project and those that are responsible for issuing buildings violations are not the same. Particulary after these last few months, New Yorkers are rightfully suspicious of Buildings Inspectors. For too long, the proverbial fox has been guarding the chicken coop. It’s far past time to change the way the City does business so that safety and enforcement become higher priorities.
State Budget Increases New York’s Investment in Affordable Housing
June 12, 2008
Investing in and maintaining affordable housing are some of the most important things that I fight for in Albany. I am proud that New York’s 2008-09 state budget includes more than $300 million in capital funding for affordable, supportive, and workforce housing opportunities across the state.
This number includes $54 million in funds for the Mitchell-Lama Rehabilitation and Preservation (RAP) and All Affordable programs. RAP offers flexible, low-cost debt service financing to help the owners of Mitchell-Lama housing make needed improvements to their properties or restructure their debt in return for committing to remain in the program and keep rents affordable. All Affordable loans support the construction of housing in which every unit is affordable to low- and moderate-income tenants.
The budget also includes capital funds for other housing programs, including $60 million to the Low Income Housing Trust Fund, $45 million for the Affordable Housing Corporation, and $36.5 million to the Homeless Housing Assistance program.
The Assembly worked successfully to ensure that the state’s total capital investment in affordable housing was increased by $200 million over the executive budget proposal - dramatically strengthening New York’s investment in initiatives that help residents find affordable housing, create housing opportunities for homeless New Yorkers, and help communities restore and revitalize existing buildings.
