May 21st: Family Court Clinic on Roosevelt Island
May 20, 2009
Are you facing the Family Court system without a lawyer? On May 21, 2009, from 4:00 to 6:30 p.m., my office will partner with LIFT (Legal Information for Families Today), to bring a free legal information drop-in clinic to the Church of the Good Shepherd (546 Main Street, Roosevelt Island). The clinic will offer Roosevelt Island’s parents and grandparents who have questions about child support, custody, and visitation cases the chance to meet one-on-one with LIFT staff for help.
LIFT is an award-winning nonprofit organization that operates community and court-based programs all of which empower vulnerable families to advocate for themselves in Family Court, ensuring that all families – no matter what their income level or ability to hire a lawyer – have the ability to access justice in the complex Family Court system.
There is no need to schedule an appointment for the May 21st event, nor must you be a Roosevelt Island resident. The event is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served. For more information about any of LIFT’s programs call 212-343-1122 or visit www.LIFTonline.org.
5-Bill Submetering Package Unveiled at East Side Submetering Summit
May 18, 2009
Last fall the residents of the Eastwood complex on Roosevelt Island were informed by their landlord, Urban American, of an application to the New York State Public Service Commission (PSC) to convert their building to submetered electricity.
Submetering is when tenants are billed individually for their unit’s electrical usage rather than the landlord. In 1951, the PSC prohibited all residential electric submetering, calling the practice “parasitic.” Now, the practice of submetering is again allowed by the PSC on a case by case basis, creating a host of new problems.
For Eastwood, I was skeptical from the get-go that a 33-year-old building with a baseboard electric heating system, energy-inefficient appliances, faulty thermostats, and a host of other issues, could establish a submetering scheme that wouldn’t result in a de facto massive rent increase that prices families out of their homes. However laudable the environmental goals of submetering, it doesn’t always make sense. In order for submetering to result in cost-savings and energy conservation, tenants need to be able to have the tools to conserve electricity. This is simply not possible in a building like Eastwood. I requested that two months of sample billing be sent to residents prior to the start of actual billing. Those bills were alarming bills over $200 to as high as over $1000 were not uncommon for all unit sizes. Soon after I petitioned the Public Service Commission to stay the submetering order and re-hear the landlord’s application. That re-hearing is on-going.
In the meantime, I made it my mission to find out what went wrong, and on a legislative level, work with advocates for residential rental tenants, like the Public Utilities Law Project (PULP) to find legislative solutions. Earlier this month, these efforts came to fruition with the introduction of a five-bill package, which I unveiled at a submetering summit on May 16th that was organized by the Waterside Tenants Association. If you missed the opportunity to attend that panel, you can still listen to the audio recording of Assembly Member Brian Kavanagh and I discussing the legislative solutions we are pursuing in Albany to better balance the rights of tenants with the environmental goals of submetering.
Listen to Audio from Submetering Panel (5/16/09)
I have introduced five bills, along with State Senator Bill Perkins, to reform the practice of submetering utility services to residential rental tenants.
A.7353
Bans the deeming of utility charges as rent. More and more, tenants are finding themselves in situations where landlords are taking them to court for eviction because they can’t afford to pay their electric bill. This legislation bans that practice.
A.7354a
Prohibits landlords from submetering for the heating of living quarters. It is well established under the law that landlords are legally required to provide heat to rental tenants—when a building’s heat is electric, submetering undermines this. Also, electric heat is incredibly inefficient, and a tenant can do little to control their costs meaning that the submetering of electric heat represents an undue burden on the tenant.
A.7814
Requires the PSC to perform an audit of submetering orders issued in the last five years to determine compliance to utility price caps, tenant protections, and to determine if there has been an actual energy savings. We have know way of really knowing whether or not the energy-savings that submetering is supposed to bring are really happening, nor do we know if landlords are complying with price controls and respecting tenant protections in submetering orders. Requiring the PSC to undergo an audit of the last five years of submetering orders will shed light on the situation and help determine the way forward. When this bill is passed, no new submetering orders will be allowed for one year, the same amount of time the PSC has to complete the audit and submit it to the governer and the legislature.
A.7867
Requires utility customers to be provided with an annual notice stating their right to access the PSC’s complaints process. Too often, landlords and the PSC itself will divert a tenant with a grievance against their submetering utility (the landlord in these cases) to the court system. Courts should be a last resort, and the law already provides for a grievance and resolution process through the PSC. Tenants need and deserve a straight-forward way to have issues addressed; diverting tenants to court discourages the reporting of problems and creates too much of a burden on tenants to get their issues addressed. This bill ensures they are informed of their legal rights.
A.7871
Reforms the submetering application process; creates the requirement of written notification to the tenant when the application is first filed, a formal comment period, a public hearing, requires the landlord to replace all landlord-provided appliances that are not Energy-Star rated with ones that are, and requires that the landlord include in their application the results of a study detailing the thermal characteristics of the building. The bill also establishes a conditional approval phase which lasts one year, after which time the PSC must review billing to ensure that energy savings and billing is appropriate and doesn’t create an undue burden to rental tenants. As well, if tenants provide three bids for an independent energy analysis, the landlord must pay for one.
A Personal Message: Marriage Equality Passes Assembly **AND** Rally for Marriage, Sunday
May 14, 2009
I was proud to be part of history and vote in favor of same-sex marriage when the bill was first passed by a margin of 85-61 in the New York State Assembly back in 2007. On May 12th, I once again cast my vote for equality, after a long and emotional debate (I will post video from the debate here, as soon as I get a chance to). We should all celebrate the fact that the bill was passed by an even wider margin (89-52); the message of the marriage equality movement—that love and family know no gender—continues to win hearts and minds.
In 2007, I said that voting in favor of the right to marry was the most important vote I would ever cast, and I still know this to be true. I hope that the second time will be the charm. I am grateful to my friend Assembly Member Daniel O’Donnell for his leadership in the Assembly and I pray that 2009 will be the year the State Senate will finally pass the bill, under the leadership of Senator Tom Duane, so that Governor Paterson can sign it and we can finally have equality for all.
This Sunday, after AIDS Walk, I will be taking part in an important rally for marriage equality being organized collaboratively by Broadway Impact, Marriage Equality NY, the Empire State Pride Agenda, Broadway Cares, CivilRightsFront.com, and the Human Rights Campaign. The rally, billed as “LET THE SUN SHINE IN!” is being held from 5-7 pm at Sixth Avenue and West 45th Street, will feature the cast of the Broadway production of Hair, along with many other special guests.
The invitation is below, you can click here to download a PDF of the flyer to distribute to your friends, family, and colleagues. I hope to see you there!
Two Kellner Bills Pass Assembly
May 13, 2009
If you haven’t noticed, the Bills section of this website has been updated to include all of my 2009 bills, and now that the budget has passed, I am very busy working on moving my legislative agenda forward. To that end, I was very pleased that two of my bills passed the Assembly, both unanimously, on Monday.
The first was passed as part of the Assembly’s annual observance of Legislative Disabilities Awareness Day, where we passed a comprehensive legislative package aimed at ensuring that people with disabilities receive the same opportunities that all New Yorkers expect and deserve. A.3954 would establish the Metropolitan Transportation Authority Riders’ Council for People with Disabilities to study and investigate all aspects of the day-to-day operations of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and its subsidiaries, monitor its performance, and make recommendations to improve its operations with respect to people with disabilities.
One of the most important ways we can begin to address the lack of representation of people with disabilities is to make sure that people with disabilities are on the board of the MTA itself. In 2006, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer published “The State of Repairs: An Examination of Elevator and Escalator Maintenance and Repairs in New York City’s Subway System.” Stringer concluded that while the MTA does have the New York City Transit Riders Council, “they are not charged with the specific responsibly of representing the needs of disabled riders. And while the MTA has an ADA Compliance Coordination Committee, it is informal and not comprised of appointed members. A legislatively-mandated body representing disabled riders is needed to ensure the issues of the disability community are identified and addressed.” This is exactly what my bill will do. The bill now goes to the Senate where Senator Tom Duane is the lead sponsor.
The second bill that passed on Monday also touches on an issue close to my heart. A.3956 requires the State Office of the Aging to do an annual report to assess the needs of and delivery of services to traditionally underserved populations and to provide technical assistance to organizations that provide services to the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) senior populations.
As our senior population continues to explode in number, it is incredibly important that we address the needs of marginalized communities as they age. LGBT seniors, in particular, often lack social and familial support networks that are more commonly available to non-LGBT seniors. LGBT seniors are twice as likely to live alone as compared to heterosexual seniors, and more than four times as likely to have no children. These seniors face stigma from many senior care providers who might not consider that their older clients may be LGBT. As a result, LGBT seniors may be as much as five times less likely to access needed health and social services because of fear of discrimination. Since disease prevention strategies tend to ignore LGBT seniors, and HIV trials generally do not include older participants, LGBT seniors may also face greater health risks. Additionally, same-sex couples have less access to financial benefits as compared to heterosexual married couples. A surviving same-sex partner, for example, will be denied social security benefits and be required to pay taxes on the transfer of assets upon the death of a partner. The bill now heads to the Senate, where Senator Tom Duane is the lead sponsor.
Access-A-Ride Riders Deserve Equal Treatment!
May 11, 2009
Today, I submitted testimony at the MTA Board meeting, asking the MTA to address the disparate treatment of Access-A-Ride customers.
The MTA doesn’t have a great record on this issue. Last fall, the Board proposed raising the Access-A-Ride fare to double the base fare for non-disabled riders who are able to use subways and buses. In response, Senator Tom Duane and I introduced legislation to ban unequal fares for people with disabilities. During the bailout debate in Albany, I made sure that paratransit fares wasn’t increased beyond the base fare.
People with disabilities are already at an economic disadvantage. 64% of Access-A-Ride users have a household income that is less than 250% of federal poverty; and 2002 Census data tells us that of people aged 25 to 64, 26% of those with a severe disability live below the poverty line, compared to 8% of the general population.
Yet while New Yorkers who ride the subways and buses are able to purchase MetroCards, Access-A-Ride users have to provide their fare in cash and in exact change. And while the rest of us are able to save money by purchasing pre-loaded cards with bonus values, daily passes, weekly passes, 14-Day passes, and monthly MetroCards, there are no bulk buying options for the people with disabilities who rely on Access-A-Ride.
To my mind, there is no good reason for this unequal treatment. It is discriminatory, plain and simple. That’s what I told the MTA today, and it is an issue I will continue to speak out on.
My full testimony can be downloaded from the Publications section of my website.
5 Cent Plastic Bag Fee Will Keep Our Environment Cleaner
May 4, 2009
Harry Nespoli, President of the Uniformed Sanitationmen’s Association, NYC Sanitation Commissioner John J. Doherty, Assembly Member Brian Kavanagh, State Senator Jose Serrano, and I are pictured here at a press conference April 30th to announce the introduction of legislation to curb the overuse of plastic bags.
The average American family uses 60 plastic bags in only four trips to the grocery store, but using just one tote bag instead eliminates 1,000 plastic bags from our waste system. Single-use plastic bags accumulate and persist on our planet for over 1,000 years. Plastic bags don’t biodegrade, they photodegrade—breaking down into smaller and smaller toxic bits that contaminate soil, waterways, and enter the food chain. New Yorkers throw out 5.2 billion (that’s “billion” with a “b”) plastic bags each and every year, causing irreversible environmental damage.
Last year, I distributed over one thousand free tote bags made from 100% recycled plastic bottles in my district and they became quite the fashion statement on the Upper East Side. I blogged about that effort in October of 2008, and I plan to do an even bigger push this year in my district.
On April 30th, State Senator Jose Serrano and I, joined by NYC Sanitation Commissioner John J. Doherty and the Director of the Mayor’s Office of Long Term Planning and Sustainability Rohit T. Aggarwala, announced the introduction of legislation (A.7844/S.4866) to place a nominal 5 cent fee on plastic carryout bags. The legislation is a program bill of Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Under the provisions of the act, any store that distributes plastic carryout bags that are less than 2.25 millimeters thick with handles will be required to assess the fee on customers and pass the revenue on to the City. The City anticipates an initial 10 percent reduction in plastic bag usage, while raising approximately $100 million in the first year alone.
At the end of the day, our bill is about encouraging people to change their habits when it comes to plastic bags, and there’s no better example to follow for this than the Emerald Isle. Ireland introduced a fee for plastic bags in 2002 and within weeks, use of plastic bags dropped by 94% as the Irish began to adjust to carrying tote bags to the store. Now using a plastic bag is socially unacceptable in Ireland. People are just more aware.
I believe that the same will happen here. New Yorkers are the kind of people who care deeply about their global and environmental impact. I predict that soon after this is implemented, the Big Apple will be known as the Big Green Apple, and that other jurisdictions in this country will follow our responsible lead.
The introduction of the bill was covered extensively by media, including an article in the Daily News (”Law would cost you some paper if you chose plastic bags“), a short piece in the New York Post (”Bid to Push Nickel Bags“), and a mention in a New York Times editorial about the Mayor’s Executive Budget, which endorses the bill, calling it “compelling.”
The NYC Audubon Society, the New York League of Conservation Voters, the Environmental Defense Fund, and the Natural Resources Defense Council joined us at the press conference to offer their support.
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My community office is here to help you.
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New York, NY 10065
Tel 212-860-4906
Fax 917-432-2983
Email KellnerM@assembly.state.ny.us
