Council cracks down on hookah bars

From Brooklyn Daily:

A bill cracking down of the water-pipe watering holes passed the Council on Sept. 27, restricting the flavored “shisha” mixtures smoked in hookahs just like tobacco, tightly regulating existing hookah bars, banning the opening of new owns, and outlawing the practice for anyone under 21.

“Today we once and for all clear the air on the dangers of hookah smoking,” said Councilman Vincent Gentile’s (D–Bay Ridge), who sponsored the bill. “Any way you cut it, hookah smoke is no joke. It is not a safe smoking alternative, and restricting minors makes the decision to smoke up to those of adult age.”

Starting six months after the mayor signs the bill into law, even non-tobacco shisha will be subject to the city’s Smoke-Free Air Act — which bans most indoor tobacco smoking — making it illegal to smoke hookah indoors except in the bars that meet strict requirements for ventilation and other measures.

Existing hookah bars will have three years to bring their businesses up to sanitation, ventilation, and fire code requirements, and are forbidden to relocate or expand.

Hookah bars selling shisha mixtures that contain tobacco will have to obtain permits to continue operating, and all will have to prove that at least half of their profits come from shisha sales.

Owners of illegally subdivided homes face steep fines, liens

 (Photo by Carly Miller/BKLYNER)

From Bklyner:

Today, City Council unanimously passed a bill to enforce fines on landlords that illegally subdivide homes to create “modern tenement housing”, an issue that has led to severe overcrowding and deaths in southern Brooklyn.

The bill, Intro 1218 proposed by City Councilmember Vincent Gentile, targets landlords of homes classified as “aggravated illegal conversions,” slapping a $15,000 violation per unit beyond the certificate of occupancy. If unpaid, the fine would be subject to a lien sale on the property.

The legislation also expands the authority of the New York City Department of Buildings (DOB) and the New York City Environmental Control Board (ECB) to inspect properties and impose penalties.

Gentile, representing Bay Ridge, Dyker Heights, Bath Beach, and Bensonhurst, was joined today by Council Members Barry S. Grodenchik and Jumaane Williams, representatives from Boro President Eric Adams' office, and dozens of civic groups and housing advocates who spent years rallying around this issue. The bill was supported by 23 City Council members, said Gentile on a sunny Wednesday at the steps of City Hall. A few hours later, the bill passed with a 49-0 vote.

“These strong restrictions and penalties will force egregious property owners to comply with New York City’s building code,” said Gentile. “Substandard housing is not affordable housing.”

City Council repeals McMansion permit rule

From Brooklyn Daily:

[The City] Council demolished a rule on Oct. 27 that lets Ridgites drastically enlarge their homes because people were taking advantage of so-called “special permits” to erect gaudy McMansions. The reversal is a win, because loophole abusers were tearing the neighborhood apart by building flashy digs that stuck out on otherwise idyllic blocks, one local leader said.

“A home is your biggest asset, and when you have someone who applies for a special permit and does not respect the character of the block, it pits neighbors against neighbors,” said Community Board 10 district manager Josephine Beckmann. “I am very happy that after many years of advocacy for its removal it’s finally completed.”

The permits were available to residents seeking to expand one- and two-family homes larger than zoning laws allow. The Department of City Planning created the permits so families could enlarge their homes as they had children — rather than having to move to a bigger house every time a new member joins the family.

The community board originally opted into the program 20 years ago believing that the city would ensure the expansions did not alter the neighborhood’s character, but the permits were frequently used for projects community leaders felt were inappropriate, said Beckmann.

“I think it was well-intended, but in time I think we realized that it really wasn’t being used as it was intended,” she said. “Now this protects community character and stops developers from using it to expand houses just because they can.”

Community Board 10 has tried to deep-six the special permits in the past, but the notion never gained traction. This go-around, Councilman Vincent Gentile (D–Bay Ridge) and the Department of City Planning helped the board draft an amendment to zoning law that would remove it from the special-permit program, and Gentile got his colleagues in Council to unanimously approve the measure.

We're liking this Gentile fellow!

Just another day in illegal conversion land

31 people were found living in a 2-family home in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn.

Illegal conversion bill introduced by Brooklyn City Council member

From Brooklyn Daily:

Brooklyn lawmakers introduced a long-awaited bill on June 21 to combat illegal home construction that activists say is tearing apart Bay Ridge and Dyker Heights, but critics say it could put immigrant families in a bind. A legal snag significantly delayed the legislation, so lawmakers dropped a sticky provision that created a relief fund for residents of diced-up homes who are displaced by city-issued vacate orders. But cracking down on illegal housing without a safety net will drive tenants — many of whom are immigrants — onto the streets or into overcrowded housing conditions, critics say.

“Given that the city has very little affordable housing options, where are they going to go?” said Aniqa Nawabi a spokeswoman for Chhaya Community Development Corporation, which advocates for Asian immigrants. “There can be overcrowding in other apartments, because people will go to live with family, 10 to an apartment.”

But legislators had to cut the provision, because it was holding up the works, according to the bill’s primary sponsor, who argued the plan would lead to few evictions, because the city only issues vacate orders on “immediately hazardous” buildings.

“It gives the commi ssioner the option if they find a fire is about to erupt or there’s smoke conditions or gas,” Councilman Vincent Gentile (D-Bay Ridge) said. “So not everyone will be displaced — the owner will get fined, the fine will go through, and they’ll financially suffer, but that doesn’t mean there will be a vacate order.”

The legislation, announced to great fanfare in March last year, would create a building violation called “aggravated illegal conversion” — denoting a flippant attempt to subdivide a house against code — that comes with a $15,000-per-unit fine for smaller homes with three or more illegal units. It would also let the Department of Buildings obtain warrants for suspected conversions and put liens on buildings whose owners do not pay up.

It does not affect buildings with fewer than three illegal units to protect otherwise compliant property owners who create basement apartments. Nawabi and Chhaya say the city should go a step further on that front and legalize basement apartments so it can better regulate them.

An end to developer loophole?

From Brooklyn Daily:

The city must repeal provisions letting Ridgites drastically increase the size of their houses, because homeowners are turning the neighborhood into a hodgepodge of McMansions, local leaders say. The Department of City Planning is considering no longer extending so-called “special permits” to residents who want to enlarge their one- and two-family homes bigger than zoning allows. The agency created such permits to help families grow in place — so homeowners could build an extra bedroom for a child instead of moving out of the neighborhood, for example. But in practice, greedy speculators use it to make a quick buck, one critic said.

“It is used rampantly by people to buy property, build it up, and flip it for a profit,” said Michael Bistreich, legislation and budget director for Councilman Vincent Gentile (D–Bay Ridge). “Repealing it will help keep neighborhood character and the housing market in the area intact.”

Community Board 10 opted into the program 20 years ago under the belief that the Board of Standards and Appeals — a city planning sub-agency that grants the permits — would ensure that any expansions would not “alter the essential character of the neighborhood,” and that the community board would have some say in what permits were granted, according to a 1996 board report.

But since then, the city has rubber-stamped wildly inappropriate home expansions, according to a board honcho.

Queens building inspectors sent to Brooklyn

From Brooklyn Daily:

The city is taking steps to put Brooklyn’s illegal home conversion problem on ice, but locals say the battle is just heating up.

The Department of Buildings is sending more inspectors to Brooklyn, and Borough President Adams introduced a multi-pronged bill to fight illegal home conversions, officials announced at a town hall meeting on Feb. 26. But residents who see their neighborhood being crowded and endangered by shady building practices say they’ll only rest when they see results.

The city shifted more building inspectors to Brooklyn last summer to step up enforcement in response to a rise in complaints, an official said.

“The vast majority of illegal conversions were in Queens [before 2009],” said Tim Hogan, a deputy commissioner with the buildings department. “The numbers are changing now, and as recently as July of last year, we transferred some of the Queens unit into Brooklyn. In doing so we have increased fourfold the number of access warrants that we have applied for and received in Brooklyn.”

The borough president and two Brooklyn councilmen are now pushing a law to give those additional inspectors more teeth.

Adams and councilmen Vincent Gentile (D–Bay Ridge) and Jumaane Wiliams (D–East Flatbush) have introduced legislation to create a new building code violation for illegal subdivisions and a minimum $45,000 fine for landlords who turn a single unit into three or more. It would also relax criteria for obtaining warrants to inspect suspicious properties.

Critics have long panned the city for failing to collect fines form landlords, which currently total $640 million in uncollected cash, Marrone said.

Currently, the main leverage the buildings department has to collect fines for doing work without a permit comes only if a scofflaw landlord eventually comes to the agency to ask for one.

But under the proposed bill, the city could put a lien against homes with unpaid conversion violations, allowing it collect when the property is sold.

The bill also stipulates that the revenue from the fines would be earmarked for a fund to provide three months of housing to tenants booted from subdivided homes by enforcement actions, a spokesman for Adams said.

Proposal to paint hydrant & bus stop curbs

From Queens Gazette:

A city lawmaker is proposing a measure that would require the city to paint curbs near fire hydrants and bus stops with red paint to clarify them as no parking zones.

Brooklyn City Councilmember Vincent Gentile will introduce the bill to the council this week in an effort to spare motorists from receiving tickets issued when they park too close to hydrants and bus stops throughout the city.

Motorists face a $115 fine if they are caught parking within 15-feet on either side of a hydrant or between a bus stop sign and the closest no parking sign on the same block, authorities said.

Gentile said the red paint would stand out and eliminate any question as to whether or not motorists are parked in no parking zones.

City not properly tracking illegal conversions

From Brooklyn Daily:

A high-tech system the city uses to clamp down on residents who illegally rent their apartments over the internet should be used to put an end to the illegally dicing up of homes in Bay Ridge and Dyker Heights, according to local officials.

A sophisticated data-crunching and workflow platform called Palantir is helping the Mayor’s Office of Special Enforcement crack down on peer-to-peer apartment sharing services like Airbnb at an unprecedented rate, according to a WNYC report. But the city isn’t using the software to combat illegal home conversions — and local leaders say that needs to change.

“If they have a program that tracks the illegal hotels, then it should be easy enough to track illegal conversions, whether through the Mayor’s Office of Special Enforcement or through the Department of Buildings,” said Councilman Vincent Gentile (D–Bay Ridge). “We reached out to the Mayor’s Office, and so far no one could give us an answer as to why they’re not using this for illegal conversions.”

Landlords in Bay Ridge, Bensonhurst, and Dyker Heights are violating building and fire codes by subdividing small homes into multi-family apartments at an alarming rate, locals said. The practice creates dangerous living conditions and strains city services.

New Yorkers registered upwards of 100,000 complaints to the Department of Buildings through 311 in 2014 — 1,100 about illegal hotels and 26,000 for illegal home conversions, city data shows. A spokesman could not provide the number of inspectors the department employs, but reports put the figure around 200.

Software like Palantir helps agencies make the most of their staff, an official said.

“Thirty percent more work with the same exact staff,” the acting director of the Mayor’s Office of Special Enforcement, Elan Parra, told WYNC. “I guess maybe you could call it ‘Moneyball’ for quality-of-life violations.”

But Mayor’s Office of Special Enforcement focuses on quality of life issues — not buildings issues, a spokeswoman said.

Buildings/illegal conversion issues ARE quality of life issues. HELLO?

Daneek, Danny and Paulie V. are "slugs" for keeping lulu cash

From the Daily News:

By law, the standard salary for a member is $112,500. But the Council gets around the limit by awarding lulus, supposedly for “extra” work on committees.

All told, 47 of the 51 members get the additional dough, ranging from $5,000 for those with little clout or seniority to $25,000 for Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito.

Who gets what is determined by the speaker, empowering her to reward friends, punish enemies and buy obedience. Independent lawmaking goes out the window.

Which is why every member of the U.S. Congress, from minority-party freshmen backbenchers to the most senior committee chairmen, gets the same salary. Not so in the Council. There, most take the money and run.

...12 members keep the cash, including six who had pledged to restrict lulus. The slugs are Corey Johnson and Ydanis Rodriguez of Manhattan, Daneek Miller, Danny Dromm and Paul Vallone of Queens and Vinny Gentile of Brooklyn.

Their word is worthless.

Can illegal conversions be busted with circumstantial evidence?

From PIX11:

Bob Cassara has lived in Bay Ridge his whole life.

After a neighboring home came under new ownership and went through a massive renovation recently, Cassara decided to take a look at the plans from the Department of Buildings.

“What had before maybe three or four bedrooms, now has 11 or 12 bedrooms,” said Cassara.

Naturally, the plans raised some questions, so Bob brought it to the attention of the local community board.

“They said the houses are being converted illegally.”

In fact, the city receives more than 20-thousand complaints about illegal conversions each year.

And the reality is they put a burden on tax payers by raising home values, put first responders at risk because of inaccurate plans, and cause over-crowding at local schools.

“This is a lose, lose all around and it’s growing throughout the whole city,” said City Councilman Vincent Gentile.

The problem is, even if the Department of Buildings believes a home has been illegally converted, they can’t go inside to check without permission from the owners. Which is why Councilman Gentile has proposed new legislation that would strengthen the laws for the city.

“We send people to jail circumstantial evidence,” said Gentile. “So there’s no reason why we can’t have circumstantial evidence help us to try to stem the tide of the illegal conversions happening in our city.”

So what can you look out for?

Gentile says extra doorbells or electric and water meters might be the mark of an illegal conversion. There may also be multiple entrances like there are at this home Gentile’s office says is on a list of suspected illegal conversions.

DOE won't notify DOB about kids in illegal conversions

From Brooklyn Daily:

The Department of Education has no plans to share information with other city agencies to help combat the illegal home conversions that contribute to school overcrowding, the agency’s head told the District 20 Community Education Council on Dec. 10.

“It’s certainly not, I don’t think, the Department of Education’s role to play in this — it would be more of Housing,” said schools chancellor Carmen Fariña.

There is a link between school overcrowding and diced-up homes, a member of the education council said.

“We have a significant overcrowding problem that’s being made significantly worse by tremendous number of illegal conversions of homes, and its a tremendous problem in the community,” said Mark Bramante.

This paper’s analysis of city data shows that the areas around the district’s most crowded schools generate the most complaints to 311 about illegal construction activity.

Residents and lawmakers have publicly called on city schools to alert the buildings department about possible illegal conversions.

“When they’ve got 12 kids listed at one address, they should be telling the Department of Buildings,” said Assemblyman Peter Abbate (D–Sunset Park). “I don’t think the city is taking this seriously right now.”

Fariña said she is well aware of the issue, saying even the local councilman recently buttonholed her about it.

“Vincent Gentile actually cornered me at some meeting to bring this up, so it isn’t that I’m hearing it for the first time,” she said.

But Fariña contended that a dearth of space for new buildings and the time required to construct schools are larger contributors to overcrowding, and said focusing on illegal conversions might vilify students living in the buildings.

"Let us know if you want us to honor you"

LaborPress seeks council members to nominate themselves for this very important honor. And the minimum sponsorship is $3,000, because these days the unions and the council members they love both represent the little people.

Maybe if they were a little more selective, they wouldn't get screwed over so often.

Council legislation introduced to get rid of those bins

From Brooklyn Magazine:

On July 24, Councilman Gentile, who represents Bay Ridge, Bensonhurst, Bath Beach, Dyker Heights, brought Bill Int 0409-2014 before the City Council for consideration, reports the Bay Ridge Journal. The bill calls for not only the immediate removal of the bins from city property, but also adds a $250 fine for first-time offenders of the would-be law and a $500 fine for repeat offenders.

As it stands, the Department of Sanitation can’t take immediate action. First, the DOS must paste a label on the bins warning the owners to remove them and then 30 days after that the DOS can physically remove the bin. Bill Int 0409-2014 would do away with that 30-day waiting period if the bin’s owner fails to include their contact information on the pink monstrosities.

They even bribe each other!

From Crain's:

Some of the most likely candidates to become the next New York City Council speaker are spreading campaign cash to other campaigns, in an apparent early effort to curry favor and votes among potential colleagues in 2014.

Over the past several months, Queens Assemblyman Mark Weprin, who is jockeying to be selected speaker by his council peers, has given out seven $1,000 donations. The $7,000, most of it doled out in recent weeks, has gone to members of the Assembly running for the City Council who are not only likely to win their races, but have a relationship with Mr. Weprin from his own days as a member of that body. Recipients include Assemblymen Rafael Espinal and Alan Maisel of Brooklyn, Councilman Vincent Gentile of Brooklyn, Costa Constantinides of Queens, Assemblywoman Vanessa Gibson of the Bronx, Mark Levine of Manhattan, and Manhattan Assemblyman Micah Kellner.

Not to be outdone, speaker's race rival Dan Garodnick, has given more: nearly $18,000. The Manhattan councilman, whose campaign account is flush from an aborted citywide run for comptroller, has given the $2,750 maximum contribution for a primary to six different candidates. Most of it was paid earlier this month. The recipients include Mr. Constantinides, Ms. Gibson, Mr. Levine, Bronx Council candidate Andrew Cohen, Brooklyn's Chris Banks and Manhattan Councilwoman Rosie Mendez. He also has given $500 to Bronx Councilman Andy King, and $750 to Bronx Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez.
Another likely contender, Bronx Councilman James Vacca, has given three donations to council campaigns: $2,700 to Mr. Cohen, $1,000 to Ms. Gibson and $1,375 to Mr. King.

To hookah or not to hookah?

From the Daily News:

Despite popular belief, scientists have recently discovered that hookah smoke contains at least two cancer-causing elements - and can be just as addictive as cigarettes, says a recent Harvard Medical School study.

Someone who smokes a hookah for 45 minutes to an hour at a rate of two 10-second puffs per minute is inhaling 10%-to-50% more nicotine, says a 2009 study published in the Current Science journal.

Sheepshead Bites reports that local pols State Senator Marty Golden, Assemblyman Alec Brook-Krasny and Council Member Vincent Gentile all have pending legislation that would ban or limit hookah smoking.

As predicted...

From the Daily News:

Queens residents may not love the idea, but the City Council is undeterred: A 6-1 committee vote this afternoon cleared the way for the full council to rename the only free route out of their borough as the Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge.

Just last Friday, a Quinnipiac University poll found 70% of Queens residents -- and 64% of New Yorkers overall -- opposed to the renaming.

Still, Queens council members Elizabeth Crowley, Daniel Dromm and Julissa Ferreras voted for it today, as did James Vacca of the Bronx, Melissa Mark Viverito of Manhattan and Vincent Gentile of Brooklyn.

The only objection came from Queens Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer, who said that while he likes the former mayor, his constituents are unanimously opposed to changing the name.

Council gearing up for storm hearings

From NY1:

It promises to be one of the most closely-watched government meetings in recent history: a City Council hearing on the mayor's botched snow cleanup that's scheduled for Monday. The storm hit all corners of the city. And members are eager to sound off against Mayor Michael Bloomberg and his administration.

"This will be one of the best attended and probably longest hearings we've ever held in New York City Council history," said City Councilman Peter Vallone Junior. "I am expecting the Fourth of July of City Council hearings.

The Council announced Tuesday that additional public hearings on the storm will be held throughout the city. But before those get underway, some Council members are coming up with new legislation to address the snow problems and the apparent chain-of-command breakdown at City Hall as the storm approached.

"One of the things we are looking at right now is perhaps requiring that if the mayor goes out of town for any length of time that he notify, maybe the city clerk, and he appoint someone who has to be in charge and has to be here," Vallone Jr. said.

It's unclear where the mayor was on December 25, the day before the blizzard began. In an interview Monday with NY1's "Inside City Hall," Deputy Mayor Howard Wolfson would say only that the mayor was in constant touch with his team.

"Where the mayor is or isn't is not important," said Wolfson.

Meanwhile, City Councilman Jumaane Williams is planning to introduce six new pieces of legislation, all related to the storm.

"The people of New York City deserve some relief and they deserve some answers and deserve to not have this happen again," Williams said.

Williams wants to throw out all parking tickets incurred in the days following the storm. He also wants all parking regulations suspended for any storm that produces a certain amount of snow. Additionally, he's looking to require the mayor's Office of Emergency Management to share an action plan with Council members 24 hours before a storm.

City Councilman Vincent Gentile, meantime, is drafting yet another piece of storm-related legislation. It all adds up to yet another storm for Mayor Bloomberg, who is still trying shovel his way out of the current one.

Legislation to extend smoking rules to hookah bars

From NY1:

A Brooklyn lawmaker is trying to extend the city’s indoor smoking ban to hookah bars.

City Councilman Vincent Gentile is expected to introduce a bill this week that would add all non-tobacco smoking products – including the legal herbal smoke – to the city's ban.

Gentile argues hookah smoke, containing tar and carbon monoxide, is just as dangerous as cigarette smoke.

Under the proposal, no new hookah bars would be allowed to open beginning in 2012.

Existing hookah bars would be required to register with the New York City Department of Health, and would not be allowed to expand or change locations.

Pol wants snow days for parkers

From Courier-Life:

With snow removal treated vastly differently in Manhattan and the outer boroughs, one local legislator has a modest proposal for the city administration: Delay the return of alternate side parking in the boroughs where snow and ice-bound streets make it difficult, if not impossible for residents to move their cars.

City Councilmember Vincent Gentile sent a letter to that effect to Department of Transportation (DOT) Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan after the February 25th snowstorm, which dumped an average of 21 inches on city streets.

In a subsequent interview, Gentile said that he had received numerous complaints from constituents about the fact that alternate side regulations were slated to be reinstituted despite the fact that some neighborhood streets were in such bad shape that digging out cars to move them was extremely difficult.

The view from City Hall, he added, is somewhat skewed by the fact that, in business areas of Manhattan, there was a sustained effort to remove the snow. Nearby, one street was closed and used as a repository for the mounds of snow that had been scooped up by Department of Sanitation (DOS) vehicles, Gentile noted.

“So, within a day or two, it was clear sailing in Manhattan,” he added. “But, if you went to the outer boroughs, it was a totally different story. Streets were minimally plowed and hardened snow surrounded cars. So, DOT and city officials determining it was appropriate to re-impose alternate side parking were looking at Manhattan streets, not at the streets of the outer boroughs. Luckily with days of 40 degree weather, the problem resolved itself, but that doesn’t solve the problem for next time.”