Council votes to support Willets Point plan in court

From the Observer:

Defying the de Blasio administration, the City Council passed a resolution today to support a major Queens development in court.

The City Council voted overwhelmingly to attach an amicus brief reaffirming its approval of a 2013 plan to redevelop Willets Point, Queens. Mayor Bill de Blasio, a Democrat the liberal-leaning Council typically sides with, chose not to stand with the pair of developers after an appeals court ruled earlier this summer that the $3 billion project illegally gobbles up city parkland. The developers, Related Companies and Sterling Equities, challenged the ruling, and won a victory in November when the state’s highest court opted to consider the appeal.

But at least one Queens city councilman disagreed. Councilman Rory Lancman broke with the Queens Democratic establishment to vote down the resolution, agreeing with the rationale of the lower court that the parkland near Citi Field could not be alienated without approval from the State Legislature. He also said the Council didn’t have to be bound by Bloomberg era terms.

‘The intermediary appellate court has found, correctly in my view, that using the land in question for a shopping mall would improperly alienate parkland without the authorization of the state—an important safeguard against the permanent giveaway of cherished public spaces for minimal public benefit,” Mr. Lancman said.

Most Council Democrats support admitted terrorist

From the NY Post:

At the behest of Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, the City Council rammed through a resolution Wednesday urging President Obama to grant clemency to Puerto Rican terrorist Oscar Lopez Rivera.

The resolution — approved by 41 of the 51 council members with eight voting “no” and two abstaining — bizarrely paints the 72-year-old imprisoned and unrepentant leader of the terrorist FALN (Fuerza Armadas de Liberacion Nacional) as a “decorated Vietnam War veteran and community activist” who received a “disproportionate” 55-year prison sentence for his crimes.

“This resolution calls upon President Obama to grant clemency to Lopez Rivera, so that he is immediately released from prison, considering that his continued incarceration is unjust and serves no legitimate purpose,” the resolution says.

However, it fails to mention that authorities say Lopez Rivera conspired to transport explosives with intent to destroy federal government property and committed other related crimes — or that the FALN was deemed responsible for a reign of terror that killed six people and injured 130 others in at least 114 bombings.

They includes the 1975 bombing of historic Fraunces Tavern in the city’s Financial District, which left four people dead and wounded more than 50 others, and a New Year’s Eve 1982 bombing at Police Headquarters that maimed three NYPD cops who tried to defuse the explosives.

The only Queens councilmembers to vote against this resolution were: Lancman, Ulrich, Vallone and Weprin. In a city that still suffers from the effects of 9/11, there are elected representatives that think terrorism is no big deal.

Think about that for a while.

Paul Vallone's year in review

Front page story: Vallone brings back historic budget. Actually, the council's rules were changed, so everyone got the same-sized slice of budget pie with adjustments based on poverty level. Vallone's district is one of the wealthier ones, so he actually got a smaller amount of funding than many other council members.

At least he included something useful in this taxpayer funded waste of paper. The rest can be used as a bird cage liner.

(Click for larger version)

Now here is what he's really been up to: Sponsoring a handful of meaningless resolutions and not getting any of his 9 introductions passed. What a legislator!

Council calls for more manufacturing support

From the Queens Chronicle:

The battle to maintain manufacturing and industrial space has raged on for years on the hyperlocal level in many Queens neighborhoods and areas citywide.

Now, the City Council is requesting Mayor de Blasio to take significant action to ensure the survival of the city’s 21 industrial business zones.

Resolution 228, introduced on May 14 and discussed at a June 19 hearing jointly held by the committees on Economic Development and Small Business, calls on de Blasio to revitalize the defunct Mayor’s Office of Industrial and Manufacturing Businesses

Co-sponsored by 12 city lawmakers, including Queens Councilmen Antonio Reynoso (D-Brooklyn, Queens), Donovan Richards (D-Laurelton) and Costa Constantinides (D-Astoria), the resolution is not legislation. Instead, it is a formal request for the city’s executive branch to take action on the issue.

...the Council is calling for the former industrial business oversight agency to be revamped in order to “grant the manufacturing sector a strong voice in city government,” as per its resolution.

Councilman Dan Garodnick (D-Manhattan), chairman of the Council’s Economic Development Committee, discussed at last week’s hearing how critical it is that the city doesn’t “simply develop away our manufacturing zones.”

“While manufacturing saw considerable decline over the last few decades, we are happy to see some growth again in the last few years,” Garodnick said. “And it’s important that the city be present to support that growth. The city needs to prioritize protecting industrial space.”

CB7 says no to basement apartments

From the Times Ledger:

Community Board 7 gave a resounding no to Mayor Bill de Blasio’s proposal to consider looking at legalizing basement apartments at a meeting Monday night.

The board unanimously voted to support a non-binding resolution declaring its opposition to the idea.

“This is out in the forefront right now,” board member Tyler Cassell said at the meeting. “We have to let them know we strongly oppose this.”

CB 7’s neighbor to the east, CB 11 passed its own resolution denouncing the possible legalization of basement apartments in April. CB covers Flushing, Whitestone, College Point and Bay Terrace, while CB 11 covers Bayside, Douglaston, Little Neck and part of Auburndale.

De Blasio included the policy as part of his plan to build 200,000 units of affordable housing. His Housing Department commissioner, Vicki Been, recently stressed to a Queens Borough Board meeting the administration has not committed to anything concerning legalizing basement apartments other than taking a look at the possibility.

Board members scoffed at the idea, saying it would do nothing to address affordable housing problems and that it would lead to violations of the neighborhood’s zoning laws.

“The reason you can’t rent out [your basement] is the same reason you bought the house in the first place: It’s a single-family detached house,” CB 7 Vice Chairman Chuck Apelian said.

Vision Zero bills passed

From Metro:

The New York City Council passed a slate of 11 laws and six resolutions on Thursday in an effort to reduce and eliminate all traffic fatalities.

At least four of those bills are targeted towards the city’s 13,437 yellow and 6,000 outer borough taxis — including one named after Cooper Stock, a 9-year-old boy who was killed by a cab as he and his father crossed the intersection of West 97th Street and West End Avenue on January 10.

There have been at least 88 traffic-related deaths in New York City in 2014, 44 of which were pedestrians. Last year, at least 286 people in New York City were killed as a result of traffic incidents.

The Council overwhelmingly passed the entire package, sending it to Mayor Bill de Blasio for signatures within the next month.

I have to say, this map is genius.

However, there will never be zero fatalities, mainly because you can't fix stupid.

Community board term limit resolution introduced

From the Queens Chronicle:

A resolution wending its way though the City Council could send a seismic wave through community boards throughout the borough.

Councilman Ben Kallos (D-Manhattan) wants borough presidents and Council members who make appointments to limit them to five consecutive terms; set term limits for board and committee chairmanships; and use things like meeting attendance and committee participation to end the practice of automatic reappointment.

His proposal also seeks to ban the appointment of executive board members of political parties or people serving on the staffs of elected officials.

Resolution 164 has 10 co-sponsors, including Danny Dromm (D-Jackson Heights), Peter Koo (D-Flushing) and Antonio Reynoso (Brooklyn, Queens).

A resolution doesn't do squat. You need to change the city charter.

S.I. elected officials as lame as those in Queens

From DNA Info:

Elected officials and nearly two dozen residents rallied on the steps of City Hall on Wednesday to try and stop the development of the former Jesuit retreat house Mount Manresa, a week after crews began work on the property.

Councilwoman Debi Rose introduced a resolution to push the Savo Brothers, who have said they will build condos on the historic site, to instead preserve the 15-acre land in Rosebank.

"Today, I am pleased to have introduced a resolution calling on the new owners, the Savo Brothers, to protect and preserve in its current form the land known as Mount Manresa. Mount Manresa is Staten Island history.”

A resolution? They mean absolutely nothing, but look nice on paper. Staten Island Crap coming soon.

Council calls for reimbursement for co-ops damaged by storm

From the Queens Courier:

The City Council has unanimously passed a resolution calling for Congress to make co-op and condos eligible for federal storm recovery grants.

“Condo and co-op owners are homeowners too,” said Councilmember Peter Vallone Jr. who brought forth the measure. “Yet, right now, the federal government is denying them Sandy relief. That needs to change.”

The resolution, introduced September 12, comes after many citywide co-op and condo owners found they could not receive FEMA grants for Sandy-inflicted damages.

The measure sailed through the City Council less than two weeks later on September 24. The Council’s Committee on Housing and Buildings moved the resolution forward earlier that morning.

It would push the passage of an already proposed federal law that aims to fix a glitch keeping co-op and condo owners from disaster aid.

The Stafford Act, which governs how FEMA responds to major disasters, does not include the word “co-op” in the law, officials said.

However, there is no statute that bans co-op owners from being eligible for grants, a privilege given to homeowners.

Co-op and condos are also categorized as “business associations,” which makes them eligible for federal loans but not grants. It also means they cannot get funds to fix shared spaces like lobbies and roofs.

Congressmember Steve Israel introduced a law in August that would better define co-ops in the Stafford Act, allow co-op and condo owners to apply for FEMA grants, and call for a new cap on FEMA’s Individual and Households Program.

The proposed legislation currently sits in a subcommittee on the House’s Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.

City Council comes up with more stupidity

From NY1:

The City Council is proposing letter grades for the city's subway stations.

During a Transportation Committee hearing Wednesday, Councilmember Peter Koo suggested the agency should come up with letter grades similar to those issued to restaurants for each of the 468 subway stations.

The committee's chairman, Bronx Councilman James Vacca, says he plans to introduce a non-binding resolution urging the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to do so.

"We rate the restaurants and every takeout place. Why can't we rate stations on cleanliness, water, garbage, graffiti? That's a good idea, councilmember, I'm with you," Vacca said.

MTA Chairman Joseph Lhota says the agency does not have the money for station letter grades.

The MTA does publish station cleanliness ratings by line and borough but does not break down the information station-by-station.

Crowley doesn't understand what a resolution is

From Daily News op-ed by Elizabeth Crowley:

Last month, I introduced City Council Resolution 1294 to require that the Department of Education calculate teachers’ salaries against its the entire operating budget and not that of an individual school.

Hey Liz, Council resolutions are non-binding and therefore do not "require" anything. The Council passes a lot of these, which are huge wastes of taxpayer time and money. Three years on the council and a 6-figure salary and she doesn't know the difference between an intro and a resolution...