Transcript: Mayor de Blasio Holds Public Hearing for and Signs Intros. 108-A, 603-A, 604-A, 908-A and 916-A and Signs Intros. 609-A, 65-A, 128

January 5, 2016

Video available at: http://youtu.be/Zo7i324E_qE

Mayor Bill de Blasio: Alright, it's officially after noon. Good afternoon, everyone. I want to thank everyone for being here. I want to give special credit to Council Member Greenfield, and I think there may be a few other folks, who were just at our clergy breakfast, and Gail Brewer, thank you, and also here. So you get extra credit for the day – thank you very, very much.

We have several pieces of legislation today that we held the formal public hearing for previously. We'll do the bill-signing now and then other legislation where there'll be both the hearing and the signing.

So let's get down to business.

This first one we did the hearing on previously – Intro. 609-A, which makes it easier for homeowners and businesses to determine whether geothermal energy is feasible for them. The sponsor is Council Member Costa Constantinides, chair of the Council's Environmental Protection Committee.

We, as a city, are committed to reducing our total emissions by 80 percent by 2050, and this legislation will help us to do it. I want to emphasize – if we're going to take on global warming, every city, every state, every nation must participate. New York City has taken on the gold standard pledge – 80 percent reduction in emissions by 2050 – and this will be a part of that plan now.

Right now, nearly three-quarters of our city's emissions come from our buildings. Geothermal energy is a great renewable alternative to fuel those buildings. This bill requires the city to create a tool that will show building owners and developers whether geothermal would be a good fit for their building.

And this is the first time that a city law will require the consideration of the social consequences of carbon emissions – for example, the impact on health and the risk of floods, and the impact on air and water quality – so, far-reaching impact of this bill.

The bill also encourages geothermal installation in new or retrofitted city-owned buildings and requires us to develop installation and maintenance standards and a registry of qualified installers.

I want to thank Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito for her support. And now it's my honor to introduce the Director of the Mayor's Office of Sustainability, who is leading the charge to make sure this city every day is addressing the issue of climate change, our director, Nilda Mesa.

[…]

Mayor: Let's sign the bill!

[Mayor de Blasio signs Intro. 609-A]

Mayor: Okay. Now we're going to talk about Intro. 65-A. We also held a hearing on this two weeks ago. And Intro. 65-A allows me to authorize reimbursement of non-public schools, including private and religious schools, for the cost of security guard services. The sponsor is Council Member David Greenfield. I also want to thank one of the additional sponsors, Council Member Mark Levine, for their support.

Non-public schools with 300 or more students will qualify. The bill requires schools to report criminal activity and public-safety-related incidents to the NYPD, and to work closely with the NYPD, being additional eyes and ears in the community, and working carefully with NYPD to maximize our ability to work in every community of this city.

The spending cap in this bill will be $19.8 million dollars in the first full year of implementation, and we believe this will help both NYPD and other agencies to keep our communities safer.

I want to thank Council Member Melissa Mark-Viverito for her support, and now it's my pleasure to introduce Council Member David Greenfield.

[…]

Mayor: Thank you. Let's sign the bill.

[Mayor de Blasio signs Intro. 65-A]

Mayor: Okay. Here we go now. Okay, next – excuse me, let's clear it away here, we've got the next bill – lots of democracy going on here.

This next one we also had a hearing on two weeks ago – this is Intro. 128, which requires the city's Economic Development Corporation to share the annual job creation reports with the city's community boards. The sponsor is Council Member Fernando Cabrera.

Currently, these reports are distributed to the mayor's office, Council, comptroller, public advocate, borough presidents, and online. We're glad to add community boards to the list because they are important resources for the community. And, as agreed with the Council, we will distribute the information electronically, so it will be environmentally friendly.

I want to thank Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito and the chair of the Economic Development Committee Dan Garodnick, and now introduce Council Member Fernando Cabrera, the sponsor of Intro. 128.

[…]

Mayor: Let's sign the bill.

[Mayor de Blasio signs Intro.128]

Mayor: Okay. Here we go.

Now, next – okay, now these are bills we have not had the previous – the hearing for previously. Intro. 108-A adds the phrase "caregiver" to the categories protected by New York City's comprehensive human rights law. So we're adding an important category to the human rights law.

New Yorkers can no longer be fired, demoted, or denied promotion because they're caring for a child or dependent relative, or are perceived to be doing so. The sponsor is Council Member Debi Rose.

I want to say what I think we all know – that our caregivers are unsung heroes. They literally keep families together in times of distress, and it's critical that we give them the employment protection they deserve. This is consistent with our values, and it's consistent with other actions we've taken, like paid sick leave, that we were so proud to enact last year – or two years ago.

Today and every day, we say loudly and clearly, employers should focus on qualifications, not characteristics as you look at someone's ability to do the job, not other factors.

I want to thank Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito. I want to thank the chair of the Committee on Civil Rights, Darlene Mealy. I want to thank, again, the lead sponsor of the bill, Debi Rose, and now introduce our New York City Human Rights Commission Chair Carmelyn Malalis.

[…]

[Mayor de Blasio signs Intro. 108-A]

Mayor: Okay, here we go. We've got several more now. First, we're going to discuss a pair of bills – alright, everyone come to order here – we've got a little more work to do.

We've got a pair of bills that do something very important in terms of public safety – protect New Yorkers by cracking down on hit-and-run drivers. Together, these two pieces of legislation will advance our Vision Zero goals of ending traffic deaths and injuries on our streets.

The sponsor is Council Member Jimmy Van Bramer. Intro. 603-A increases civil penalties for leaving the scene of an incident without reporting it. Offenders in incidents involving property damage will be subject to civil penalties resulting in fines between $500 dollars and $2,000 dollars. Offenders in incidents involving injury or death will be subject to civil penalties resulting in fines between $1,000 dollars and $20,000 dollars.

Intro. 604-A would require the NYPD to issue quarterly reports on notices of violation issued in response to incidents resulting in critical injury, and Intro. 604-A requires annual reports on the number of complaints and arrests for leaving the scene.

I want to thank Speaker Mark-Viverito. I want to thank our DOT commissioner, Polly Trottenberg. I want to thank the NYPD Chief of Transportation Thomas Chan – and now my honor to introduce the lead sponsor and the majority leader of the City Council, Jimmy Van Bramer.

[…]

Mayor: Alright, let's sign this bill into law – or these bills.

[Mayor de Blasio signs Intros. 603-A and 604-A]

[…]

Mayor: Alright, finally, last, but not least – okay, Intros. 908-A and 916-A will help to ensure that all appropriate data is posted on the city's Open Data portal. 908-A is sponsored by Council Member Annabel Palma. 916-A is sponsored by Council Member Jimmy Vacca, chair of the Committee on Technology.

The city of New York is already a nationally-recognized leader in open data. 908-A requires agencies to review all data sent out as a result of FOIL requests to see if it should go on the Open Data portal. Reviewing results will be included in the – a review, excuse me, of results will be included in the annual Open Data plan.

Intro 916-A will require the mayor to designate an office or agency to examine and verify certain agencies' compliance with the Open Data law. The commissioner of the Department of Investigation will approve the implementation plan.

I want to thank Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito. I want to thank Anne Roest, our commissioner for the Department of Information, Technology, and Telecommunications; Commissioner Mark Peters, the Department of Investigation; my counsel, Maya Wiley; or director of the Office of Operations, Mindy Tarlow; our director of the Office of Data Analytics, Dr. Amen Ra Mashariki; and sponsor of 908-A, Annabel Palma. And it's my pleasure to introduce the chair of the Committee on Technology, Jimmy Vacca.

[…]

Mayor: Before signing the last bill, I just want to say a few words in Spanish just summarizing the various pieces of legislation that we worked on today.

[Mayor de Blasio speaks in Spanish]

With that, let's sign the last pieces of legislation.

[Mayor de Blasio signs Intros. 908-A and 916-A]