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 Check out the latest news about 
Wednesday, February 08, 2012 Mayor, East Side Elected Officials Announce Agreement on East Side Waterfront October 5, 2011 Mayor Bloomberg, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, Senator Liz Krueger, Assembly Member Brian Kavanagh and Council Member Garodnick jointly announced a historic Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that provides a framework for the United Nations to make a substantial investment in its New York City campus, while also creating a source of financing for a long-awaited East River Esplanade between 38th and 60th Streets and additional park space. "What we accomplished in this agreement has eluded the East Side of Manhattan for generations," said Council Member Garodnick. "This deal is creative, it is historic, and most importantly, it will yield a huge amount of open space for all New Yorkers to enjoy." The agreement was the product of cooperation between the community, local elected officials, and the City, which was made possible by state legislation passed in June.
For the full statement of Council Member Garodnick, Senator Krueger
and Assembly Member Kavanagh, as well as details on the MOU, visit www.eastsideopenspace.com.
The Consumer Affairs Committee, chaired by Council Member Garodnick, held an oversight hearing to explore complaints regarding electronics stores — a top-five source of consumer complaints citywide.
Over the last five years, more than 2,000 complaints were lodged against electronics stores; one store in Midtown Manhattan that has preyed on unsuspecting tourists racked up over 100 complaints alone. The committee discussed stricter licensing in part to keep up with new technology not explicitly covered by current law.
At the release of Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney's third annual report card on the Second Avenue Subway construction, Council Member Garodnick reaffirmed the project's importance to the East Side and the importance of the 16,000 construction jobs it has generated — but also said the MTA must find ways to reduce the construction's impacts on merchants and residents.
"We need the MTA to be smart with its resources, efficient with its
work and effective in the way it prevents and mitigates disturbances
above ground," Council Member Garodnick said. "Working together, my
colleagues in government and I have put into place a number of
measures to bring relief — and business — to Second
Avenue. But what will bring the most relief is for the MTA to get this project done."
Council Member Garodnick helped rally over 150 residents to save Ruppert Playground, a park that has served residents for over 25 years, but which may soon become the site of a 49-story residential tower.
Related Companies, which owns the site, announced plans to close the
playground, but agreed not to begin tearing down any structures within
it so that elected officials and the community could have time to find
alternatives to its demolition. "Until we've exhausted every option, we will push Related to keep this park open permanently," Council Member Garodnick said.
Council Member Garodnick supported the calls of parents for better monitoring and quicker mitigation of toxic PCBs in the lighting fixtures of public school classrooms. "When parents send their kids off to school every September, they do so with a few basic expectations: They expect a quality education, and they expect the school system to protect the health and safety of their children," he said. "But at best, the DOE is leaving families in the dark about whether students' health is at risk due to toxic PCBs in the classroom. And at worst, it is being negligent with the long-term health of it students, teachers and staff."
Council Member Garodnick added: "We need accountability — and
action. The City says it can remove and replace PCB-contaminated light fixtures in 10 years. We say it can be done in at least half that time, and quite possibly as fast as two years. In this June's budget, the City Council allocated $30 million to speed up the process of replacing PCB-contaminated light fixtures. But it shouldn't fall to the Council with its limited budget powers to pick up the Mayor's slack to get this job done."
Residents of District 4 expressed support both for more enforcement of bicycle regulations and the creation of bicycle lanes, were sharply divided on the merits of pedestrian plazas and sidewalk cafes, and strongly backed a return of the "millionaire's tax" and a ban on hydrofracking, according to a new survey released by Council Member Garodnick. Additionally, 20 percent of respondents said they were aware of bedbug infestations in their buildings, and overall support for street fairs would turn dramatically if more local merchants participated in the events. Some 1,300 residents of Council Member Garodnick's district answered the survey between June 30 and August 19. The survey was mailed to all registered voters in District 4, which includes much of the East Side of Manhattan from 97th Street to 14th Street, as well as the West 50s. "It's important that I know where members of my district stand on both quality of life issues and policy decisions," said Council Member Garodnick. "I thank my constituents for taking the time to let me know how they feel about issues facing the City today."
The full results of the survey are available at www.garodnick.com/danatwork.
Council Member Garodnick continued his opposition to the proposed 91st Street Marine Transfer Station garbage facility, telling the Army Corps of Engineers that the City's East River environmental mitigation plan is outdated and "wholly insufficient."
Citing a number of flaws and oversights in the City's mitigation plan which fall short of the legal requirements, Council Member Garodnick said the proposal will turn back the clock on the East River's ecological improvements and leave the station prone to flooding, and make mitigation monitoring impossible.
The MTA announced a moratorium on underground blasting operations past 7:00 p.m. in direct response to action by Council Member Garodnick, East Side elected officials and residents.
Days after Council Member Garodnick led his colleagues in calling on the MTA to halt late-night blasting for the Second Avenue Subway construction, the agency said it would "instruct its contractor that all blasting is to occur prior to 7 P.M. on a regular basis."
Along with over 50 tenants from Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village, Council Member Garodnick and STPCV Tenants Association leaders traveled to Albany to press State lawmakers on the need to preserve the Roberts v. Tishman Speyer decision that re-regulated every apartment in the complex.
"Our neighbors made a strong statement in the halls of the capitol, in their numbers and in their arguments," said Council Member Garodnick. "The case is clear why undoing the Roberts decision would be a windfall for landlords and unfair for tenants, and our neighbors made that case well to the legislators."
Council Member Garodnick and the Stuyvesant Town / Peter Cooper Village Tenants Association called on Governor Cuomo to join them in opposing anti-tenant legislation that would result in a windfall for landlords and take thousands of apartments in Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village and other communities out of rent stabilization. The State Senate bill, S4117A, would effectively reverse Roberts v. Tishman Speyer, the 2009 Court of Appeals decision that re-regulated every apartment in Stuyvesant Town / Peter Cooper Village. The bill, which passed the Senate's Housing Committee on a party-line vote, is one of the landlord lobby's top priorities.
"This bill is nothing more than a reward for bad behavior," said Council Member Garodnick. "Landlords who ignored or willfully circumvented the law propose simply returning their tax breaks to the City. This would let them capture a huge windfall — and completely reverse the 50-year history of J-51 tax breaks, from being taxpayer grants designed to maintain affordable housing, to publicly financed loans used to eliminate affordable housing. It would also completely fail to compensate the New Yorkers who paid much higher rents than their landlords were legally allowed to charge — and that is deeply unfair."
Amid debate about whether bicyclists on the loop roads in Central Park are being unfairly ticketed when they run red lights, Council Member Garodnick helped lead a consensus to limit ticketing to moments when a pedestrian is in the crosswalk.
He hosted a summit meeting with Council Member Gale Brewer, and the Central Park Conservancy, which was attended by the Department of Transportation, NYPD, the Parks Department and various runners, cyclists and pedestrian groups. In addition to focusing enforcement to provide pedestrian safety, the DOT agreed to change the timing on the traffic signals to allow for longer riding uninterrupted by red lights.
The City Council approved a package of bills introduced by Council Member Garodnick to close loopholes in the pedicab law and bring welcome new regulation to the industry. The bills make pedicabs subject to parking rules for the first time, make it easier for the City to remove unsafe and unlicensed pedicabs and drivers from the road, and cap the number of pedicabs at their current number, 850.
"We are at our saturation point with pedicabs," said Council Member Garodnick. "At this point, the City needs to focus on enforcing the existing rules, and creating clearer and stronger ones for this still-new industry."
Council Member Garodnick called on Schools Chancellor Cathie Black to let principals keep the money they have saved from their budgets and roll it over to offset looming cuts to the classroom. Principals were given a choice between rolling over only half of their savings, or spending the entirety of their budgets this year — even if that means buying low-priority supplies rather than using the funds to retain teaching positions that will otherwise be cut.
"No one disputes that we are in especially difficult economic times. However, penalizing school leaders who had the foresight to save for these difficult times is deeply counter-productive and, indeed, contrary to the actions taken by the City to mitigate our fiscal challenges," Council Member Garodnick said in a letter to Chancellor Black. "The City Council and Mayor Bloomberg have won applause — and rightfully so — for taming the City's budget deficit by rolling over surpluses from previous years. Now, the DOE is discarding the wisdom of that approach and encouraging spending over saving."
Council Member Garodnick spoke in strong defense of women's health and the right to choose, at a rally of some 6,000 New Yorkers supporting Planned Parenthood and similar family planning services.
"The people pushing the rollback of women's right to choose are also pushing the elimination of millions of life-saving preventive exams and access to contraception that will prevent unwanted pregnancies," Council Member Garodnick said. "During the fight for national health care reform, these same Congress members complained about government getting between you and your doctor. Now they want to put your doctor out of business so they can take a victory lap on right-wing media. But we are not going to stand by and let them do that."
The New York City Pedicab Owners' Association (NYCPOA) endorsed a package of bills authored by Council Member Garodnick to reform the industry, the first significant regulations on pedicabs since the Council licensed them in 2009. The bills address traffic issues, consumer protections and pedicabs' place in the congested streetscape of Midtown Manhattan. NYCPOA's support was key because the group — the largest trade association in the pedicab industry — successfully sued the City after its first attempt to regulate pedicabs. The four bills Council Member Garodnick introduced would make pedicabs subject to parking rules for the first time; make it easier for the City to suspend or revoke the licenses of owners and drivers who repeatedly flout the law; create a passenger bill of rights to protect consumers; and keep the window shut for registering new pedicabs for business.
"The City, everyone who uses the streets, and even pedicab operators themselves have an interest in cleaning up the industry," said Council Member Garodnick. "There is a place for pedicabs on our streets, but we must take steps to make sure they follow the law, and we must remove the bad actors from the road. These bills go a long way toward accomplishing that."
A creative new effort to boost business along the Second Avenue Subway construction corridor will reach 2 million straphangers. The MTA announced that, at Council Member Garodnick's request, it will print and distribute 2 million MetroCards that tout the "Shop 2nd Avenue" campaign.
The announcement came on the same day the MTA unveiled a "model block," a prototype for how the construction zone should — and will — look. This step was the direct result of discussions between the MTA, elected officials and business owners to respond to the needs on the ground.
After Mayor Bloomberg stated publicly that non-emergency City workers should have reported to work even after the declaration of a weather emergency and the closure of City offices, Council Member Garodnick said that such a policy is not only unfair, it could also undermine cleanup efforts.
In a letter to the Mayor, Council Member Garodnick said, "For non-emergency employees to show up to work, they would have needed to make their own judgment — as you later indicated they should have — on whether it was clear enough for them to drive. This message was simply too confusing to be heeded. Residents look to you for official, authoritative direction on how to proceed in a storm emergency; introducing caveats and contradictions into that direction only served to confuse residents and jeopardize the necessary cleanup."
Following a Department of Consumer Affairs report that 67 percent of supermarkets failed inspections due to inadequate pricing and other violations, the City Council's Consumer Affairs Committee, chaired by Council Member Garodnick, held an oversight hearing into the City's regulation of supermarkets. "We need to be certain that shoppers aren't being lured by false prices or stuck with a bill that's higher than it should be," said Council Member Garodnick. "We need to also make sure that the Department of Consumer Affairs is spending as much time educating small businesses on the law, as it is issuing tickets."
Council Member Garodnick also said the public needs more information about which stores are playing by all the rules so that shoppers can make smart decisions — and he committed to getting that information.
In response to a budget proposal by the Fire Department to collect a fee from private hospitals that use the City's 911 system to dispatch ambulances, Council Member Garodnick warned FDNY Commissioner Salvatore Cassano that the plan could have a "rippling negative effect on public safety."
Currently, there are 967 eight-hour ambulance tours scheduled every 24 hours, of which 353 are provided voluntarily by private hospitals. As Council Member Garodnick pointed out, without their participation, this service would presumably have to be borne by the City — or else we simply might not have ambulances at hand to respond to an emergency. Yet, if hospitals must pay a $25,000-per-tour fee on top of the expenses they already incur to operate the service, there is no clear incentive for them to provide this service.
Prepaid debit cards are increasing in popularity as they become more targeted to teenagers and the unbanked, and as more celebrities become associated with them — but recent reports and the Council's Consumer Affairs Committee, chaired by Council Member Garodnick, found that they frequently carry high fees that crush their often low-income users. At the same time, there are more financially sound alternatives, even apart from well-known banks. Among others are the City's own Department of Consumer Affairs' "SafeStart" bank accounts.
In examining these options and the City's efforts to boost financial literacy, Council Member Garodnick and the Consumer Affairs Committee have begun to explore additional requirements and recommendations for the prepaid debit industry, as well as ways that the City can educate consumers and provide additional no-cost and low-cost alternatives.
Council Member Garodnick joined Mayor Bloomberg and other officials in opening the Alexandria Center for Life Science - New York City, a state-of-the-art science park on the East Side. The new 310,000-square-foot, 15-floor facility, the first of three buildings to be developed as part of Alexandria's newest life science cluster campus, will connect and foster unique and innovative collaborations among New York City's world-renowned academic and medical institutions, preeminent scientific talent, access to venture capital funds, and the commercial life science industry.
"As we seek to diversify our local economy, there could be no better place to locate a cutting-edge bio-science center than right here in the heart of the medical corridor," Council Member Garodnick said.
Council Member Garodnick was elected by his colleagues to chair the Council's Committee on Consumer Affairs, a position he pledged to use to aggressively defend New Yorkers from fraud and abuse. As his first order of business, Council Member Garodnick announced an email tip line – FightFraudNYC@gmail.com – for consumers to report complaints, scams, questionable business practices or areas for the committee to delve into in its oversight hearings.
Council Member Garodnick also listed a number of priority areas he intends for the committee to explore, including bedbug exterminators, debt collection, pedicabs, street fairs, street vendors and renters' rights.
With flu season upon us, Council Member Garodnick, the Stein Senior Center, and Visiting Nurse Services of New York (VNS) are doing their part to keep New Yorkers healthy. On Tuesday, November 9, from 12:00 to 3:00 p.m., VNS will distribute free flu shots, sponsored by Council Member Garodnick, at the second floor lounge of the Stein Senior Center.
Anyone interested in a free flu shot must make an appointment by calling Council Member Garodnick's office at (212) 818-0580.
Shortly after Council Member Garodnick and Assembly Member Jonathan Bing called on the MTA to accept proof of payment for Select Bus Service on local buses as well, the MTA adopted its new rider-friendly policy. The change addresses a quirk in the pre-paid, off-board fare system for the new bus that replaced the Limited service on the M15 route along First and Second Avenues. Riders who purchased SBS fare could not previously use their receipt to board the Local bus if it arrived at the stop first — and if they paid their fare with an unlimited Metrocard, they couldn't even reuse their Metrocards to get on the local bus. Garodnick and Bing argued that this kink in the system was unfair and could hinder customers' acceptance of what is otherwise a welcome addition to the East Side. Now, riders can board whichever bus arrives first.
The MTA made the change days after the two lawmakers wrote to MTA President Thomas Prendergast.
I am deeply troubled by the experiment currently being carried out by the Department of Homeless Services (DHS), in which 200 families are given access to the Homebase Program, while a "control group" of 200 families are turned away. I understand this experiment is meant to test the efficacy of the Homebase Program by making some families fend for themselves to get the help they need — but there must be a better way to gauge the success of the Homebase without toying with the lives and livelihoods of vulnerable New Yorkers.
DHS' motives may be right in seeking to make government work better for the people it serves, but its method here is sorely off the mark.
Council Member Garodnick stated in no uncertain terms that long-term affordability must be central in any plan to restructure the finances at Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village. In a letter to Bill Ackman of Pershing Square Capital, a hedge fund that has bought a portion of the Stuyvesant Town debt in an effort to assume control of the property, Council Member Garodnick said, "As the buyers in any potential conversion plan, the tenants can only support a proposal that puts home ownership within reach" without placing any pressure on tenants who continue to rent.
He continued: "Even if your proposed insider prices were within reach for today's tenants, it is of the utmost importance that this property remain accessible to New Yorkers of moderate means who aspire to live there in the future. That was the original underlying principle of Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village — and the basis for the considerable assistance from the City and State in its development — and that goal must be realized."
On the National Night Out Against Crime, Council Member Garodnick spent part of the evening in his district, and part of it in Port Richmond, Staten Island, to support Council Member Debi Rose, Speaker Christine Quinn, community and religious leaders and local advocates as they laid out an aggressive plan of action to respond to a string of hate crimes there. "When the safety of our community and the pride in our diversity are challenged by those who would use violence and intimidation, it is a challenge to us all. And we will not back down from it," Council Member Garodnick said.
"The decency of New Yorkers runs much deeper than the hate of the few who persist in these attacks. We will summon every ounce of energy and courage from the community, and use every tool at our disposal, to stand up to vicious acts of hatred in New York City."
Over 150 residents of the West 50s voiced their concerns about pedicabs, bicycles, garbage pickup and other concerns at Council Member Garodnick's town hall forum on quality life issues in that neighborhood.
The Council Member brought in representatives of the NYPD and other relevant City agencies to respond to explain the existing laws and follow up on the concerns they heard directly. For his part, Council Member Garodnick committed to bringing in the NYPD's Manhattan South Borough Command for extra enforcement, exploring legislative proposals to further regulate pedicab parking, and responding to each of the specific constituent complaints that were raised.
Council Member Dan Garodnick joined Speaker Christine Quinn and a number of Council colleagues in the announcement of a new round of budget reforms that will add transparency to how taxpayer funds are allocated to non-profit community organizations.
Most notably, the Council will create an online searchable database of all groups that apply for and receive discretionary funding from the Council. The database will be searchable by organization name or keyword and the sponsoring Council Member, and will include such information as the purpose of the funds. The database will be operational next year.
Council Member Garodnick led a Stuyvesant Town / Peter Cooper Village Tenants Association-chartered bus of residents on a trip to Albany to lobby for "real rent reforms," including renewal of rent stabilization, repeal of vacancy decontrol and reform to the Major Capital Improvements (MCI) law.
On the way to Albany, Council Member Garodnick hosted a "Rolling Town Hall," during which he took questions from tenants about the future of Stuyvesant Town and any other issues on their minds.
In testimony to the Parks Department about its proposed rules governing artists and other "First Amendment vendors," Council Member Garodnick praised the City for seeking to address vending, but expressed concern that the rules may have negative consequences.
Specifically, Council Member Garodnick questioned the basis for the precise number of allowed First Amendment vending locations; said that the first-come, first-serve procedure for claiming a legal spot could lead to altercations, vendors occupying a space 24 hours a day, and disadvantages for senior citizen or disabled vendors; and asked whether the reduction in First Amendment vending was a precursor to more Parks concessions.
Council Member Garodnick, joined by officials from the Department of Transportation and local advocates, celebrated the installation of pedestrian safety improvements at 18th Street and Avenue C, changes that "will make a world of difference at a dangerous intersection," Garodnick said. The most noticeable element is a 63-foot long, 12-foot wide pedestrian island which will have the effect of "shortening" the crosswalk for those who need more time to cross the avenue. The island and new roadway markings will calm traffic and improve visibility for pedestrians. "Everything about this intersection -- its large size, its irregular shape, and its location next to both a park and a highway -- has made it a recipe for disaster, but that is changing," said Council Member Garodnick.
The changes at 18th Street and Avenue C mark the second major overhaul of an intersection in the area instigated by Council Member Garodnick. In 2007, Garodnick and the Dr. Esther Levine Make Traffic Safe Now! Committee successfully advocated for a redesign of 20th Street and First Avenue that included longer crossing times for pedestrians, improved visibility and a landscaped Greenstreet.
Council Member Garodnick brought MTA officials to hear residents' concerns and explain to them exactly what lies ahead after the agency informed tenants that some of them would have to be temporarily relocated due to deteriorating building conditions in the path of the Second Avenue Subway.
In a letter to the MTA signed by every local elected official in the construction zone, Garodnick wrote, "We recognize that these are old buildings, but there are concerns that the deterioration is being exacerbated as a direct result of construction of the Second Avenue Subway. We are also concerned that there may be other buildings that you have not yet identified that could have similar issues."
The City Council passed legislation co-sponsored by Council Member Garodnick to help the City fasttrack green technology that will reduce the carbon footprint of our buildings. This was the first bill to be passed through Garodnick's Technology Committee. This is another in a series of green tech bills sponsored by Garodnick, following the City's Green Energy Code that he authored and passed in 2009.
A new term began in the City Council this month and with it, new roles and responsibilities. Today, I am happy to announce that I assumed the chairmanship of the New York City Council's Committee on Technology. This committee will have a broad mandate to seek ways to make government more efficient, open and accessible—and also to examine ways that technology can improve New Yorkers' health, safety and quality of life.
"Like millions of New Yorkers, I was gravely disappointed by yesterday's vote on same-sex marriage. But that result does not diminish the reality that marriage is a fundamental right. Thirty-eight senators shall not decide a basic human freedom; their vote served only to deny that freedom to the men and women -- our friends, family members, co-workers and neighbors -- who would choose to exercise it. "As my senator, Tom Duane, said in his passionate remarks on the Senate floor, there is never a convenient time to expand civil rights. Yet the expansion of equality is our greatest inheritance as Americans, and our duty to carry forward. The fight for same-sex marriage will go on until the laws reflect reality and recognize the rights of all New Yorkers.
"My admiration goes to the senators who showed the personal and political courage to speak in favor of marriage equality. I thank the advocates and all of our neighbors who have joined this cause. And I say with all confidence that we will see it through until this fundamental right is enjoyed by all New Yorkers."
On November 3, voters of District 4 cast a vote for independent, progressive leadership and re-elected Dan Garodnick with an impressive 75% of the vote. Many thanks to those of you who volunteered on the campaign -- we could not have done it without you.
The New York Court of Appeals – the state’s highest court – ruled in a 4-2 decision in favor of Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper tenants in the Roberts v. Tishman Speyer lawsuit. This is an impressive victory for the taxpayers of this city and for the tenants of Stuyvesant Town. The Court made it clear that you cannot take a tax break from the City while pushing rent-stabilized tenants out of their homes. This takes enormous pressure off the many tenants who fear being pursued unfairly by their landlord
Dan Garodnick was proud to be endorsed by the non-partisan good-government group Citizens Union for his re-election.
Council Member Garodnick, Borough President Scott Stringer and Council Member Gale Brewer gathered in front of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where there has been a recent proliferation of illegal vending activity, to call for an overhaul to the hodgepodge of ineffective vendor rules. "The City needs rules it can enforce, rules with teeth," said Council Member Garodnick. "We appreciate that there should be some level of commercial activity on the street-food carts are part of New York City's identity. But we cannot have a situation where vendors operate as they please, and tickets from the police are treated as a small cost of doing business." Garodnick announced a package of legislation to enhance the clarity and enforceability of vendor rules, including:
Garodnick Leads Meeting to Keep Classroom Aides in East Side Schools July 30, 2009 Council Member Garodnick led a meeting that was attended by Chancellor Joel Klein, United Federation of Teachers president Michael Mulgrew, elected officials and representatives from 12 PTAs across Manhattan to find a way to preserve the role of PTA-funded classroom assistants. Earlier this spring, PTAs learned they would no longer be able to hire classroom aides to assist teachers - a long-standing practice in many of our schools to help manage classes, groom future teachers, and give a little extra attention to students. This supplemental service, which has always benefited our schools, has taken on even greater importance as more of our kindergarten and 1st grade classrooms have become overcrowded.
The meeting that Council Member Garodnick organized quickly bore fruit. "Working cooperatively, we created the framework of a solution that would keep these valuable aides in our schools," he said. "I am hopeful that we can have this issue resolved before the 2009 school year opens."
The City Council passed long overdue regulations on the owners and drivers of pedicabs. Council Member Garodnick was a lead sponsor of the bill, which among other things, will help the City gain a grip on the total number of pedicabs, require licensing and training of drivers, and implement real penalties against drivers who flout traffic laws. "The freewheeling days of pedicabs operating without any rules whatsoever will soon be over," said Council Member Garodnick.
Council Member Garodnick introduced legislation supported by Citizens Union to strengthen public confidence in the handling of police misconduct cases by transferring the power to prosecute those cases from the Police Department to the Civilian Complaint Review Board. The Police Department last year pursued no discipline against officers in 33 percent of the cases where the CCRB determined that there was reasonable evidence of misconduct ("substantiated" cases). That figure has increased exponentially from just 1 percent in 2003-even as the number of cases substantiated by the Board has dropped. As the CCRB has become more careful about recommending only the strongest cases for discipline, the Police Department has become less aggressive in its disposition of these cases. "Inaction by the Police Department in the face of substantiated cases of officer misconduct threatens to undermine accountability and public trust in the system of civilian oversight," said Council Member Garodnick. "We have made extraordinary progress in fighting crime. Now, we must ensure that record is not tarnished by a perception that the Police Department will not discipline its own officers. The Police Department can only benefit from public confidence that we have a robust system of civilian review."
Giving the CCRB the power to prosecute cases would instill independence and transparency in the process-and because the Police Department would maintain its role as judge and jury, Commissioner Ray Kelly's ultimate disciplinary authority would not be compromised in any way. It is an important step to ensure that our civilian complaint review process has the balance and credibility that New Yorkers deserve.
Council Member Garodnick and Speaker Christine Quinn, along with 36 members of the City Council, aggressively defended Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village tenants' legal position in their suit against Tishman Speyer for illegally deregulating apartments, in a friend of the court brief. Garodnick and Quinn made a number of arguments that drew on the language and legislative history of the J-51 tax benefit law, and which boiled down to one key point: The law requires prohibits owners of buildings who receive J-51 benefits from deregulating apartments in those buildings.
"We have presented the court with a very strong case for deciding in the tenants' favor and undoing the damage that was caused when 4,000 apartments in this community were illegally taken out of rent stabilization," said Council Member Garodnick. "We refused to sit on the sidelines of this critical case, and we feel the law is on our side."
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