Photo Courtesy of Emil Cohen/NY City Council
Councilwoman Margaret Chin (D-Manhattan) sponsored a bill that would require the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene to conduct health inspections at senior centers and social adult day cares that are considered food-service establishments under the City health code, and to publish the results of such inspections on Health Department’s website.
By Michael V. Cusenza
The City Council recently voted in favor of several bills, including measures that would affect seniors, the private waste management industry, and bail bondsmen.
Introduction 411-A would require the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene to conduct health inspections at senior centers and social adult day cares that are considered food-service establishments under the City health code and to publish the results of such inspections on DOHMH’s website. The bill would also require DFTA to annually provide DOHMH with a list of all senior centers and SADCs registered with the department, update any changes made to the list on a monthly basis, and provide information about any health inspection results on DFTA’s website.
“For many of our city’s older New Yorkers, a meal at their neighborhood senior center or Social Adult Daycare is more than just a meal. It’s an entry point through which they can access specialized services, enriching programming and a supervised socialized setting – all of which are vital to maintaining full and healthy lives,” said City Councilwoman Margaret Chin (D-Manhattan), the bill’s sponsor. “By requiring annual Department of Health and Mental Hygiene inspections and calling on DOHMH and the Department for the Aging to make inspection results publicly available, Intro 411-A would strengthen our City’s efforts to expand seniors’ access to quality, nutritious meals that are in compliance with the New York City health code, and empower families and caregivers to make informed decisions for their loved ones.”
Introduction 399-B would require DFTA to annually report to the Council Speaker, post on its website, and provide data about the participants, programming, services, costs, and budgets of each of DFTA’s 249 senior centers.
Introduction 157-C would reduce the permitted capacity of putrescible solid waste, containing organic matter, and non-putrescible solid waste for each transfer station in these overburdened districts. The permitted capacity for transfer stations in Community District 1 in Brooklyn would be reduced by 50 percent and the permitted capacity in Community districts 1 and 2 in the Bronx, and CD 12 in Queens would be reduced by 33 percent.
Councilman Antonio Reynoso (D-Queens and Brooklyn), the sponsor, called the passage of 157-C a “momentous achievement” that “will finally deliver environmental justice to frontline communities and ensure that no other neighborhood suffers the same fate, while setting a historic precedent for the fair share distribution of burdensome and polluting facilities in the City of New York. This is a first, crucial step toward reforming the city’s commercial carting industry.”
Introductions 724-A and 510-A cover the bail bond industry. The former would require bail bond businesses to provide consumers with a “consumer bill of rights” prior to entering a contract and to post signage at the place of business. Introduction 510-A would require bail bond businesses to conspicuously post signage designed by the Department of Consumer Affairs. The sign will disclose: (1) the maximum premium or compensation that can be charged for giving bail bond or depositing money or property as bail; (2) that such premium or compensation represents the maximum amounts, excluding collateral, that a bail bond agent can charge for services; and (3) that a consumer may make a complaint to DCA or the relevant state agencies if such premium or compensation charged is in conflict with the State’s insurance law.
