Photo Courtesy of Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office
“These bills will chart a path forward for a fair and sustainable recovery,” Mayor de Blasio said.
By Forum Staff
Mayor Bill de Blasio on Tuesday signed into law a package of bills that will expand the City’s Green New Deal, increase access to online rental assistance, and strengthen income discrimination laws.
The measures include:
Intro. 1947-A: Increases the threshold for rent-regulated buildings to be exempted from Green New Deal emissions reduction requirements. Under the original law, buildings with one or more rent-regulated units were exempted. Under this law, buildings that are up to 35 percent rent-regulated will be required to meet the Green New Deal standards. The bill provides this newly added universe of buildings an extra two years to comply with the initial requirements.
Intro. 2072-A: Requires the City to report on its outreach and education efforts and methods buildings use to comply with greenhouse gas emissions limits pursuant to Local Law 97 of 2019, including information about non-compliant buildings, types of retrofits different building types are using, and funding available for these energy investments.
Intro. 2080-A: Requires the Department of Social Services provide clients online access to their CityFHEPS rental assistance application. This will help clients track their application status and serve as a way for New Yorkers to get help if they have questions about the application process.
Intro. 1339-A: Requires the Department of Social Services to provide information to CityFHEPS rental assistance applicants about income discrimination at the time an applicant receives a “shopping letter” from DSS. The notice would provide information about protections under the New York City Human Rights Law related to discrimination on the basis of a person’s lawful source of income and use of rental vouchers.
Examples of actions that may indicate discrimination include:
Refusing to accept lawful source of income for rent payment (unemployment benefits, child support, alimony, foster care subsidies, Social Security, or any other form of federal, state, or local public assistance or housing assistance)
Publishing any type of advertisement that indicates a refusal to accept any lawful source of income
Refusing or delaying repairs because a person uses any lawful source of income for rent payment
Refusing to accept a CityFHEPS subsidy for payment of rent or a security deposit voucher
Intro. 2082-A: Expands prohibition of income discrimination by landlords of small buildings (1-5 units). The bill also amends the definition of “lawful source of income” to clarify that the term encompasses other types of lawful income that low-income New Yorkers may have access to, including, but not limited to, “child support, alimony, foster care subsidies, income derived from social security, or any form of federal, state, or local public assistance or housing assistance including, but not limited to, Section 8 vouchers.”
“Fighting climate change and increasing access to safe and stable housing are crucial to making New York City an equitable place to live for generations to come,” de Blasio said. “These bills will chart a path forward for a fair and sustainable recovery.”
