Photo Courtesy of Councilman Holden’s Office
A bill recently passed by the City Council would establish an interagency task force to examine the City’s procedures for removing from streets within the city, vehicles that are abandoned or parked without a license plate or valid registration.
By Michael V. Cusenza
The City Council on Thursday voted in favor of three bills that, if signed into law by the mayor, would have a profound effect on The World’s Borough.
Int. No. 146-C would remove time limits on the amount of time where an otherwise qualifying recipient of rental assistance vouchers established by the Department of Social Services would receive the voucher. The bill will also require that the maximum rent toward which rental assistance vouchers may be applied is set at levels equal to those established pursuant to section 982.503 of the Code of Federal Regulations, otherwise referred to as “Section 8.” The requirements set by the bill would be subject to appropriation.
In New York City, Section 8, the country’s most successful rental assistance voucher, is pegged at $1,945 for a one-bedroom apartment or $2,217 for a two-bedroom apartment. Meanwhile, CityFHEPS vouchers are capped at $1,265 per month for a single adult and $1,580 for a family of three or four. By increasing the amount the voucher pays, the City would increase the number of units available to individuals and families with vouchers.
“This bill will be transformative for thousands of New Yorkers experiencing homelessness and will allow many families to finally find permanent, stable housing,” said Councilman Steven Levin (D-Brooklyn), the bill’s sponsor. “This is the result of years of hard work by advocates and impacted people who demanded a usable City FHEPs voucher. In my time at the council, my office has tried to help countless constituents who qualify for vouchers find acceptable housing. But there were too many applicants and too few available units and people waited for years with vouchers that were all but worthless. The change to raise voucher amounts is an investment in housing and the fight against homelessness, and an affirmation of the human right to housing.”
Int. No. 176-A, sponsored by Councilman Alan Maisel (D-Brooklyn), would establish an interagency task force to examine the City’s procedures for removing from streets within the city, vehicles that are abandoned or parked without a license plate or valid registration. The task force would develop recommendations to improve existing removal practices, particularly in response to complaints from local residents.
The task force would also invite representatives from the State Department of Motor Vehicles, the State Department of Transportation, and representatives of any other relevant state agency, as identified by the task force, to participate. The task force would meet at least five times, convene at least one public hearing in each of the five boroughs, and submit a report of its findings and recommendations to the mayor and speaker of the City Council.
And Int. No. 1128-A, sponsored by Councilman Bob Holden (D-Middle Village), would require that, where work at a construction site has stopped for at least two years, the green wooden fence surrounding the site be replaced with a chain-link fence after a registered design professional has certified that all construction or demolition equipment and any hazardous or otherwise dangerous materials have been either removed from the site or secured. When construction work at the site is ready to resume, this bill requires that the chain link fence be replaced with a green wooden fence.
