[0:01] For you can everybody settle

[0:01] down and find a seat everybody

[0:02] a seat good morning and

[0:34] welcome to new york city york

[0:35] city council of the committee

[0:37] on finance at this time can

[0:38] everybody please silence your

[0:39] cell phones and no one is t

[0:41] oapproach the dais chair we are

[0:42] ready to begin thank you

[0:46] sergeant okay good morning

[0:48] good afternoon everybody

[0:49] welcome to today's meeting of

[0:50] the committee on finance I'm

[0:51] councilmember brannon I have

[0:52] the honor of serving as chair

[0:54] of this committee before we

[0:55] begin I want to note today's

[0:58] meeting marks my final time

[1:00] chairing the finance committee

[1:02] over the past four years it

[1:04] has been a privilege to help

[1:06] lead this committee through

[1:07] some of the most consequential

[1:09] and challenging budget years

[1:10] in our cities history from

[1:13] navigating the uncertainty of

[1:15] the pandemic recovery t

[1:16] ofighting to protect essential

[1:18] services to insisting on

[1:19] transparency and fairness and

[1:21] how the city raises and spends

[1:23] our public dollars this

[1:25] committee has done serious

[1:27] meaningful work on behalf of

[1:28] all new yorkers and none of

[1:30] that happens without an

[1:32] extraordinary team so I want

[1:33] to take a second to thank the

[1:36] mighty finance committee the

[1:37] council central staff our

[1:39] speaker our agency partners

[1:42] for their professionalism and

[1:43] expertise and tireless

[1:44] commitment over these past

[1:46] four years of course want t

[1:48] othank my colleagues on this

[1:49] committee for their

[1:51] collaboration their rigor

[1:51] their shared belief that

[1:52] budgets are not just

[1:54] spreadsheets but moral

[1:55] documents that reflect our

[1:56] values and our priorities as a

[1:59] city we have a full and

[2:00] important agenda today with

[2:02] legislation that goes directly

[2:04] to the core of what new york

[2:06] er's expect from their

[2:08] government fairness

[2:09] accountability and investment

[2:10] in strong livable

[2:11] neighborhoods today's item

[2:12] address how we manage vacant

[2:14] and distressed properties how

[2:16] we use and oversee the city's

[2:18] tax lien tools and how he

[2:21] strengthen transparency so

[2:21] communities are not left in

[2:23] the dark and how we support

[2:26] affordable housing small

[2:27] businesses and local economic

[2:28] growth across our city among

[2:29] the bills before us today our

[2:32] legislation to lay the

[2:33] groundwork for a new york city

[2:34] land bank giving the city

[2:37] better tools to take neglected

[2:39] and tax delinquent properties

[2:40] and put them back t

[2:41] oproductive use for the public

[2:43] good we're also voting on a

[2:44] package of tax lien reforms

[2:45] that respond directly to the

[2:46] work of the council's

[2:50] temporary task force tax lien

[2:51] task force which measures and

[2:53] priorities that prioritize

[2:55] notice oversight and

[2:56] accountability especially for

[2:58] homeowners and condo residents

[2:58] who deserve clarity and

[2:59] fairness when leans are sold

[3:01] and we're also considering

[3:03] legislation that supports

[3:04] transparency in the budget

[3:06] process itself ensuring

[3:08] deadlines reflect the

[3:08] realities of mayoral election

[3:10] years while preserving the

[3:11] council ability to do our job

[3:12] thoroughly and responsibly and

[3:15] finally we're advancing

[3:16] investments that help keep new

[3:17] york er's right where they

[3:18] live approving affordable

[3:20] housing tax exemptions that

[3:21] will create and preserve homes

[3:23] and communities across the

[3:24] city modifying the budgets t

[3:26] oresponsibly reflect new

[3:27] revenues and establishing the

[3:29] coney island business

[3:30] oand stronger small businesses

[3:34] and one of new york city's

[3:35] most iconic neighborhoods

[3:38] taken together today's agenda

[3:39] reflects the work that this

[3:40] committee has focused on over

[3:41] the past four years protecting

[3:45] taxpayers strengthening

[3:46] neighborhoods and making sure

[3:47] city policy works for the

[3:48] people it's supposed to serve

[3:50] so with that we'll proceed

[3:52] with today's agenda today the

[3:53] committee will vote on the

[3:55] following items propose intro

[3:56] number 5 70 be sponsored by

[4:00] councilmember brewer it would

[4:01] subject to the approval of the

[4:02] new york state urban

[4:05] development corporation t

[4:05] oestablish a land bank for new

[4:06] york city with powers under

[4:08] state law relating to the

[4:10] acquisition warehousing and

[4:11] transfer of real property t

[4:13] oimprove local management of

[4:15] vacant abandoned tax

[4:16] delinquent and tax foreclosed

[4:19] properties I want to invite

[4:21] council member for remarks on

[4:22] her bill.

[4:22] >>thank you very much and

[4:24] cheer brennan you have done a

[4:26] great job even when you're on

[4:27] social media you know what the

[4:28] hell is going on.

[4:29] >>and it's impressive it's

[4:31] very impressive and thank you

[4:33] for your leadership and all

[4:34] things finance which is the

[4:36] heart and soul of the city

[4:38] council.

[4:39] >>so intro 570 would establish

[4:40] as you heard the new york city

[4:43] land bank to help our city

[4:45] address and ameliorate the

[4:46] problems related to vacant

[4:48] abandoned and taxed delinquent

[4:50] properties land banks which

[4:51] exist in other parts of the

[4:52] state and the country are

[4:54] empowered to purchase tax

[4:56] lanes and to enforce them.

[4:57] >>unlike the current tax lien

[5:00] system where properties go t

[5:00] othe highest bidder regardless

[5:03] of intended use this bill

[5:04] would establish a hierarchical

[5:05] ranking of priorities for the

[5:07] use of real property upon

[5:09] disposal by the land bank one

[5:11] it would be a use that would

[5:13] result in the creation or

[5:15] preservation of affordable

[5:17] housing.

[5:17] >>to a youth related t

[5:19] oindustrial manufacturing or

[5:21] maritime three as a fresh food

[5:24] store for as a public space or

[5:26] place and five is a wildlife

[5:28] conservation area I know that

[5:31] this administration

[5:32] particularly my friend

[5:33] commissioner of finance is

[5:34] concerned that they will lose

[5:36] revenue but to be clear the

[5:38] prompt resolution of unpaid

[5:40] city taxes and timely

[5:41] collection of city taxes

[5:43] remains essential and I feel

[5:45] strongly that this bill does

[5:48] not slack on collecting city

[5:50] taxes that are old most

[5:52] importantly is to thank the

[5:57] absolutely amazing

[5:58] .>>and nick connell hundreds of

[6:00] hours on this bill and got it

[6:03] right and I can totally

[6:06] .>>collaborated with the and usm

[6:09] goldsmith from my office.

[6:11] >>and also council member

[6:11] sandy nurse who helped all of

[6:13] these bills get through thank

[6:14] you very much

[6:14] .>>thank you council member

[6:16] just to note we've been joined

[6:18] by council members brewer

[6:20] obviously lewis carr powers

[6:22] william stevens deputy speaker

[6:25] ayala hudson jose juan salam

[6:27] sanchez majority leader fahri

[6:28] ous and majority whip brooks

[6:31] powers I'm going to read

[6:32] through the rest of these

[6:33] bills and then members if they

[6:35] want to make statements they

[6:37] can do so after because we've

[6:38] got a bunch of stuff here a

[6:40] proposed intro 14 7 a

[6:42] sponsored by speaker adams

[6:43] would amend section elevent

[6:47] h11 2 3 20 of the

[6:47] administrative code

[6:48] authorizing the commissioner

[6:49] of finance to sell tax leans

[6:51] in their discretion through

[6:55] december 31 2028 intro 14 11

[6:56] also sponsored by council

[6:59] member would implement a

[7:00] recommendation of the

[7:01] temporary task force on tax

[7:03] leans to require the

[7:04] commissioner of finance t

[7:05] onotify the board of managers

[7:07] of a condo if the commissioner

[7:09] intends to sell a tax lien

[7:11] that encumber h's a unit

[7:12] within the condo intro 14 19 a

[7:16] sponsored by council member

[7:18] nurse would implement

[7:19] recommendations of the

[7:20] temporary task force on tax

[7:22] lanes to require the

[7:23] commissioner of finance t

[7:24] osubmit to the council and post

[7:25] online an annual report on

[7:28] properties encumbered by tax

[7:30] lanes that remain unsatisfied

[7:31] for 36 months or more after

[7:33] being sold including weather

[7:36] inspections by resulted in

[7:38] violations intro 14 20 a also

[7:41] sponsored by council member

[7:42] nurse would require the

[7:43] commissioner of finance to

[7:45] require a purchasers of tax

[7:46] liens to make best efforts to

[7:49] transfer such lanes to a city

[7:50] land bank if established upon

[7:52] certain triggering events

[7:55] intro 14 20 27 sponsored by me

[7:57] would establish the coney

[7:58] island business improvement

[8:01] district ah a bill sponsored

[8:02] as well by me would

[8:05] permanently extend the

[8:06] deadline for submission of the

[8:08] pmr in years following the

[8:10] election of a mayor ah

[8:11] consistent with the adoption

[8:12] of the ballot proposal of the

[8:14] mayor's 20 24 charter revision

[8:17] commission which extends the

[8:18] deadline for submission of

[8:19] their preliminary budget in

[8:20] those years the bill would

[8:21] also extend other preliminary

[8:24] budget deadlines pertaining t

[8:25] othe preparation of the 2

[8:28] 7budget a pre considered

[8:30] resolution pre considered yeah y

[8:32] resolution approving new

[8:34] designations and changes in

[8:35] designations of certain

[8:37] organizations set to receive

[8:39] funding in the expense budget

[8:43] for 26 a resolution sponsored

[8:44] by me to approve a

[8:46] modification of the city's

[8:47] budget pursuant to charter

[8:48] section 107 e approving a new

[8:52] request received from the

[8:53] director of to appropriate new

[8:56] city revenues and 26 in the

[8:58] amount of $512.1 million and

[9:04] finally eight preconceived

[9:04] erred resolutions all

[9:05] sponsored by me approving real

[9:07] property tax exemptions under

[9:08] article 11 and article five o

[9:11] fthe private housing finance

[9:12] law for the private following

[9:13] projects projects addresses 20

[9:16] 29 23 street and council

[9:17] member of villas district the

[9:19] tyson apartments and

[9:20] councilmember cars district

[9:26] thousand 16 990702700 an

[9:27] dunion street and council

[9:28] member hudson's district

[9:31] longfellow and cluster phase

[9:33] two and council member

[9:34] salamanca's district

[9:35] settlement cluster three and

[9:37] council member stevens and

[9:40] salamanca's district and

[9:40] finally malcolm x to phase b

[9:44] and council member salam's

[9:45] district before we proceed

[9:46] with with statements from my

[9:47] colleagues I just want to make

[9:49] a brief statement in support

[9:50] of intro 427 which would

[9:53] establish the coney island

[9:54] business improvement district

[9:55] coney island is home to more

[9:57] than 350 businesses and

[10:00] roughly 50000 residents it

[10:02] welcomes millions of visitors

[10:03] every year it's a place known

[10:04] around the world but it's also

[10:06] a real neighborhood with

[10:08] workers families and small

[10:09] business owners who are there

[10:11] year round not just in the

[10:12] summer when the weather is

[10:14] nice for a long time local

[10:15] merchants community leaders

[10:17] and institutions have been

[10:17] asking for a tool that helps

[10:20] match coney island's global

[10:23] reputation with everyday

[10:23] investment in the basics

[10:25] cleaner streets coordinated

[10:26] public safety stronger support

[10:28] for our small businesses and

[10:30] smarter year round marketing

[10:31] creates a locally governed

[10:37] framework with dedicated

[10:38] sustainable funding to support

[10:40] enhanced sanitation and

[10:43] beautification campaigns small

[10:44] business services and a place

[10:46] based economic development so

[10:47] that coney island looks and

[10:49] feels cared for every day of

[10:50] the year this effort builds on

[10:52] more then a decade of

[10:54] collaboration led by the

[10:55] alliance for kony island and

[10:57] reflects broad support from

[11:00] small businesses cultural

[11:01] institutions and community

[11:02] stakeholders across the board

[11:03] I want to thank all of them

[11:04] for their persistence and

[11:05] partnership and getting us t

[11:06] othis point and I'm very proud

[11:08] to be here to get this done

[11:10] coney island is the people's

[11:12] playground the bid is about

[11:13] pride stability and making

[11:14] sure this iconic neighborhood

[11:15] continues to thrive for

[11:17] residents workers and visitors

[11:19] alike for generations to come

[11:20] I now want to ask is there are

[11:21] any of my colleagues who have

[11:24] statements regarding any of

[11:25] their bills before we hear

[11:28] testimony no okay well now

[11:29] hear testimony from the

[11:30] department of small business

[11:32] services on the coney island

[11:33] bid intro 14 27 we're joined

[11:36] by deputy commissioner calvin

[11:37] brown I'm now going to turn it

[11:39] over to my committee counsel

[11:41] brian sarfu to swear in

[11:43] commissioner brown good

[11:45] afternoon commissioner do you

[11:47] .>>swear to tell the truth

[11:49] among.

[11:50] >>do you swear to tell the

[11:51] tell nothing but the truth

[11:52] before this committee of

[11:54] council members I do you begin e

[11:58] finance committee I'm calvin t y

[12:01] commissioner for neighborhood

[12:02] development at the department

[12:03] of small business services I'm

[12:04] joined by my colleague leslie

[12:07] velasquez the director of bid

[12:08] development and legislation

[12:09] today we would like to report

[12:11] on the results of the

[12:12] objection file with the city

[12:14] clerk against I mean against

[12:15] the establishment of the

[12:16] proposed coney island business

[12:18] improvement district as

[12:19] required by lore the coney

[12:21] island steering committee

[12:21] mailed the survey summary of

[12:24] the city council resolution to

[12:26] the following parties to each

[12:27] owner of real property within

[12:29] the proposed district at the

[12:31] address shown on the latest

[12:32] city assessment role to such

[12:34] other persons as our

[12:36] registered to the city t

[12:39] oreceive tax bills concerning

[12:40] the real property within the

[12:41] district and to tenants of

[12:43] each building within the

[12:45] proposed district furthermore

[12:46] the coney island bid staring

[12:48] committee arranged for the

[12:49] publication of a copy of the

[12:50] summary of the resolution at

[12:52] least once in local newspapers

[12:55] at the conclusion of the

[12:57] objection period at five p m

[12:58] on december 12 2025 and taken

[13:02] into consideration any

[13:03] objections postmarked by that

[13:05] date we're happy to report

[13:06] that there were no objections

[13:08] that were filed with the city

[13:10] clerk for properties within

[13:12] the district the department of

[13:14] small business services

[13:15] supports the establishment of

[13:16] the proposed coney island bed

[13:19] and hope you vote to approve

[13:20] it today at this time take any

[13:21] questions thank you okay well

[13:27] now here testimony from any

[13:29] other registered witnesses who

[13:30] wish to testify on any of

[13:35] today's legislation okay

[13:40] seeing none we will now ask

[13:42] billy martin there you are the

[13:44] committee clerk to call the

[13:46] roll

[13:46] .>>thank you good afternoon

[13:47] mister chair it's been an

[13:48] honor thank you for your kind

[13:49] of for the past few years here

[13:52] we go william martin committee

[13:55] clerk roll call vote committee

[13:56] on finance all items are

[14:00] coupled chair brennan farias.

[14:06] >>ayala I okay we'll come back s

[14:19] chair years here in council in

[14:21] the floor as the chair of the

[14:22] finance committee and all your

[14:26] river thank you louis

[14:28] .>>just want to congratulate

[14:31] iron oreennan

[14:46] .>>brewer

[14:47] .>>I won't I and I just want t

[14:49] osay that emory out of is a

[14:50] rock

[14:51] .>>star thank you hanks hudson

[14:59] um imara is a rock star and is

[15:03] also my constituent and

[15:07] congratulations to chair

[15:08] brennan for an amazing fou

[15:11] ryears running this.

[15:11] >>committee and I and all o

[15:14] hsay we have had so much fun on

[15:17] this committee over the past

[15:20] four years and I want to thank

[15:22] chair brennan for being the

[15:23] leader of that fund I vote aye s

[15:35] powers I will I on all and

[15:37] just want to also thank

[15:39] council member brandon an

[15:42] amazing four years of

[15:43] excitement on the committee on

[15:53] finance sanchez I vote aye on

[15:54] all and I am going to miss my

[15:56] big brother next to us at the

[15:58] dais but I know that you're

[15:59] going to continue to do

[16:00] incredible things for our city I

[16:08] on all and I'm honored that I

[16:09] was able to have a rock star

[16:12] rock the finance committee for

[16:13] the last four years and we're

[16:15] going to miss you you williams

[16:24] finished here as I you'll be

[16:31] missed one

[16:31] .>>I vote aye and thank you

[16:33] chair brannon for the hundreds

[16:34] of hours that you spent

[16:37] chairing this committee for

[16:37] the last four years thank you

[16:43] salaam fort I own all and as

[16:45] I've learned to say in the

[16:48] council I like my eye to the

[16:50] associated with all of the

[16:51] great remarks to our chair

[16:52] brannon thank you moya

[17:04] councilmember carr.

[17:05] >>thank you I just want t

[17:06] ocongratulate the chair on his

[17:08] successful chairmanship of

[17:09] this committee and in

[17:11] particular his partnership on

[17:11] the cold war veterans.

[17:13] >>and an interest rate reform.

[17:16] >>a wonderful initiatives we

[17:17] were able to work on together

[17:19] and I also want to thank all

[17:21] the finance staff for the

[17:22] great work that they do.

[17:24] >>each and every year during

[17:25] budget off budget they are a

[17:27] phenomenal team thank you for

[17:29] everything and with that said

[17:30] 14 20 a as well as preions

[17:39] considered resolution 186

[17:40] which is the transparency

[17:42] resolution and I on the rest

[17:45] thank you all items have been

[17:46] adopted with a vote of 15 I

[17:48] nthe affirmative zero on the

[17:50] negative into abstentions with

[17:51] the exceptions of introduction

[17:54] hundred 70 a thousand hundre

[17:58] d70 14 a all right and pre

[17:59] considered resolution and

[18:01] organizational zx have been

[18:02] adopted with 14 with 14 in the

[18:05] affirmative one in the

[18:06] negative no abstentions chair

[18:09] thank you billy all right for

[18:10] the last time this committee

[18:10] is adjourned thank

NYCC-250-8-2_251218-120823.mp4

Transcript