Ben Kallos, Re-Elect to New York City Council in 2017 - Other

Progressive Caucus Passes Nearly 50 Bills in Current Council Session

Feed — Thu, 21 Dec 2017 13:04:48 +0000

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Progressive Caucus Passes Nearly 50 Bills in Current Council Session

New York, NY – On Tuesday, December 19, 2017, the New York City Council passed several bills endorsed by the Progressive Caucus in its current session policy platform. Including the bills passed today, the Caucus and its members have sponsored and advocated for the passage of nearly 50 bills representing crucial advancements in progressive issues including tenant safety, workers’ rights, affordable housing, and community safety.

The bills passed today endorsed through the Progressive Caucus’ Current Session ‘Advancement Agenda’ include: (1) Community Land Trusts (I. 1269), which amends the administrative code of NYC as it relates to creation of regulatory agreements with community land trusts; (2) Asthma Allergens (I. 385), which calls to regulate indoor asthma allergen hazards in residential dwelling and pest management; (3) Right to Request Flexible Schedule (I. 1399), which protects employees who seek temporary changes to their work schedule for personal events and certain scheduling changes; (4) Right to Know Act, a legislative package that aims to protect the civil rights of New Yorkers while promoting communication, transparency and accountability for everyday interactions between NYPD and the public; and (5) Automatic Benefits (I. 855), which would support a study regarding the feasibility and cost of utilizing City administrative data to determine individuals who are likely eligible for public assistance and to provide electronic notices of eligibility. The nearly 50 passed bills endorsed by the Caucus are listed at the end of the release.

Progressive Caucus Passes Nearly 50 Bills in Current Council Session

“Every New Yorker should have the right to know about their protections under the law when dealing with law enforcement. Most importantly, they should have assurance that their rights will be respected and upheld by police officers. ‘Consent to Search’ (Intro. 541) will ensure that our city’s residents are informed of their right to consent to a search when that search has no legal basis. This Right to Know bill will improve safety in New York City by enhancing trust between police and communities they serve. I thank all my colleagues in the Progressive Caucus for supporting and championing this legislation,” said Council Member Antonio Reynoso, Co-Chair of the Progressive Caucus.

“Community Land Trusts take the power away from speculation and puts it in the hands of local communities and the nonprofits who serve them,” said Council Member Donovan Richards, Co-Chair of the Progressive Caucus. “With the passage of Intro. 1269, we are paving a true path toward affordable homeownership in New York City. I’d like to thank the Coalition for Affordable Homes and the New York City Community Land Initiative for their partnership on this legislation and for their dedication to preserving and creating affordable housing.”

“No one should go hungry, lose their home, or go without healthcare in one of the wealthiest cities in the world, especially when assistance programs have been created to help those in need,” said Council Member Ben Kallos, Vice-Chair of Policy for the Progressive Caucus. “When this study through Intro. 855 is completed I look forward to seeing HRA and the City implement what we know can be done and help low and middle-income New Yorkers. Next year, we’ll have the information we need to eliminate the bureaucracy, paperwork, and unnecessary hurdles that prevent our poorest from accessing and keeping the assistance they need to be lifted from poverty. Thank you to all the Members of the Progressive Caucus and their offices for supporting the legislation."

“Emergencies happen to all people in all walks of life. While many New Yorkers are fortunate to have employers who understand this and make reasonable accommodations, a 2015 survey of New Yorkers revealed that 45 percent of respondents have no access to flexible work arrangements,” said Council Member Debi Rose, member of the Progressive Caucus. “Intro. 1399 would give all employees working in New York City the right to a temporary change in schedule twice a year to attend to certain specific personal needs. I believe strongly that no one should lose their livelihood for asking for an unpaid day to tend to an emergency—and that is what this bill ensures.”

“Mold abatement and integrated pest management will be codified after 10 years of diligently working with advocates on the passage of the Asthma Free Housing Act, Intro. 385C,” said Council Member Rosie Mendez, the bill’s prime sponsor. “After what appeared to be endless negotiations with several mayoral administrations, we passed this crucial bill that will go a long way to eradicating mold, as well as taking preventative measures to address mold and asthma triggers. Asthma has a debilitating effect on an individual's’ quality of life and, in New York City, there are approximately one million individuals who have been diagnosed with asthma. This legislation will have a direct benefit for tenants and their health and enables the City to recapture funds expended through its Emergency Repair Program, if the agency determines that such work is necessary. I am proud that my partnership with the advocates will result in ground breaking legislation and I am hopeful that other big cities will follow in our footsteps."

The nearly 50 bills passed this term which were endorsed by the Caucus are listed below:

1. Worker Coops, I. 423 –Rosenthal

2. CLEAN Act, I. 697 –Torres

3. Hotel Conversion, I.592 - Johnson

4. Grocery Worker Retention, I. 632 – Miller

5. Freelance Isn't Free, I. 1017 – Lander

6. BRT Plan, I. 211 – Lander

7. Ban Credit Checks, I.261 – Lander

8. Criminal Background Checks, I. 318 - Williams

9. Caretakers discrimination, I. 108 – Rose

10. Multiracial Identification Bill, I. 551 – Chin

11. Transgender Birth Certificate, I. 491 – Johnson

12. Transgender Birth Certificate, I.492 – Johnson

13. Port Ambrose Reso. 549 – Richards

14. Plastic Bags, I. 209 – Lander

15. Hit and Run Justice I. 603 – Van Bramer

16. Hit and Run Justice I. 604 – Van Bramer

17. Commuter Van Reform, I. 570 – Williams

18. Three Fourths Housing, I. 1164 – Johnson

19. Three Fourths Housing, I. 1166 – Richards

20. Three Fourths Housing, I. 1167 – Torres

21. Three Fourths Housing, I. 1168 – Torres

22. Three Fourths Housing, I. 1171 – Williams

23. Employee Salary History, I.1253 – James

24. Hour Access for Fast-Food workers, I. 1395 - Lander

25. Scheduling for Fast-Food Workers, I. 1396 – Lander

26. Restrictions on "Clopenings", I. 1388 – Johnson

27. Nonprofits Deductions, I. 1384 – Ferreras-Copeland

28. Prohibits On-Call Scheduling, I. 1387 – Johnson

29. Illegal hotel reporting, I. 823 – Rodriguez

30. Right to Counsel, I. 214 – Levine

31. Professional Certification I. 918 – Chin

32. Vacate Orders I. 924 – Espinal

33. Task Force I. 926 – Garodnick

34. ECB Liens I. 930 – Kallos

35. Adjudicated before ECB I. 931 – Kallos

36. Tenant Protection Plans I. 936 – Levine

37. Permit oversight I. 938 – Reynoso

38. Penalties work without permit I. 939 – Reynoso

39. Penalties stop work order I. 940 – Reynoso

40. Online work permits I. 944 – Rosenthal

41. Construction bill of rights I. 960 – Mendez

42. Tenant Harassment Relief I. 347 – Rosenthal

43. Real time enforcement I. 934 – Levin

44. Community Land Trusts, I.1269 – Richards

45. Asthma allergen hazards, I. 385 – Mendez

46. Right to Request a Flexible Schedule, I.1399 – Rose

47. Police ID, I. 182 – Torres

48. Consent to Search, I. 541 – Reynoso

49. Automatic Benefits I. 855 – Kallos

Improving City Assistance to New Yorkers in Need through Notifications and Pre-Filled Applications to be Studied Under Bill Passed by the New York City Council

Feed — Wed, 20 Dec 2017 00:00:00 +0000

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Improving City Assistance to New Yorkers in Need through Notifications and Pre-Filled Applications to be Studied Under Bill Passed by the New York City Council

Hunger, Housing, Health, and Child Care Benefits Among 40 Human Service Benefits That City Will Study to Improve Participation
New York, NY - On Tuesday, December 19 the New York City Council passed legislation to study the cost and city’s technical ability to provide pre-filled applications for assistance programs and proactive notice to potential applicants in an effort to sign up more residents who already qualify, but do not participate.

Assistance for low-income New Yorkers who are in need of hunger, housing, health, childcare, or 40 other assistance programs through notifications and pre-filled applications will be studied by the city, under Introduction 855-B authored by Council Member Ben Kallos and passed by the Council.

550,000 of the 2.3 million New Yorkers who qualify for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) are not getting it, according to the city. In 2011, Community District 8 on the Upper East Side, represented by Council Member Ben Kallos was first in the city for SNAP under-enrollment with 91% of eligible seniors not enrolled, according to LiveOnNY.

“No one should go hungry, lose their home, or go without healthcare in one of the wealthiest cities in the world, especially when assistance programs have been created to help those in need,” said Council Member Ben Kallos. “I hope that the city’s study will save tax payer dollars by taking advantage of the legal research, grants, and software that we’ve already secured for the city. Next year, we’ll have the information we need to eliminate the bureaucracy, paperwork, and unnecessary hurdles that prevent our poorest from accessing and keeping the assistance they need to be lifted from poverty.”

Over the past four years, Council Member Ben Kallos worked with experts in the Federal government, academia, non-profits and the private sector to author the legislation, research the regulatory framework to legally provide benefits automatically, secure millions in funding to research outcomes, and even helped make the software necessary freely available to the public.

In July of 2015, as covered by the New York Times, “automatic benefits” legislation originally requiring the city to use information it already had to pre-fill applications and notify residents of eligibility for human service benefits.

In December of 2015, a memorandum “Automatic Benefits: Using Government Data to Deliver Better Citizen Services for Less,” was authored by the Governance Lab at New York University, Stewards of Change, Robin Hood Foundation and Council Member Kallos to summarize legal and regulatory frameworks for moving forward.

In early 2016, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services released a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) of $4.5 million for application to the Innovation Center’s Accountable Health Communities (AHC) Model to study the health impacts and reduction in healthcare costs of providing “automatic benefits.” Council Member Kallos brought this $4.5 million grant to the city and every public health institution in his district. This lead to an April 2017 announcement that New York Presbyterian Hospital – represented by Council Member Kallos – won an award as one of 32 organizations selected nationwide for Assistance and Alignment Tracks of the Accountable Health Communities Model.

In October of 2016, Intuit released “Benefit Assist” as free and open source software with a demonstration and source code hosted by Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on GitHub in collaboration with Council Member Kallos to provide necessary technology infrastructure to build upon for providing human service benefits using tax information.

In early 2017 the legislation was amended as Introduction 855-A and heard in the General Welfare Committee, requiring city agencies to notify residents applying for or receiving any human services benefits about all the human service benefits for which they qualify automatically with applications or renewals pre-filled using information from existing applications to reduce bureaucracy and improve access.

The final version of this legislation amended in December 2017 at the request of the Mayor Bill de Blasio's office, Introduction 855-B, will require a feasibility study for the innovative proposal for completion by December 2018, as a first step toward “automatic benefits.”

"Ensuring that the right benefits get to the right people without red tape has the potential to improve lives, cut costs, enhance human dignity, and increase trust between government and citizens," said Beth Simone Noveck, former Director of the White House Open Government Initiative and Professor at the NYU Tandon School of Engineering and Director of the Governance Lab (GovLab).

“In these increasingly challenging times, it is even more important that enrolling in available benefits is as efficient and comprehensive as possible especially for the most vulnerable people in our communities,” said Daniel Stein, President of Stewards of Change Institute and Co-Principal Investigator National Interoperability Collaborative.

“This forward-thinking and landmark proposal will not only streamline the benefits process for eligible and needy New Yorkers but will also be a catalyst for making other city services more efficient to the benefit of all New Yorkers,” said Andrew Rasiej, Founder of Civic Hall. “In the 21st century, we need more legislation like this for all government entities to follow when collecting citizen data so that this information is used to efficiently and equitably serve them.”

“Piles of paperwork and mountains of bureaucracy should not stand between hungry New Yorkers and federally-funded nutrition aid and other anti-poverty benefits,” said Joel Berg, CEO Hunger Free America and a Senior Fellow at the Progressive Policy Institute where he authored Fighting Poverty with Hope in December of 2016.

“It is deeply disappointing that unnecessary bureaucracy prevents large numbers of low-income New Yorkers from receiving essential safety net benefits for which they are entitled to and urgently need,” said Scott Wagner, Esq. Managing Director of the Safety Net Project at the Urban Justice Center. “This legislation will eliminate superfluous barriers for older adults and economic stressed families and individuals to access food, avoid homelessness, and live with dignity.”

“Older New Yorkers substantially underutilize public benefits. All too often, bureaucratic obstacles and lack of understanding of complex eligibility criteria prevents older adults from accessing benefits. With one out of five NYC seniors living in poverty and thousands more struggling financially just above the poverty line, any public benefits they can receive will help them remain in their homes and communities,” said Allison Nickerson, Executive Director, LiveOn NY.

“Congratulations to Councilmember Ben Kallos for his leadership untiring efforts to get the City to use modern technology to help needy New Yorkers obtain government benefits. Starting when I was NY Comptroller, I have been urging the use of technology for this end for decades. I hope the City completes its study and get on with the work of implementation promptly,” said Elizabeth Holtzmanformer District Attorney, Comptroller and Congress Member.

“Councilman Kallos refuses to accept the status quo with regard to the bureaucracy that frequently undermines access to critical safety net benefits, such as SNAP,” states Carolyn Silver, Chief Program Officer of Lenox Hill Neighborhood House, which provides services to families, youth and seniors in the Council Member’s district. “This legislation will eliminate unnecessary barriers for older adults and others in need by simplifying the process, using technology to facilitate access to applications and requiring government agencies to communicate more effectively with each other.”

“Seniors should have easier access to the benefits they have often worked their whole lives to secure. Every day at the Isaacs Center Senior Center we work on behalf of seniors who are trying to navigate a complex and frustrating entitlements landscape. I am proud to support Council Member Kallos' efforts to automate the benefits process; this critical effort will reduce stress and confusion, and help to ensure the comfort and dignity of New Yorkers as they age,” said Gregory J Morris, President and Executive Director, Stanley Isaacs Neighborhood Center.

“It’s a long-held legal principle, that rights without remedies is tantamount to no rights at all. Council member Kallos’ draft legislation would take our rights into the Digital Age, and create a meaningful process to guarantee low income New Yorkers their rights to benefits to which they’re entitled but do not receive because of archaic analog bureaucratic processes,” said Professor Jonathan Askin, Founder and Director of Brooklyn Law Incubator & Policy Clinicand Innovation Catalyst at the Brooklyn Law Center for Urban Business Entrepreneurship (CUBE) “Council Member Kallos and the City Council are taking another important step to automate and streamline government process to ensure that our City’s most vulnerable residents may avail themselves to the full range of services and resources to which they are entitled. NYC should and could lead the nation and the world in harnessing technology and digital processes to protect our most vulnerable constituencies. With this Bill, Council Member Kallos and the City Council are bringing us closer to realizing that vision.”

“Ensuring that New Yorkers receive the services and benefits they deserve is a goal everyone should share,” said Seamus Kraft, Executive Director of The OpenGov Foundation. “But the endemic government tangle of red tape, bureaucracy and bad technology lets residents in need slip through the cracks. Council Member Kallos's bill goes far to fix that, while improving overall city government effectiveness. That's a win-win for the Big Apple and a model other cities should adopt.”

“It's still really hard for people to see the safety net. Enormous amounts of money are poured into government, non-profit, and even entrepreneurial for-profit projects -- yet somehow we end up with more fragmentation and confusion that fails people and communities,” said Greg Bloom, Chief Organizing Officer of Open Referral. “It doesn't need to be this way. The technology isn't even the hard part; rather, we need the kind of moral conviction and political courage demonstrated by this proposal.”

"This legislation will unleash the power of technology to make government services easily accessible, improving the lives of New Yorkers," said Matt Bishop. “Imagine a city where navigating government services is like selecting benefits from a buffet, instead of struggling to understand dozens of pages of bureaucracy. Council Member Kallos has been a technology leader in government and a pleasure to work with."###

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lester shane — Thu, 26 Oct 2017 23:59:08 +0000

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Our Town To give or not to give? by Douglas Feiden

Feed — Wed, 25 Oct 2017 19:42:16 +0000

Our Town

To give or not to give?

http://www.ourtownny.com/local-news/20171024/to-give-or-not-to-give

Douglas Feiden

10/24/2017

All of this is playing out on the Upper East Side, where social-service groups and community-based nonprofits, churches and synagogues, block associations and community boards, and civic, faith and elected leaders — not to mention a perplexed citizenry — are grappling with the homeless issue. And mulling a basic question: To give or not to give?

Those ruminations, like so much else today, burst into public view with a tweet.

The scene was the Archdiocesan Cathedral of the Holy Trinity, at 337 East 74th Street, on the evening of October 16th, where the East 72nd Street Neighborhood Association was holding a public meeting, and City Council Member Ben Kallos was discussing the homeless problem.

That night, says Tina Larsson, the group’s secretary-treasurer, she tweeted a message that emerged from his presentation, and shortly after, Kallos, who represents the Upper East Side and Midtown East, retweeted it.

“Don’t give money to the homeless in our neighborhood,” she wrote. “Donate to the faith-based institutions that help them instead.”

The sharp surge in the homeless presence locally has been disturbing to residents, Larsson says. She notes a small square at 75th Street on the west side of First Avenue near the Saratoga apartment building as one problem spot.

And she cited a local nuisance known as the “Spitting Lady of 77th Street,” a longtime fixture on Third Avenue who cursed, screamed and spat upon people, often children. The woman became the focus of a Facebook page, and an online petition to de Blasio demanding her removal that garnered 1,500 signatures. She hasn’t been spotted since May.

Handouts to people like that encourage their behavior, increase the volume of solicitations and fuel dependency, the argument goes. “If you keep giving them money, they’ll keep staying here,” Larsson said.

Kallos say his constituents are deeply compassionate. “And when they see someone on the street, many people give from the bottom of their hearts,” he says. “The problem is for everyone else in the neighborhood who don’t want to see panhandlers, those who give are literally paying them to be there.”

He regularly addresses groups of as many as 100 residents in their buildings, asking for a show of hands of those who give cash to street beggars. Typically, some 10 percent of attendees raise their hands, and Kallos will implore, “Please stop doing that. You are paying them to stay there.”

Offering money can also discourage the needy from accepting tax-supported city services that could get them off the streets, he argues.

The alternative? “If you want to help someone on the street, call 311,” Kallos urges, saying a call can open the door to city shelter, three square meals a day, substance abuse programs, job training, even money to help pay the rent.

http://www.ourtownny.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=NP&Date=20171024&Cate...

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Crain's New York Armed with new fines, NYC is struggling to collect from illegal Airbnbs by Joe Anuta

Feed — Wed, 25 Oct 2017 19:42:15 +0000

Crain's New York

Armed with new fines, NYC is struggling to collect from illegal Airbnbs

http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20171025/REAL_ESTATE/171029964

Joe Anuta

10/25/2017

When Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed a bill late last year to stop Airbnb hosts from turning their apartments into de facto hotels, bigger fines were supposed to deter a practice elected officials argued took much-needed apartments off the rental market.

But more than six months after city inspectors’ first round of enforcement, the de Blasio administration has collected only a fraction of the issued fines, which added up to hundreds of thousands of dollars, according to a Crain’s analysis. In large part, the trouble is rooted in the city’s long-flawed collection system—where cases and appeals can take months to process and landlords have little reason to pay up—which could ultimately defang efforts to curb illegal home sharing.

ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT Owners of some transient dwellings dispute city fines or just don't pay them.

Between November and May, the mayor’s Office of Special Enforcement targeted 16 properties in its first wave of inspections, issuing violations for operating an apartment as a hotel room. Inspectors also fined owners for building-code violations, like missing sprinklers and improper egress routes, and—beginning in February when the new law went into effect—for advertising units online. Few owners have paid up.

ADVERTISING

Inspectors concentrated early efforts on a series of Manhattan properties owned by Hank Freid, who racked up hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of so-called Environmental Control Board fines, which are adjudicated through an obscure city tribunal. Many of the infractions simply haven’t been processed yet, and hearings aren’t scheduled until later this year and early next—at least nine months after the violations were issued. Meanwhile,

Freid is suing the city on the grounds that he is allowed to legally operate his properties as transient dwellings, further tying up the violations.

The owner of Hotel 31 is also locked in litigation. The court date for its nearly $50,000 worth of ECB fines is Feb. 18. The Hotel St. James, on the other hand, had its hearing last month. A trial officer ordered the owners to fork over more than $45,000. As of last week, they had not done so, according to court records. Thousands owed by the owner of 622 W. 136th St. and more than $60,000 owed by 454 E. 47th St. similarly have gone unpaid.

Delay and don’t pay

A big problem is that the city’s process for collecting ECB and similar fines is inadequate. As of last year, there were more than $1 billion worth of violations outstanding, and more fines are going uncollected every year. City

Councilman Ben Kallos penned legislation that was supposed to give the city more power to collect, but it hasn’t worked.

“We are not seeing the money,” Kallos said, “and thus we are not seeing a change in behavior.”

Unless landlords are selling or refinancing—which would prompt lenders to force them to pay outstanding fines—they have little incentive to clear up the violations. They still can secure building permits, and the fines simply vanish after eight years, when the statute of limitations kicks in.

The handful of Airbnb violators who have paid up have tended to be small owners renting out a few rooms, not the operators of illegal hotels that were supposed to be in the city’s crosshairs.

The mayor’s office did say it has had better luck of late. Of the $9 million in fines issued in 2016 and so far this year, roughly $2.5 million has been collected. More can be expected as cases make their way through the system. “We are calling out bad actors and aggressively pursuing our cases in court,” a spokesman said in a statement. “Justice isn’t served in a day, but it’s on our side.”

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Our Town A boost for women in politics? by Carson Kessler

Feed — Fri, 29 Sep 2017 11:42:15 +0000

Our Town

A boost for women in politics?

http://www.ourtownny.com/local-news/20170926/a-boost-for-women-in-politics

Carson Kessler

09/27/2017

Parents interested in participating in local government might soon receive free child care provided by the city under proposed legislation by Council Member Ben Kallos.

Raised by a single mother, Kallos hopes the option of child care will eliminate barriers to participation by parents, and in turn increase women’s involvement in government. Women make up less than 25 percent of the New York City Council.

“I think people feel like democracy is broken,” said Kallos, who offers free child care at his annual events. “If we want to build an inclusive democracy here in New York City, it means offering free child care when we want to hear from any New Yorker who has children.”

The idea was brought to Kallos by several parents in the district, including Community Board 8 member Sarah Chu, a new mother.

“Before I became a parent, I often wondered why more parents didn’t attend our meetings,” said Chu. “Parents have a clear and present interest in the democratic process on behalf of their children. Adopting this legislation is important because it tells parents that their engagement in civic life is necessary and valued.”

http://www.ourtownny.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=NP&Date=20170926&Cate...

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New York Post Even the trash cans are too expensive in NYC by Michael Gartland

Feed — Tue, 26 Sep 2017 01:12:15 +0000

New York Post

Even the trash cans are too expensive in NYC

http://nypost.com/2017/09/24/even-the-trash-cans-are-too-expensive-in-nyc/

Michael Gartland

09/24/2017

Upper East Side Councilman Ben Kallos said he protested the price surge to the Department of Citywide Administrative Services, which inked the deal, but was told it can’t be renegotiated.

“There is something wrong with the way we buy things as a city,” Kallos griped. “We never should have to pay more through a contract than if we bought it on the open market.”

Kallos said he had 284 of the domed, green trash cans installed on neighborhood sidewalks since taking office in 2014. At the time, they cost $545 a pop under a different contract.

The cans were such a hit that Kallos said he planned to order more — until he learned the new cost, $969.

The city is paying nearly $1,000 apiece for trash cans — almost double their initial price — but there’s nothing to be done about it, according to a fuming Manhattan official.

Upper East Side Councilman Ben Kallos said he protested the price surge to the Department of Citywide Administrative Services, which inked the deal, but was told it can’t be renegotiated.

“There is something wrong with the way we buy things as a city,” Kallos griped. “We never should have to pay more through a contract than if we bought it on the open market.”

Kallos said he had 284 of the domed, green trash cans installed on neighborhood sidewalks since taking office in 2014. At the time, they cost $545 a pop under a different contract.

The cans were such a hit that Kallos said he planned to order more — until he learned the new cost, $969.

Nearly identical cans are sold online for $849.

But the city can’t get that price because it is bound by a contract for the cans with Petersen Manufacturing.

“The city’s procurement policy requires a fair and competitive bidding process, and the existing contract we hold reflects the lowest possible price resulting from [it],’’ said DCAS rep Carmine Rivetti.

The cost jumped because of the price of steel, Kallos said the city told him.

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New York Times New York Becomes the City That Never Shuts Up by Winnie Hu

Feed — Wed, 19 Jul 2017 23:02:17 +0000

New York Times

New York Becomes the City That Never Shuts Up

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/19/nyregion/new-york-becomes-the-city-that-never...

Winnie Hu

07/19/2017

“There’s noise and then there’s noise,” said Ms. Gallagher, a writer and producer. “To have a happy society, we need to have some restraints on our public behavior.”

Mr. Kallos has made curbing noise one of his top priorities. He and Costa Constantinides, a councilman from Queens, are proposing legislation that targets some of the most grating sounds by requiring city noise inspectors to respond within two hours when possible to catch noisemakers in the act. Inspectors currently have no legally mandated deadlines but follow departmental guidelines for responding within a certain period of time.

A breakdown of last year’s 311 noise data by The New York Times and Mr. Wellington found that the majority of complaints involve human interaction, or conflict. The biggest irritant, by far — with 224,070 complaints — is loud music and parties. Banging and pounding sounds brought 64,905 complaints; loud talking, 40,494; and loud televisions, 4,033.

https://static01.nyt.com/images/2017/07/17/nyregion/00noise1/00noise1-ma...

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DNAinfo.com UES Residents Want Benches, Painted Lanes at Esplanade's John Finley Walk by Shaye Weaver

Feed — Thu, 13 Jul 2017 06:12:05 +0000

DNAinfo.com

UES Residents Want Benches, Painted Lanes at Esplanade's John Finley Walk

https://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20160719/yorkville/ues-residents-want-benches-p...

Shaye Weaver

"We are rebuilding the East River Esplanade brick by brick and dollar by dollar to connect 60th street to 125th street in one seamless park," Kallos said in a statement on July 11. "John Finley Walk from 81st street to 84th will receive the attention it needs to go from roadway to greenway."

https://assets.dnainfo.com/photo/2016/7/1468953757-266296/larger.jpg

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Our Town Kallos’s State of the District by DANIEL FITZSIMMONS

Feed — Thu, 13 Jul 2017 04:12:09 +0000

Our Town

Kallos’s State of the District

http://www.ourtownny.com/local-news/20160112/kalloss-state-of-the-district

DANIEL FITZSIMMONS

01/12/2016

East side councilmember wants to meet every person in the district

Councilmember Ben Kallos touted his office’s work with constituents on housing issues in his recent state of the district address, and looked forward to several initiatives in 2016.

“As a constituent and advocate myself, then candidate, and now council member, I have always been frustrated with how government can be opaque, closed, unaccountable and broken,” said Kallos, addressing a room of community leaders and residents at Memorial Sloan Kettering on East 67th Street. “What if we started to change all that - empowering our community - what would that look like?”

Kallos said his constituent services team and roughly a dozen graduate students in social work have helped more than 4,000 people in his district, and that legal clinics supplied by his office have provided individual counsel to nearly 250 other constituents, “who are trying to stay in their homes or get heat back in their apartments.”

He also revealed a lofty goal: to personally meet all 168,413 people who live in his district.

Kallos said his team worked with constituents facing everything from poor conditions to evictions, with the goal of protecting housing in the district. “I grew up here; I want to raise a family and grow old here, too,” said Kallos. “We must protect our affordable and public housing, and combat the forces of overdevelopment.”

One of Kallos’ signature achievements occurred when he, Borough President Gale Brewer and State Senator Liz Krueger opposed Mayor Bill de Blasio’s housing plan, which called for adding height to the contextual height caps that allow for the East Side’s quiet side streets. “We opposed the measure…so developers wouldn’t tear down rent stabilized buildings to get more height,” said Kallos. “And the Department of City Planning heard us, and agreed to protect the midblock.”

Midblock buildings in the district are capped at 75 feet, Kallos said.

Fighting superscrapers has also been a theme for Kallos. When residents of the Sutton Place alerted his office to a proposed 90-story building in the neighborhood, he said, his office worked with local residents to form the East River Fifties Alliance.

“Under the leadership of President Alan Kersh, the alliance has worked with our office to organize the community behind an effort to rezone the neighborhood to draw the line on billionaires row at residential neighborhoods,” he said. “Integral to this community effort are Herndon Werth, the ‘Sage of Sutton,’ and Charles Fernandez, who have rejected buyouts and resisted harassment, and stayed in their apartments, saying the light and air and history of our neighborhood are too important to demolish for a superscraper.”

Kallos said all of these campaigns, whether they’re local or citywide, “are meant to address the issues that you have brought me and my team.”

But, Kallos noted, the best is yet to come.

He said he plans, as chair of the Committee on Governmental Operations, to continue to focus on improving democracy, transparency, and increasing access to government resources.

Kallos touted legislation he’s sponsoring that would provide government benefits to everybody who qualifies automatically, with no application or renewal required, using information the government already has to increase efficiency and reduce bureaucracy.

Kallos’ said in the meantime his office can already help residents get the benefits they’re entitled through a 25-minute screening process at his office or online at nyc.gov/ACCESSNYC.

“Whether or not you have a title, all of us in this room are leaders in some aspect of this neighborhood and city,” concluded Kallos. “Whether on the community board, your neighborhood association, your building, your PTA, or in your home, your experience and expertise in our community can bring value to the rest of us. Thank you for your partnership and I hope to see you over the next year as we work to make the Fifth Council District and New York City an even better place to live.”

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