Senate Bill S5597

                                BILL NUMBER:S5597

TITLE OF BILL:  An act relating to the sale, lease or other
disposition of property of the New York city department of education,
New York city educational construction fund, New York city school
construction authority, and New York city housing authority

PURPOSE: To ensure greater involvement by local officials and
community stakeholders on any proposed disposition of public lands by
local authorities and municipal education agencies

SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section one requires the New York City Department of Education, New
York City Educational Construction Fund, New York.'City School.
Construction Authority, and New York City Housing Authority to adhere
to the provisions of article 16 of the general municipal law, Urban
Development Action Area Act.

Mandates that any disposition of public lands or buildings by the New
York City Department of Education, New York City Educational
Construction Fund, New York City School Construction Authority, and
New York City Housing Authority must go through the New York City's
Uniform, Land Use Review Procedure in addition to Urban Development
Action Area. Act.

              

Section two sets forth the effective date.

JUSTIFICATION: Recently, New York City's Department of Education (DOE)
and the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) solicited proposals to
sell, lease, exchange or otherwise dispose of public lands to private
developers. These proposals have been devoid of any meaningful
community input or consideration of neighborhood needs. In recent
months, parents, neighbors, and community stakeholders have been met
with walls of silence from city agencies and a dearth of information
on the future of their neighborhoods.

For example, in November 2.012, many parents, neighbors, and community
stakeholders were surprised to learn that the New York City Department
of Education had began engaging developers to potentially demolish and
build on the sites of Manhattan's Upper West Side P.S.  199 and P.S.
191, and the Upper East Side's school of Cooperative Technical
Education without first consulting the community. Only after a parent
found a Request for Expressions of Interest (RFEI) for developers in a
November 2012 issue of Crain's did DOB even acknowledge it was
considering development.

In March 2013, New York City's Housing Authority announced plans to
lease public lands within existing developments to private developers.
This plan, known as the "infill program," would systematically replace
community centers, parking lots, playgrounds, and open space for
market-rate and below market-rate apartment units. Despite being
required under Section 18 of the - Housing Act of 1937 to obtain
community support for its deposition proposal, NYCHA has consistently
kept the community in the dark.


In spite of repeated calls by local elected officials, community
boards, and concerned residents, NYC DOE and NYCHA plan to move
forward with their development plans without any meaningful community
input. Clearly, there is a tremendous need to ensure greater input at
the early stages of any development plans that involve public assets.
This legislation would require any disposition of public lands or
buildings to be subject to the provisions of both the Urban
Development Action Area Act (UDAA) and New York City's Uniform land
Use Review Procedure (ULURP). Both these processes are important
evaluation tools that would allow for greater public input in all
aspects of proposed land use projects. By requiring UDAA and ULURP in
cases involving public-private redevelopment of public lands, we can
ensure that a robust public process, involving community boards, the
borough boards, elected officials, the city council and the general
public are incorporated from inception to completion.

PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY: New bill.

EFFECTIVE DATE: This act shall take effect immediately.