Senate Bill S1556A

                                
 
BILL NUMBER: S1556

SPONSOR: SERRANO
 
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 stake-
holders 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.

This 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, neigh-
bors, 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 2012, 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 devel-
opment.

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 mark-
et-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 coun-
cil and the general public are incorporated from inception to
completion.

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

2013-2014: S5597 - Referred to Cities to Cities
2015-2016: S1166 - Referred to Cities
2017-2018: S3088 - Referred immediately.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect