Read more about West Side Rag The Omnipresence of Scaffolding and Its Impact on Lives Why and What Is Being Done? by Ann Cooper.As long as the city continues to allow unlimited time extensions, “no one’s forcing to make the repairs,” he said. In a recent interview he told West Side Rag that he was not aware of any current council members planning to reintroduce his bill. Kallos was term limited out of his council seat and lost a bid for Manhattan Borough President last year. Kallos blames the real estate industry’s opposition for the death of his bill Crain’s New York Business reported that it didn’t help when Kallos lost some clout in internal council politics, endangering the scaffolding bill that he had made a top priority. The bill never came up for a vote, though Kallos continued to speak out, labeling sidewalk sheds “the house guest that never leaves” and noting that some scaffolding “is almost old enough to vote.” His sound bites gained media attention but failed to build enough support among council colleagues. The Department of Buildings testified that the city did not have the resources to step in and do repairs if owners didn’t make the deadline. The bill did get a hearing in a city council committee, where restaurant and retail owners enthusiastically endorsed it, while the Real Estate Board of New York was opposed. The New York Times editorial board hailed the map for revealing that sidewalk sheds can be “as durable and mysterious as the monoliths of Stonehenge.” It seemed like the map might give a boost to the Kallos proposal. Soon after Kallos introduced his bill, the city unveiled its online map showing just how much scaffolding is out there and how long it’s stayed up. After that, if a building façade still hadn’t been repaired, city employees would do the work and send the owner a bill. The Kallos proposal would have given owners six months to finish repairs required by Local Law 11. The main legislative attempt was a bill first introduced by then-District 5 City Council member Benjamin Kallos in 2016. What’s happened to attempts to get scaffolding taken down more quickly? Lastly, the waiting lists for all affordable housing must be publicly available to provide accountability where these waiting lists have been previously abused. We must open affordable housing by creating an easy centralized application process. Affordable housing must be transparent, with easily accessible and searchable lists by address and qualification, rather than having to search through over a dozen different programs and agencies. But there is more to do and as your City Council member I will continue this work by reforming rent regulation, using market indices like the consumer price index, and expanding affordable housing.In addition to fixing affordable housing and rent regulation laws, we must also create a centralized affordable housing resource. I had the opportunity to work on the next generation of progressive legislation that would scale certain rent regulations to the consumer price index, so that new laws are always current and housing remains affordable for generations to come. Bing, I know the current issues facing affordable housing. Pioneers who have built our neighborhoods must not be forced to leave because they are victims of their own success, their housing should remain affordable so that they may realize the fruits of their labor.As former Chief of Staff for Mitchell-Lama Subcommittee Chair, Assemblyman Jonathan L. Affordable housing development must seek a better balance between market rate and affordable housing.
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