Local Law 18/2022 effectively banned AirBnB starting September 5, 2023

AirBnB fought the law, and lost. (1) Anyone who wants to host short-term must register with the Office of Special Enforcement, including single-family homes. (2) Your unit must not be in a “Prohibited Building”, and (3) you must live with the guest(s). “By using this (Local Law 18) system you expressly consent to the City…

Candidate for City Council in 2023
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Community Board and Community Education Council are “advisory”.

Met a retiring Community Board member who saw the changes over nearly four decades of her service. As an unpaid volunteer, she did not expect respect nor appreciation, but was tired of ineffectiveness of her time served. Was it always like this? How could it be made socially rewarding? Candidate for City Council in 2023

Candidate for City Council in 2023
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Feral cats: Problem or solution to city’s rat problem?

Inflation has driven many cat owners to surrender them or turn them out into the street. The City has a Trap-Neuter-Return initiative. How about a rat catching initiative? Cat food and medical expense would be covered by the City for owners who train cats to hunt mice. How is our “Rat Czar”, Kathleen Corradi doing?…

Candidate for City Council in 2023
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Revisiting Local Law 11: NYC Façade Inspection & Safety Program (FISP)

RCNY §103-04 rules. A shareholder in Forest Hills complained that his 200-unit, 7-floor coop paid $250,000 last cycle to a Qualified Exterior Wall Inspector. Report was “SWARMP”. The current cycle has the same designation, but the cost tripled to $750,000. Another 130-unit coop in Kew Gardens had one brick off, and its shareholders need to…

Candidate for City Council in 2023
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Brief History of NYC Legal Right to Shelter

Callahan v. Carey (1979) lawsuit by Robert Hayes, co-founder of Coalition for the Homeless, mandated adequate provision for housing single men of “all of the destitute and homeless alcoholics, addicts, mentally impaired derelicts, flotsam and jetsam, and others during the winter months.” The suit asked for 750 beds. The Constitution of the State of New…

Candidate for City Council in 2023
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Fining landlords for leasing to illegal cannabis shop is political theatre!

$10,000 penalty is anti-landlord hurting honest ones, and will not solving the problem. The Local Law 2023/107 passed July 23, 2023 includes unlicensed selling of cigarettes, electronic cigarettes, tobacco products, including illicit cannabis. All this law has done is to transfer the selling to other shops and streets. Voters would say it’s about time! But…

Candidate for City Council in 2023
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Intro 1144-2023: Landlords must advertise names of incumbents upon lease signing or renewal

“We want more thoughtfulness from landlords as they rent out to folks,” according to sponsor, Councilwoman Jennifer Gutiérrez. Politicians come and go; landlords stay. How many versions of political names will there be during lifetime of a lease. What if tenant is non-resident or non-voter, will those elected officials act attentively? “Covered elected officials” include…

Candidate for City Council in 2023
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