Also votes to approve designation of the West Chelsea Historic District in Manhattan

City Hall, October 23, 2008 – At today’s Stated Council meeting, the members of the New York City Council will vote on legislation to extend term limits for 59 term-limited municipal offices from two four-year terms to three four-year terms. The City Council will also vote to:

• Landmark 30 historic industrial and manufacturing buildings in Manhattan’s West Chelsea neighborhood;
• Require absentee property owners of one-and two-family homes to register emergency contact information Department of Housing Preservation and Development;
• Call on the Federal Communications Commission to examine potential negative impacts that unlicensed use of white spaces would have on New York City industries; and
• Rename several City streets in Queens and one in Battery Park City.

TERM LIMITS EXTENSION
The 51 members of the City Council will vote on legislation to extend term limits for elected officials to from two to three four-year terms. This change would apply to the offices of the Mayor, the City Comptroller, the Public Advocate, the five Borough Presidents, and the 51 City Council districts.

“New York City is suffering through the worst economic crisis this country has experienced since the Great Depression,” said Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn. “The appropriate thing to do is to give the electorate the choice of keeping steady, consistent leadership in their City government.”

Today’s vote follows two Governmental Operations committee hearings which heard approximately 20 hours of testimony from members of the public, past and present State and City elected officials, Administration representatives, advocacy organizations, good government groups, and labor heads.

WEST CHELSEA HISTORIC DISTRICT
The City Council will also vote to designate part of Manhattan’s West Chelsea neighborhood as a Landmarked Historic District. Consisting of 30 historic buildings and comprising portions of 7 blocks adjacent to the Hudson River waterfront in Manhattan, the West Chelsea Historic District is bounded by West 28th Street and West 27th Street, Tenth Avenue, West 25th Street, and the West Side Highway. The Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) designated the West Chelsea Historic District in July 2008.

As Manhattan emerged as a national manufacturing center during the mid-nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, many of the country’s premier industrial firms located in West Chelsea. Originally comprised of a mixture of working-class residences and industrial complexes, tenements were built nearby the neighborhood’s large iron works, lumber and coal yards, steam-powered saw mills. In addition to manufacturing operations, this neighborhood also became a major center of warehousing and freight handling activity beginning in the late nineteenth century.

“Industry and manufacturing were once the backbone of our City’s urban economy,” said Speaker Quinn. “The creation of the West Chelsea Historic District will forever capture the often forgotten story of New York’s emergence as one of the world’s premiere industrial cities. Today’s designation is a proud symbol of the economic past and creates a place where future generations can appreciate the foundation of New York City’s prosperity.”

HPD REGISTRATION LEGISLATION
Currently, HPD may not have accurate contact information for absentee owners of 1-2 family buildings because they are not all required to register with the agency. While all owners of buildings with three or more housing units must register, currently for one and two family buildings only absentee owners who reside outside of New York City must register with HPD, not those absentee owners who reside within New York City.

To close this loophole, the City Council will vote on legislation requiring New York City-based property owners of one-and two-family homes to register with the Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD). Having the most up-to-date property ownership information on file at HPD is essential for the City to respond to any emergencies or building maintenance concerns that may arise.

Owners must provide HPD with a local telephone number as well as a name and address of a City resident that is designated to receive notices and summons issued by HPD. Presently, there are approximately 740,000 one and two-family homes in New York City.

“If a situation arises where the City needs to contact a property owner in the case of an emergency or building maintenance issue, it is vital that New York-based property owners register with the Department of Housing Preservation and Development so that any potential problems can be solved as quickly and efficiently as possible,” said Speaker Quinn.

“In local government’s ongoing effort to protect New York City tenants, accurate ownership information will provide HPD with a better tool to enforce the housing maintenance code and make sure residential properties are kept in a state of good repair,” said Housing and Buildings Committee Chair Erik Martin-Dilan.

WHITE SPACES RESOLUTION
The Council will vote on a resolution calling on the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to conduct a formal comment period to assess impacts that the unlicensed use of white spaces would have on New York City industries. White space is a telecommunication term that refers to unused frequencies in the radio waves portion of the electromagnetic spectrum.

Currently, a number of local industries including television broadcasters, sports leagues, television and film productions, live theatre, and the performing arts, rely on white spaces and wireless microphone technology for communication purposes. The Council resolution urges the FCC to take adequate measures to protect incumbent wireless microphone users from interference and to explore reasonable alternatives to facilitate expanded wireless broadband services.

STREET RENAMING BILLS
The Council will vote on three separate pieces of legislation that would change several Queens street names to names these streets traditionally had and to which they are commonly referred. Additionally, the Council will vote to change Little Vesey Street in Manhattan’s Battery Park City to River Terrace. Currently, River Terrace exists just to the west of Little Vesey Street. This bill would extend River Terrace.

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