Tony Avella for Mayor

The city’s Department of Buildings has been in the news a lot, lately, from tragic construction-site accidents to the high-profile resignation of Commissioner Patricia Lancaster. Tony has made overdevelopment a major issue in his Mayoral campaign and reforming the Department of Buildings is a key part of this agenda. Below, Tony has outlined seven major problems with the agency which must be addressed to ensure that our city is developed safely and legally:

1. DOB must be prohibited from interpreting the zoning code. This responsibility should be the sole jurisdiction of the City’s Department of City Planning, which writes the code.

2. DOB must be given the power and latitude to prohibit repeat offenders (developers and/or contractors who violate the building and zoning code on a consistent basis) from doing construction in the City. As a Council Member, Tony introduced a “Negligent Developers” bill, Int. 697/2008, to specifically address situations where repeat offenders continuously violate the law yet continue to be given construction permits.

3. The Self-Certification procedure must be abolished. This process has led to rampant abuse. While the program remains in existence, DOB must move to revoke the license of any architect who files false or incorrect plans under the self-certification process.

4. In order to deter illegal conversions, Tony introduced a resolution before the City Council, , asking the State Legislature to increase the penalties for illegal conversions (which are often “self-certified” projects) that result in serious injury or death to felony counts.

5. DOB must be required to act on behalf of and represent adjacent property owners who have been victimized by unscrupulous developers and improper construction practices.

6. DOB must improve its ability to respond to allegations of building code violations in a timely fashion. Unfortunately, as a result of DOB’s limited number of inspectors, unscrupulous developers regularly flout the law knowing that it is unlikely that they will be caught in the act. Recently, Tony called on DOB to develop and institute a “Citizen Watch Affidavit Program”, which would allow average New Yorkers to report building code infractions, complete an affidavit, and have that affidavit treated in the same light as if a DOB inspector had made the report.

7. To ensure our safety, workers on construction sites should be union-trained or part of an approved apprentice program. Tony is currently working on legislation to ensure that workers on sites larger than one/two/three family homes are properly trained and certified.

Tony will be appearing on News Forum with Gabe Pressman on Sunday, April 20. The show runs from 6:30-7:00 AM, so if you want to catch it, you may want to go to bed early on Saturday.

Or, you can watch some video clips of the show right here! There are three clips available. Click on the links, below, to watch:

* Clip One

* Clip Two

* Clip Three

The City’s proposed Willets Point Development plan is wrong on several levels. First and foremost, it is just another example of the misuse of eminent domain. The City is threatening to seize family owned businesses (some for generations) and give it to private developers who will reap millions of dollars in profit.

In addition to the businesses who have no where to go because of the unique zoning in this area, thousands of workers will be unemployed.

Despite the rhetoric from officials at the City’s Economic Development Corporation, no studies have yet been produced to deal with anticipated traffic congestion and the so-called affordable housing component which, based on current city policies, will not be affordable to the very people who need it the most.

Once again, it is planning from the top down instead of real community based planning from the bottom up. It is time for change.

Click here to read more about Tony’s position on overdevelopment in our city.

Photo via Wikipedia.

A statement from Tony on the State Assembly’s refusal to vote on the Mayor’s Congestion Pricing plan:

“Mayor Bloomberg’s Congestion Pricing plan was dead on arrival when he first introduced it.  He refused to listen to those of us who warned him that it was a regressive tax on New Yorkers traveling from one borough to another.” 

“It is a shame that all of this time and money (taxpayer dollars) were wasted promoting a plan that would not address congestion and would not add more mass transit services.” 

“Now it is time to develop real solutions to these problems, without placing additional taxes on those least able to afford it.  We can do it - if we try.”

No comments

In his role as a member of the City Council, Tony has been a vocal critic of Mayor Bloomberg’s  proposed Congestion Pricing plan. On Monday, March 31^st, he voted against the plan, which he called, “the biggest scam ever perpetrated on the citizens of New York City.”

“All this plan is - is another tax on the already most heavily taxed people in the country.”

“While I understand the need to solve the traffic congestion problem – it must be addressed in Queens, Brooklyn, Staten Island and the Bronx as well as upper Manhattan - not just in lower Manhattan. Unfortunately, Congestion Pricing will do little to reduce traffic in lower Manhattan. People don’t drive into Manhattan for the pleasure of it – they drive because they have to.”

“The promise that the congestion pricing money will be used to fund additional mass transit initiatives and service, is baloney. How can we possibly give this money to the MTA and hope that they will use it to improve service. This is the same MTA that was found to have two sets of accounting books – one for the public and one for themselves. This is the same MTA that currently takes the revenue generated from the City bus and subway fares to help fund out-of-City, upstate transportation systems.”

1 comment