1975
1 NEW YORK STATE SENATE
2
3
4 THE STENOGRAPHIC RECORD
5
6
7
8
9 ALBANY, NEW YORK
10 April 1, 2026
11 11:35 a.m.
12
13
14 REGULAR SESSION
15
16
17
18 SENATOR JEREMY COONEY, Acting President
19 ALEJANDRA N. PAULINO, ESQ., Secretary
20
21
22
23
24
25
1976
1 P R O C E E D I N G S
2 ACTING PRESIDENT COONEY: The
3 Senate will come to order.
4 I ask everyone to please rise and
5 recite the Pledge of Allegiance.
6 (Whereupon, the assemblage recited
7 the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.)
8 ACTING PRESIDENT COONEY: In the
9 absence of clergy, let us bow our heads in a
10 moment of silent reflection or prayer.
11 (Whereupon, the assemblage respected
12 a moment of silence.)
13 ACTING PRESIDENT COONEY: Reading
14 of the Journal.
15 THE SECRETARY: In Senate, Tuesday,
16 March 31, 2026, the Senate met pursuant to
17 adjournment. The Journal of Monday, March 30,
18 2026, was read and approved. On motion, the
19 Senate adjourned.
20 ACTING PRESIDENT COONEY: Without
21 objection, the Journal stands approved as read.
22 Presentation of petitions.
23 Messages from the Assembly.
24 The Secretary will read.
25 THE SECRETARY: Senator Harckham
1977
1 moves to discharge, from the Committee on
2 Investigations and Government Operations,
3 Assembly Bill Number 10080B and substitute it for
4 the identical Senate Bill 9020C, Third Reading
5 Calendar 532.
6 Senator Fernandez moves to
7 discharge, from the Committee on
8 Cultural Affairs, Tourism, Parks and Recreation,
9 Assembly Bill Number 7033D and substitute it for
10 the identical Senate Bill 6487C, Third Reading
11 Calendar 565.
12 Senator Hinchey moves to discharge,
13 from the Committee on Codes, Assembly Bill
14 Number 8492C and substitute it for the identical
15 Senate Bill 8021C, Third Reading Calendar 618.
16 ACTING PRESIDENT COONEY: So
17 ordered.
18 Messages from the Governor.
19 Reports of standing committees.
20 Reports of select committees.
21 Communications and reports from
22 state officers.
23 Motions and resolutions.
24 Senator Gianaris.
25 SENATOR GIANARIS: Good morning,
1978
1 Mr. President.
2 On behalf of Senator Baskin, on
3 page 7 I offer the following amendments to
4 Calendar 180, Senate 6009, and ask that said bill
5 retain its place on the Third Reading Calendar.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT COONEY: The
7 amendments are received, and the bill will retain
8 its place on the Third Reading Calendar.
9 Senator Gianaris.
10 SENATOR GIANARIS: I also wish to
11 call up the following bills, which were recalled
12 from the Assembly and are now at the desk:
13 Senate Bills 1847, 5340B, and 4408.
14 ACTING PRESIDENT COONEY: The
15 Secretary will read.
16 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
17 141, Senate Print 1847, by Senator Comrie, an act
18 to amend the Public Service Law.
19 Calendar Number 261, Senate Print
20 4408, by Senator May, an act to amend the
21 Environmental Conservation Law.
22 Calendar Number 311, Senate Print
23 5340B, by Senator Stavisky, an act to amend the
24 Education Law.
25 SENATOR GIANARIS: Move to
1979
1 reconsider the vote by which these bills were
2 passed.
3 ACTING PRESIDENT COONEY: The
4 Secretary will call the roll on reconsideration.
5 (The Secretary called the roll.)
6 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 59.
7 ACTING PRESIDENT COONEY: The bills
8 are restored to their place on the Third Reading
9 Calendar.
10 SENATOR GIANARIS: I offer the
11 following amendments.
12 ACTING PRESIDENT COONEY: The
13 amendments are received.
14 SENATOR GIANARIS: Please recognize
15 Senator Hinchey for an introduction.
16 ACTING PRESIDENT COONEY: Senator
17 Hinchey for an introduction.
18 SENATOR HINCHEY: Thank you,
19 Mr. President.
20 When Benjamin Franklin walked out of
21 the Constitutional Convention at Independence
22 Hall, he was asked if our new government would be
23 a republic or a monarchy. His reply was both a
24 promise and a warning wrapped into one: A
25 republic, if you can keep it.
1980
1 Franklin understood that for our
2 great experiment to succeed, government could not
3 survive on its own. It would need people,
4 ordinary people -- people willing to show up,
5 speak up, and hold their representatives to
6 account.
7 That was 1787. Nearly 250 years
8 later, those principles still persist. And the
9 students who are here with us today uphold them
10 in a way that should inspire us all.
11 We are joined in the gallery by
12 students from the Democracy Matters Club at
13 Emma Willard School in Troy, including one of my
14 constituents, Fiona Kelly, from Hudson.
15 Democracy Matters was founded in
16 2001 by NBA player Adonal Foyle and his parents,
17 Joan and Jay Mandle, who also happen to be
18 constituents of mine from the Hudson Valley.
19 They built this incredible
20 student-led organization on a simple idea:
21 Civic engagement is for everyone, and especially
22 for young people, who deserve a voice in shaping
23 their futures right now.
24 This year alone, students have led
25 discussions with their peers on the importance of
1981
1 free and fair elections. They have written to
2 their elected representatives. And they have
3 raised their voices on so many issues that are
4 important to them, from advocating for the right
5 of 17-year-olds to pre-register to vote,
6 demanding human rights and dignity in our
7 immigration system.
8 They have sounded the alarm on the
9 climate crisis and the urgent need to protect our
10 environment, and they have wrestled with the
11 hardest questions on foreign policy and
12 international conflict.
13 They do not wait to be invited into
14 these conversations. They have grasped something
15 that takes most people years to understand, that
16 democracy is as powerful as it is fragile, and it
17 is not a spectator sport. It is imperfect, and
18 it only works when people fight for it,
19 generation after generation, relentlessly in
20 pursuit of the greater good.
21 To the students here today, thank
22 you for your courage and your conviction. We
23 need more people like you fighting for a world
24 that's better, more inclusive, and more
25 accountable.
1982
1 And thank you to the club advisor,
2 who is here with them today.
3 Mr. President, I ask you to extend
4 the privileges of the chamber, and please ask
5 them to be recognized.
6 Thank you all so much for being
7 here.
8 ACTING PRESIDENT COONEY: Thank
9 you, Senator Hinchey.
10 To our guests, I welcome you on
11 behalf of the Senate. We extend to you the
12 privileges and courtesies of this house. Please
13 rise and be recognized.
14 (Standing ovation.)
15 ACTING PRESIDENT COONEY: Senator
16 Gianaris.
17 SENATOR GIANARIS: Now please
18 recognize Senator Rolison for another
19 introduction.
20 ACTING PRESIDENT COONEY: Senator
21 Rolison for an introduction.
22 SENATOR ROLISON: Thank you,
23 Mr. President.
24 Today we are joined by an individual
25 who will be retiring very shortly, in about
1983
1 30 days, from Dutchess County government after
2 three decades of service to our community and to
3 the state. And that is Assistant County
4 Executive Ron Hicks, who is here with us in the
5 gallery.
6 I have known Ron Hicks for decades
7 myself, and Ron Hicks has always been the
8 individual -- no matter where he was serving or
9 whom he worked for, he was there for the
10 community. And what Ron has been able to do in
11 30 years it may take some of us 50 years to do.
12 And he has worked on both sides of
13 the aisle. He is a good-government person and
14 of course a dear friend.
15 And I wanted just to note some of
16 Ron's accomplishments. Of course there are
17 volumes of accomplishments, and there are
18 accomplishments that we don't even know about
19 because he's never sought recognition for any of
20 them.
21 But he previously served,
22 Mr. President, as the district director for the
23 late Assemblywoman Eileen Hickey who served the
24 Assembly from Dutchess County with unbelievable
25 distinction. And he was also a deputy county
1984
1 clerk in Dutchess County. He was the regional
2 director for Governor Pataki. He was also the
3 regional director for the Empire State
4 Development Corporation. And of course he has
5 done so much as the assistant county executive in
6 Dutchess County for essentially economic
7 development.
8 And I remember I was in the county
9 legislature when Ron was hired for that position,
10 and it was said to us at the time, you know, we
11 needed a Ron Hicks to come into county government
12 to be that point person to unclog things with the
13 multiple county agencies.
14 And Ron would be the individual to
15 call if you had a problem with the health
16 department or any -- DPW. We can go on down the
17 list. And he would try to make things happen of
18 course in a good-government way.
19 And he did that, Mr. President, for
20 so many years. And we were just talking off the
21 floor, and he was telling me about a picture that
22 he has of my dad, from 1995, at an event up in
23 Staatsburg with the late James Earl Jones.
24 And so Ron has traveled with all
25 kinds of people to do good things. And he's here
1985
1 today; he was honored earlier in the
2 State Assembly.
3 And I'm going to leave Ron and
4 Mr. President and my colleagues and friends here
5 in the chamber with this: You know, Ron in his
6 official acts was governed by a keen sense of
7 duty, and he always showed a unique grasp of
8 human problems.
9 Mr. President, again, it is my honor
10 to have Ron Hicks here today in the New York
11 State Senate. And I would ask you to extend all
12 the courtesies of this house for him today.
13 Thank you, Mr. President.
14 ACTING PRESIDENT COONEY: Thank
15 you, Senator Rolison.
16 To Ron and his family, we welcome
17 you on behalf of the Senate. We extend to you
18 the privileges and courtesies of this house.
19 Please rise and be recognized.
20 (Standing ovation.)
21 ACTING PRESIDENT COONEY: We thank
22 you for your service.
23 Senator Gianaris.
24 SENATOR GIANARIS: All right,
25 Mr. President, let's move on to previously
1986
1 adopted Resolution 1681, by Senator Stec, read
2 its title, and call on Senator Stec, please.
3 ACTING PRESIDENT COONEY: The
4 Secretary will read.
5 THE SECRETARY: Resolution 1681, by
6 Senator Stec, congratulating the Potsdam Central
7 High School Girls Hockey Team upon the occasion
8 of capturing the New York State Public
9 High School Athletic Association Girls
10 Hockey Championship.
11 ACTING PRESIDENT COONEY: Senator
12 Stec on the resolution.
13 SENATOR STEC: Thank you,
14 Mr. President.
15 Good morning, all.
16 Absolutely delighted any time you
17 get a chance to welcome constituents down here to
18 our chamber, especially young people, people that
19 have achieved something that they're going to
20 remember the rest of their lives. They made
21 their family and community proud, they worked
22 hard, they had an outstanding season.
23 The Potsdam Lady Sandstoners are
24 this year's Public High School Ice Hockey
25 champions. They defeated Adirondack United --
1987
1 another team down my way that I share with
2 Senator Tedisco -- who was the two-time defending
3 state champion, but they beat them for the state
4 championship back on February 21st, my birthday,
5 with a score of 3 to 2.
6 And it was just wonderful to meet
7 them outside earlier before session started. But
8 again, you know, to pause and just recognize the
9 achievement of these young ladies that come from
10 a hockey town; Potsdam's known for having great
11 hockey, both at the high school and collegiate
12 level.
13 And, you know, certainly having them
14 down here with a fantastic record, 18, 2 and 3, I
15 think it was, or 3 and 2 -- 2 and 3. They
16 avenged an earlier loss to Adirondack United in
17 the state championship, so I know that that
18 probably made that victory even sweeter.
19 But, you know, Mr. President,
20 through you, if you would please congratulate
21 them, give them the cordialities of the house as
22 we commemorate the Lady Sandstoners' 2026 Girls
23 Ice Hockey State Championship.
24 Thank you.
25 ACTING PRESIDENT COONEY: Thank
1988
1 you, Senator Stec.
2 To our champions, I welcome you on
3 behalf of the Senate. We extend to you the
4 privileges and courtesies of this house.
5 Please rise and be recognized.
6 (Standing ovation.)
7 ACTING PRESIDENT COONEY: The
8 resolution was adopted on March 5th.
9 Senator Gianaris.
10 SENATOR GIANARIS: Senator Stec
11 would like to open that resolution for
12 cosponsorship.
13 ACTING PRESIDENT COONEY: The
14 resolution is open for cosponsorship. Should you
15 choose not to be a cosponsor, please notify the
16 desk.
17 Senator Gianaris.
18 SENATOR GIANARIS: Please take up
19 the calendar.
20 ACTING PRESIDENT COONEY: The
21 Secretary will read.
22 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
23 252, Senate Print 8440A, by Senator Fahy, an act
24 to amend the Highway Law.
25 ACTING PRESIDENT COONEY: Read the
1989
1 last section.
2 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This
3 act shall take effect immediately.
4 ACTING PRESIDENT COONEY: Call the
5 roll.
6 (The Secretary called the roll.)
7 ACTING PRESIDENT COONEY: Senator
8 Fahy to explain her vote.
9 SENATOR FAHY: Thank you,
10 Mr. President.
11 I rise today with an aye vote on
12 this bill. It's the renaming of a local bridge.
13 And I just would bear repeating of a few comments
14 I'd made earlier regarding Sergeant Henry
15 Johnson, who has been such an extraordinary local
16 if not regional hero.
17 He first enlisted in World War I in
18 1917, into the segregated all-Black 15th New York
19 National Guard Infantry Regiment, which was the
20 369th U.S. Infantry Regiment, which ultimately
21 was referred to as the Harlem Hellfighters.
22 While on duty in France in 1918, his
23 party came under attack by a German raiding
24 party. They were completely outnumbered. He
25 alone fought off, with his rifle -- because all
1990
1 of his party, his side, was injured. He fought
2 using his rifle, then used it as a club, then
3 used a bolo knife in hand-to-hand combat. He
4 suffered 21 injuries, yet held off the entire
5 raiding party.
6 Fast forward 80 -- it took 80 years
7 for him to even get a Purple Heart, although he
8 was given the highest distinction and honors in
9 France at that time, 80 years before he got the
10 Purple Heart.
11 In 2022 he finally received the
12 Distinguished Service Cross and in 2015, almost a
13 century later, with advocacy from so many,
14 including Senator Schumer, he was finally awarded
15 the Medal of Honor, our nation's highest military
16 award.
17 In 2023 a bipartisan congressional
18 delegation renamed a Confederate-named Louisiana
19 fort from Fort Polk to Fort Johnson in his honor.
20 Very sadly, last year
21 President Trump took that name off the fort,
22 reverted it to its old name of Fort Polk with a
23 different enlisted individual by the name of
24 Polk.
25 After a century of advocacy to right
1991
1 the wrongs of history, it's been a painful
2 chapter. Our way of making amends on that, since
3 we can't change those federal actions, is to
4 elevate his legacy and his name here in the
5 Capital Region by renaming the Patroon Island
6 Bridge right here in Albany -- it connects to
7 Rensselaer County -- after the Medal of Honor
8 recipient, Sergeant Henry Johnson Memorial
9 Bridge.
10 It is a way to try to preserve this
11 extraordinary history and make sure that we honor
12 this extraordinary hero despite the attempts to
13 rewrite history at the national level. It just
14 beared repeating.
15 Thank you for bearing with me again
16 on this. It's just incredibly important, and I'm
17 just so proud to have been a sponsor of this bill
18 with so many.
19 And with that, I vote in the
20 affirmative. Thank you, Mr. President.
21 ACTING PRESIDENT COONEY: Senator
22 Fahy to be recorded in the affirmative.
23 Senator Ashby to explain his vote.
24 SENATOR ASHBY: Thank you,
25 Mr. President.
1992
1 I rise to explain my vote and thank
2 the sponsor for this legislation.
3 Wounded 21 times, kept his comrades
4 from being captured and kept the Germans from
5 advancing, and then died at the age of 36, in
6 1929. A remarkable life, a remarkable
7 achievement that went unnoticed for too long.
8 And in this chamber today we
9 solidify his memory here in New York State and in
10 the Capital District with the renaming of the
11 Patroon Island Bridge to the Sergeant Henry
12 Johnson Bridge.
13 And it's something that I'm very
14 proud to cosponsor. To think of the lives of our
15 veterans and what they stand for, their
16 sacrifices, and what their families have endured,
17 and what Sergeant Henry Johnson did at that time.
18 To think that he was awarded the
19 Purple Heart in 1996, so many decades after his
20 sacrifice -- it's painful to think about. But
21 what we're doing here today is a remarkable
22 accomplishment, and I'm proud to vote aye.
23 Thank you.
24 ACTING PRESIDENT COONEY: Senator
25 Ashby to be recorded in the affirmative.
1993
1 Announce the results.
2 THE SECRETARY: In relation to
3 Calendar 252, voting in the negative:
4 Senator Brisport.
5 Ayes, 58. Nays, 1.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT COONEY: The bill
7 is passed.
8 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
9 532, Assembly Bill Number 10080B, by
10 Assemblymember Wieder, an act to amend the
11 Public Officers Law.
12 ACTING PRESIDENT COONEY: Read the
13 last section.
14 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
15 act shall take effect immediately.
16 ACTING PRESIDENT COONEY: Call the
17 roll.
18 (The Secretary called the roll.)
19 ACTING PRESIDENT COONEY: Announce
20 the results.
21 THE SECRETARY: In relation to
22 Calendar 532, voting in the negative:
23 Senator Brisport.
24 Ayes, 58. Nays, 1.
25 ACTING PRESIDENT COONEY: The bill
1994
1 is passed.
2 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
3 565, Assembly Bill Number 7033D, by
4 Assemblymember Zaccaro, an act to amend the
5 Arts and Cultural Affairs Law.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT COONEY: Read the
7 last section.
8 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
9 act shall take effect immediately.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT COONEY: Call the
11 roll.
12 (The Secretary called the roll.)
13 ACTING PRESIDENT COONEY: Senator
14 Fernandez to explain her vote.
15 SENATOR FERNANDEZ: Thank you so
16 much, Mr. President.
17 This is an exciting bill. As I've
18 mentioned before, the greatness of the Bronx and
19 the beautiful diversity that we are, we have the
20 community of Little Yemen in the neighborhood of
21 Van Nest.
22 And this community has grown
23 exponentially. It is so vibrant, it is so
24 beautiful in what it's been able to do,
25 reflecting the American dream when immigrants
1995
1 come to New York and this country to build a
2 better life, to build community, to build
3 identity.
4 And Little Yemen has built itself to
5 be a community that we cannot forget, we cannot
6 oversee, we cannot overlook. They are a
7 community that has stood up to violence, if you
8 will. When the first Muslim ban was enacted to
9 our country, they started the bodega strike to
10 show that we will not take this hate to our
11 communities.
12 Little Yemen is a community that has
13 opened its doors to many, that has created
14 opportunity for many. The many businesses that
15 have grown and developed and opened, thousands of
16 jobs, the economic boost to the neighborhood.
17 Not only do we have great
18 restaurants, but we have clothing stores, we have
19 community centers, cultural hubs. And soon the
20 biggest mosque that will come to the state is to
21 open in Little Yemen.
22 So this cultural district is now
23 going to recognize Little Yemen as a place that
24 we welcome everyone to come see, we welcome
25 business, we welcome tourism. But we thank the
1996
1 Yemen community for their contributions to not
2 only the Van Nest neighborhood, but to this
3 state, showing that all things are possible and
4 we can see prosperity grow in some of the darkest
5 times.
6 So thank you. I proudly vote aye.
7 ACTING PRESIDENT COONEY: Senator
8 Fernandez to be recorded in the affirmative.
9 Announce the results.
10 THE SECRETARY: In relation to
11 Calendar 565, voting in the negative:
12 Senator Walczyk.
13 Ayes, 58. Nays, 1.
14 ACTING PRESIDENT COONEY: The bill
15 is passed.
16 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
17 579, Senate Print 2648, by Senator Addabbo, an
18 act to amend the Insurance Law.
19 ACTING PRESIDENT COONEY: Read the
20 last section.
21 THE SECRETARY: Section 5. This
22 act shall take effect immediately.
23 ACTING PRESIDENT COONEY: Call the
24 roll.
25 (The Secretary called the roll.)
1997
1 ACTING PRESIDENT COONEY: Announce
2 the results.
3 THE SECRETARY: In relation to
4 Calendar 579, voting in the negative are
5 Senators Borrello, Gallivan, Ortt, O'Mara and
6 Walczyk.
7 Ayes, 54. Nays, 5.
8 ACTING PRESIDENT COONEY: The bill
9 is passed.
10 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
11 581, Senate Print 5047, by Senator Bailey, an act
12 to amend the Insurance Law.
13 ACTING PRESIDENT COONEY: Read the
14 last section.
15 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
16 act shall take effect immediately.
17 ACTING PRESIDENT COONEY: Call the
18 roll.
19 (The Secretary called the roll.)
20 ACTING PRESIDENT COONEY: Announce
21 the results.
22 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 59.
23 ACTING PRESIDENT COONEY: The bill
24 is passed.
25 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
1998
1 583, Senate Print 1462, by Senator Kavanagh, an
2 act to amend the Public Authorities Law.
3 SENATOR LANZA: Lay it aside.
4 ACTING PRESIDENT COONEY: Lay it
5 aside.
6 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
7 601, Senate Print 5535, by Senator Baskin, an act
8 to amend the Executive Law.
9 ACTING PRESIDENT COONEY: Read the
10 last section.
11 THE SECRETARY: Section 6. This
12 act shall take effect one year after it shall
13 have become a law.
14 ACTING PRESIDENT COONEY: Call the
15 roll.
16 (The Secretary called the roll.)
17 ACTING PRESIDENT COONEY: Senator
18 Baskin to explain her vote.
19 SENATOR BASKIN: Thank you,
20 Mr. President.
21 Years ago when I served as the chair
22 of the county legislature, I gaveled out of a
23 session and proceeded across the street from
24 county hall to our county services building,
25 where I encountered a woman and her young son.
1999
1 The woman did not speak English.
2 She spoke her language to her young son, and then
3 he in turn asked me: "Miss, what door do we go
4 through so that we can sign up to get food?"
5 I instructed them on what was the
6 proper door to go through and what floor that
7 they needed to go through. Of course the little
8 boy then explained to his mother in his language.
9 And at that time I realized the hour
10 of the day and how young that little boy was, and
11 that he was likely supposed to be in school,
12 learning, getting educated, socializing with his
13 friends, learning how to be a contributing member
14 of society. But he was there at the county
15 social services building, trying to help his
16 mother navigate a way to get food.
17 Mr. President, this bill before us
18 today expands on a previous action that this
19 honorable body has taken to provide language
20 access services across the State of New York.
21 This bill will ensure that all
22 agencies of the state are included, not just
23 those under the Governor's purview. It provides
24 services in the top 12 languages statewide and
25 the top three languages in each region, ensuring
2000
1 access reflects local communities.
2 In Western New York, where I
3 represent, some of the most prominent languages
4 include Arabic, Chinese, Bengali, Hindi, Swahili,
5 and Somali. Eleven percent of Erie County
6 residents speak a language other than English at
7 home. And in the City of Buffalo, that number is
8 20 percent.
9 This bill recognizes the diversity
10 of New Yorkers, but also it recognizes that
11 legislation is not one-size-fits-all. And that
12 cannot be done in a successful state.
13 Legislation must fit the realities of each
14 region. And I am happy that this bill does that.
15 This bill is not only good for
16 public service for our residents, but it is also
17 an investment into our residents who are seeking
18 to be a part of New York's economy. We want
19 people seeking jobs to be able to navigate the
20 New York State Department of Labor's job list.
21 We want people to be able to understand their
22 legal rights.
23 And we want our children, many of
24 whom unfortunately act as informal interpreters
25 for their families, we want them to be able to be
2001
1 focused on their education, to establish
2 themselves as first-generation New Yorkers,
3 instead of having to be pulled out of the
4 classroom to help their families fill out an
5 application or speak with a caseworker during an
6 appointment.
7 Mr. President, I want to acknowledge
8 all of the advocates who have pushed for this
9 bill time and time again. Many people who speak
10 limited English or who need an interpreter to
11 feel heard, they feel unheard, they feel that
12 government is not here for them. They feel that
13 government is not here to support them -- or even
14 worse, they feel that government is here to
15 punish them.
16 But I hope that this bill instills
17 some hope and some confidence that we here in
18 this honorable body, and in New York, will
19 represent and represent all people who call
20 New York home with dignity, in their preferred
21 language.
22 This body passed this critical
23 legislation last year. And I rise today to urge
24 my colleagues in the Assembly to do the same this
25 session, to show all New Yorkers that they
2002
1 deserve a government that is accessible, a
2 government that is respectful and responsive to
3 everyone in their native language.
4 I vote in the affirmative,
5 Mr. President, and I encourage all of my
6 colleagues to do the same.
7 Thank you.
8 ACTING PRESIDENT COONEY: Senator
9 Baskin to be recorded in the affirmative.
10 Announce the results.
11 THE SECRETARY: In relation to
12 Calendar 601, voting in the negative are
13 Senators Borrello, Canzoneri-Fitzpatrick,
14 Helming, Martins, Mattera, O'Mara, Rhoads, Stec,
15 Walczyk and Weik.
16 Ayes, 50. Nays, 10.
17 ACTING PRESIDENT COONEY: The bill
18 is passed.
19 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
20 605, Senate Print 8046A, by Senator Bynoe, an act
21 to amend the Emergency Tenant Protection Act.
22 ACTING PRESIDENT COONEY: Read the
23 last section.
24 SENATOR LANZA: Lay it aside.
25 ACTING PRESIDENT COONEY: The bill
2003
1 will be laid aside.
2 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
3 612, Senate Print Number 3519, by
4 Senator Scarcella-Spanton, an act to amend the
5 Penal Law.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT COONEY: Read the
7 last section.
8 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
9 act shall take effect immediately.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT COONEY: Call the
11 roll.
12 (The Secretary called the roll.)
13 ACTING PRESIDENT COONEY: Senator
14 Scarcella-Spanton to explain her vote.
15 SENATOR SCARCELLA-SPANTON: Thank
16 you, Mr. President.
17 With technology developing rapidly,
18 our current laws do not account for the various
19 new ways that predators can now stalk, intimidate
20 and control individuals. From Apple Tags to
21 "Find my iPhone," there are countless ways that a
22 person can find your location, and predators are
23 exploiting legal loopholes to get away with
24 tracking someone's movements.
25 For far too long, people who have
2004
1 dealt with this have lived in a state of fear of
2 someone accessing their location through
3 technology, and with no avenue for recourse.
4 Those who have done this have been able to avoid
5 proper accountability.
6 My bill redefines the term
7 "following" for a crime of stalking in the
8 fourth degree to include the use of certain
9 devices or computers to gain access to record,
10 track, report the movement or location of a
11 person and their property without the person's
12 permission or knowledge to do so.
13 By broadening this definition, we
14 send a clear message that technology-assisted
15 stalking is just as damaging to a victim's
16 mental, physical and emotional well-being as
17 traditional forms of stalking are.
18 By passing this legislation, we are
19 taking a crucial step forward in keeping our
20 constituents safe and taking the things that
21 they've gone through seriously.
22 Thank you again to my colleagues,
23 and I proudly vote aye.
24 ACTING PRESIDENT COONEY: Senator
25 Scarcella-Spanton to be recorded in the
2005
1 affirmative.
2 Announce the results.
3 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 60.
4 ACTING PRESIDENT COONEY: The bill
5 is passed.
6 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
7 615, Senate Print 4776, by Senator Ryan, an act
8 to amend the Penal Law.
9 ACTING PRESIDENT COONEY: Read the
10 last section.
11 THE SECRETARY: Section 4. This
12 act shall take effect on the 60th day after it
13 shall have become a law.
14 ACTING PRESIDENT COONEY: Call the
15 roll.
16 (The Secretary called the roll.)
17 ACTING PRESIDENT COONEY: Senator
18 Ryan to explain his vote.
19 SENATOR RYAN: Thank you,
20 Mr. President.
21 So this legislation addresses a very
22 serious, growing public safety concern, which is
23 the rise in false reports involving weapons,
24 particularly incidents that mimic active shooter
25 or violent threats.
2006
1 Instances of falsely reporting a
2 critical emergency, otherwise known as swatting,
3 have increased exponentially across the state.
4 These situations don't just strain emergency
5 systems, they send a very, very frightful ripple
6 through our entire communities.
7 Parents get the call that their
8 child's school is in lockdown, students are left
9 frightened and confused in classrooms while
10 families sit in fear waiting for answers. That
11 kind of trauma just doesn't disappear when the
12 all-clear is given. You know, this sort of
13 trauma stays with students, parents and educators
14 long after this fake incident has occurred.
15 Under current law, falsely reporting
16 fires, explosions, or hazardous materials
17 releasing around schools is a crime. However,
18 this statute has not kept pace with the reality
19 that we face today.
20 This bill provides law enforcement
21 and prosecutors with the tools they need to
22 respond appropriately and, more importantly,
23 deter this dangerous behavior in the future.
24 It also strengthens protections for
25 schools by making clear that false threats
2007
1 involving weapons, on school grounds, will be
2 treated with the seriousness that they deserve.
3 At a time when students, parents and
4 educators are already on edge, we must ensure as
5 lawmakers that those who intentionally cause fear
6 and disruption are held accountable. We need to
7 hold people accountable for doing this.
8 I thank my colleagues for their
9 consideration, and I vote aye.
10 Thank you.
11 ACTING PRESIDENT COONEY: Senator
12 Ryan to be recorded in the affirmative.
13 Announce the results.
14 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 60.
15 ACTING PRESIDENT COONEY: The bill
16 is passed.
17 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
18 618, Assembly Bill Number 8492C, by
19 Assemblymember Weprin, an act to amend the
20 Executive Law.
21 ACTING PRESIDENT COONEY: Read the
22 last section.
23 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
24 act shall take effect on the 60th day after it
25 shall have become a law.
2008
1 ACTING PRESIDENT COONEY: Call the
2 roll.
3 (The Secretary called the roll.)
4 ACTING PRESIDENT COONEY: Announce
5 the results.
6 THE SECRETARY: In relation to
7 Calendar 618, voting in the negative:
8 Senator Brisport.
9 Ayes, 59. Nays, 1.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT COONEY: The bill
11 is passed.
12 Senator Gianaris, that completes the
13 reading of today's calendar.
14 SENATOR GIANARIS: Let's take up
15 the controversial calendar, please.
16 ACTING PRESIDENT COONEY: The
17 Secretary will ring the bell.
18 The Secretary will read.
19 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
20 583, Senate Print 1462, by Senator Kavanagh, an
21 act to amend the Public Authorities Law.
22 ACTING PRESIDENT COONEY: Senator
23 Lanza, why do you rise?
24 SENATOR LANZA: Mr. President, I
25 believe there's an amendment at the desk. I
2009
1 waive the reading of that amendment and ask that
2 you recognize Senator Rhoads.
3 ACTING PRESIDENT COONEY: Thank
4 you, Senator Lanza.
5 Upon review of the amendment, and in
6 accordance with Rule 6, Section 4B, I rule it
7 nongermane and out of order.
8 SENATOR LANZA: Accordingly,
9 Mr. President, I appeal the ruling of the chair
10 and ask that Senator Rhoads be heard on that
11 appeal.
12 ACTING PRESIDENT COONEY: The
13 appeal has been made and recognized, and
14 Senator Rhoads may be heard.
15 SENATOR RHOADS: Thank you,
16 Mr. President. I rise, obviously, to appeal the
17 ruling of the chair.
18 This amendment is certainly germane
19 to the bill-in-chief, as the bill-in-chief
20 intends to promote housing affordability -- (to
21 Senator Kavanagh) not yet -- promote housing
22 affordability, and the amendment deals with the
23 very issue of affordability that is critical here
24 in the State of New York.
25 Now, during the resolutions we heard
2010
1 about Benjamin Franklin. And I want to take you
2 back. Obviously this year we are celebrating the
3 250th anniversary of the Declaration of
4 Independence and the founding of the
5 United States of America.
6 But the American Revolution really
7 started in earnest -- some would say at the
8 Battle of Lexington and Concord in 1775. Some
9 would say that the seeds of it may have started
10 as far back as 1765 and the Stamp Act -- but
11 really 1773, when a group of patriots dumped tea
12 into Boston Harbor a couple of hundred miles to
13 our east, over a 6 percent tax that was imposed
14 on the colonists for every pound of tea that was
15 sold. Six percent.
16 This chamber, this government, under
17 one-party rule in the State of New York over the
18 course of the last eight years has done far worse
19 than 6 percent.
20 When you look at what we are
21 spending, we are spending $100 million more --
22 not a 6 percent increase, but an over 60 percent
23 increase in just the last eight years, in the
24 amount of money that we are taking from our
25 New York State taxpayers, the amount of money
2011
1 that we are taking from our economy.
2 That equates to $5,000 for every
3 man, woman and child in the State of New York.
4 Think about that.
5 The difference between then and now
6 is that King George recognized way too late. The
7 patriots rose up, and they defeated Great
8 Britain, because they had nowhere else to go, and
9 they fought for their homeland.
10 The difference today, under the
11 monarchy of one-party rule here in the State of
12 New York over the course of the last eight years,
13 is that New Yorkers do have other places to go,
14 and they are going.
15 We are fighting a revolution here in
16 the State of New York, but that revolution is not
17 being fought with rifles and with bayonets. That
18 revolution in the State of New York is being
19 fought with cardboard boxes and moving vans, as
20 New York State has lost more than a
21 million people just since 2020 alone, according
22 to the Empire Center.
23 We are anticipated to lose, over the
24 course of the next 15 years, another 2 million of
25 our citizens, losing two congressional seats,
2012
1 potentially, in the next census.
2 People are voting with their feet,
3 and they are leaving New York State for lower-tax
4 states like Texas and Florida, who have seen
5 increases in population contrary to our decreases
6 of 2.9 million and 1.6 million respectively.
7 It is time for us to recognize that
8 the problem with affordability in the State of
9 New York is us. We are the highest-taxed state
10 in the nation. In tax affordability, this state
11 has been ranked dead last. And you are seeing
12 the results every day.
13 This amendment, sponsored by the
14 Republican Conference, which I have the honor of
15 introducing, is Bill S9110. That is the
16 Taxpayer Rescue Act. While over the course of
17 the last eight years we have been taking $5,000
18 from every man, woman and child in the State of
19 New York, this Taxpayer Rescue Act would be the
20 single largest personal income tax cut in the
21 history or the State of New York.
22 Phased in over 10 years, it would
23 actually eliminate state income tax from the
24 first $50,000 of income for single filers,
25 $75,000 for single head of household, and the
2013
1 first $100,000 of income from state income tax
2 for every single family in the State of New York.
3 And we do that not by drastic cuts,
4 but by reversing the trend of the last
5 eight years and limiting the rate of growth in
6 the New York State budget.
7 Every other municipality in the
8 State of New York has to live by a spending cap.
9 In fact, by the way, before one-party rule took
10 hold in 2019, our budgets were limited by the
11 spending cap. That has gone by the boards, and
12 you have seen the $100 million increase -- a
13 60 percent increase -- in the amount of money
14 that this state spends.
15 Phased in over 10 years, this would
16 actually save the average family in the State of
17 New York $5,000. And if you think that that
18 doesn't matter -- this isn't a one-time gimmick.
19 We're not talking about an inflation rebate check
20 for 200, 300, 400 dollars that happens one time.
21 We are talking about real, sustainable tax relief
22 for every single New York family. And this
23 matters in each and every one of our home
24 districts.
25 Do you realize that the average
2014
1 median income, family median income, in the State
2 of New York is $85,000? And by this amendment
3 today, what you have the opportunity to do is at
4 the end of this phase-in, the average family in
5 the State of New York will pay no New York State
6 income tax.
7 It is affordable, it is responsible,
8 it is reliable, and it is exactly the relief that
9 taxpayers across the State of New York are
10 calling for, and is something that could actually
11 help save this state.
12 This approach ensures affordability
13 without shifting the tax burden elsewhere. It is
14 time for the members of this chamber to recognize
15 that it is the right move at the right time to
16 help save our state.
17 And so in 56 out of the 62 counties
18 in this state, that means that the average
19 resident, the average family, will pay no
20 New York State income tax.
21 Mr. President, and to the members
22 here, as soon as I sit down you're going to be
23 told that this is a vote on the procedures of the
24 house. And I know that that's the standard line.
25 But understand that when you're
2015
1 voting today and you are voting for or against
2 this particular amendment, you are voting for
3 whether or not the residents in Orange, Putnam,
4 Albany, Ulster, Onondaga, Schenectady County --
5 you are voting on whether or not you are going to
6 put $5,000 back into the pockets of those
7 families not just one year, but every single
8 year.
9 Mr. President, I can think of
10 nothing more germane when we're talking about
11 affordability. And germaneness means relevancy.
12 For the future of the State of New York, I can
13 think of nothing more relevant than this bill,
14 S9110, the Taxpayer Rescue Plan, which we need to
15 pass in order to rescue hardworking New Yorkers
16 from Albany's tax chaos.
17 Thank you, Mr. President.
18 ACTING PRESIDENT COONEY: Thank
19 you, Senator.
20 I want to remind the house that the
21 vote is on the procedures of the house and the
22 ruling of the chair.
23 Those in favor of overruling the
24 chair, signify by saying aye.
25 (Response of "Aye.")
2016
1 SENATOR LANZA: Show of hands.
2 ACTING PRESIDENT COONEY: A show of
3 hands has been requested and so ordered.
4 Announce the results.
5 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 22.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT COONEY: The
7 ruling of the chair stands, and the bill-in-chief
8 is before the house.
9 Senator Martins, why do you rise?
10 SENATOR MARTINS: Mr. President, I
11 was wondering if the sponsor would yield for a
12 few questions.
13 ACTING PRESIDENT COONEY: Would the
14 sponsor yield?
15 SENATOR KAVANAGH: Happily,
16 Mr. President.
17 ACTING PRESIDENT COONEY: The
18 sponsor yields.
19 SENATOR MARTINS: Thank you,
20 Mr. President. Mr. President, through you.
21 Would you tell us what the median
22 income is for a household in Battery Park City?
23 SENATOR KAVANAGH: Through you,
24 Mr. President. I don't have the current latest
25 data from the most recent census available to me,
2017
1 but I think it is roughly about $200,000 per year
2 for the 16,000 residents of Battery Park City.
3 SENATOR MARTINS: Mr. President,
4 through you, if the sponsor would continue to
5 yield.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT COONEY: Will the
7 sponsor yield?
8 SENATOR KAVANAGH: Yes,
9 Mr. President.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT COONEY: The
11 sponsor yields.
12 SENATOR MARTINS: So the median
13 income, household income for Battery Park City is
14 $228,000. And the average household income for
15 Battery Park City, the average income per
16 household is $355,000.
17 So through you, Mr. President, if
18 the sponsor would yield.
19 ACTING PRESIDENT COONEY: Does the
20 sponsor yield?
21 SENATOR KAVANAGH: Through you,
22 Mr. President, I didn't hear a question there.
23 But I'll yield to respond to those
24 comments, just to be clear that this bill does
25 not -- this bill only affects people by its own
2018
1 terms at a lower income than the average or the
2 median income in Battery Park City.
3 ACTING PRESIDENT COONEY: The
4 sponsor has yielded.
5 SENATOR MARTINS: Thank you,
6 Mr. President.
7 And so I do understand that it does
8 affect a certain bandwidth. But I wanted the
9 chamber to understand the income that we're
10 talking about for households within this
11 particular area of your district.
12 Through you, Mr. President. Does
13 the sponsor know what the median income is for
14 the average household in Manhattan?
15 SENATOR KAVANAGH: Through you,
16 Mr. President, I've seen those numbers. I don't
17 tend to look at that as a Manhattan -- as a
18 Manhattan figure.
19 The median income that this bill is
20 premised on is the AMI for the New York
21 metropolitan area, and that number for a
22 single-person household is about $120,000 and --
23 a little less than $120,000. And it is typically
24 adjusted for household size upwards for
25 households with more people in them.
2019
1 SENATOR MARTINS: Through you,
2 Mr. President, if the sponsor would continue to
3 yield.
4 ACTING PRESIDENT COONEY: Will the
5 sponsor yield?
6 SENATOR KAVANAGH: Yes,
7 Mr. President.
8 ACTING PRESIDENT COONEY: The
9 sponsor yields.
10 SENATOR MARTINS: Are you aware of
11 any state assistance that has been provided to
12 Battery Park City, either for capital or
13 otherwise, that has been approved by this chamber
14 or by the state for Battery Park City
15 specifically?
16 SENATOR KAVANAGH: Through you,
17 Mr. President. The Battery Park City is an
18 unusual entity. It is a state authority that
19 controls the property in Battery Park City. In
20 addition to those 16,000 or so residents, it also
21 has very large corporate properties, commercial
22 properties. And it generally covers its own
23 expenses.
24 We have in this chamber approved --
25 we have to. As an authority, we have to approve
2020
1 their borrowing authority. So we've approved
2 very substantial amounts of borrowing for the
3 authority in recent years.
4 There's not a lot of state direct
5 taxpayer subsidy going to Battery Park City. And
6 I would also note that this bill has no --
7 effectively will have no cost whatsoever for
8 state taxpayers.
9 SENATOR MARTINS: Thank you.
10 Mr. President, if the sponsor will
11 continue to yield.
12 ACTING PRESIDENT COONEY: Does the
13 sponsor yield?
14 SENATOR KAVANAGH: Yes,
15 Mr. President.
16 ACTING PRESIDENT COONEY: The
17 Senator yields.
18 SENATOR MARTINS: Are you aware
19 that according to Freddie Mac the 150 percent of
20 AMI in Battery Park City is $187,050?
21 SENATOR KAVANAGH: Through you,
22 Mr. President, the median -- I'm not going to
23 dispute that figure. I don't have that figure
24 before me because it's not relevant to this bill.
25 I mean, it's not relevant to the way this bill
2021
1 would operate.
2 This bill operates on the area
3 median income, which is calculated on a
4 metropolitan-area basis, and the bill
5 specifically refers to that median income as the
6 median income that this bill -- that the
7 eligibility for households are calculated in this
8 bill. And that number is, again, 150 percent of
9 AMI.
10 Currently in New York City the
11 metropolitan area is $170,000. That's the
12 150 percent number for -- that would be relevant
13 to this bill for a single-person household. And
14 again, as I said, the bill adjusts that for
15 household size upward if there are more residents
16 in a particular household.
17 SENATOR MARTINS: Mr. President,
18 through you, if the sponsor would continue to
19 yield.
20 ACTING PRESIDENT COONEY: Will the
21 sponsor yield?
22 SENATOR KAVANAGH: Yes,
23 Mr. President.
24 ACTING PRESIDENT COONEY: The
25 sponsor yields.
2022
1 SENATOR MARTINS: Are you aware
2 that the typical band of AMI for affordability --
3 as, frankly, confirmed by DHCR even during our
4 hearings, budget hearings -- is somewhere between
5 60 and 80 percent of AMI for affordability in
6 terms of identifying a group for which we
7 normally provide either assistance or support?
8 Are you familiar with that?
9 SENATOR KAVANAGH: Through you,
10 Mr. President, that's false.
11 SENATOR MARTINS: Okay.
12 Mr. President --
13 SENATOR KAVANAGH: Through you, if
14 I may elaborate, we have many programs that
15 subsidize affordability at all kinds of income
16 levels. In this chamber we have approved tax
17 breaks for developers to build housing that --
18 where the affordable units that they must provide
19 are sometimes up to 165 percent of AMI or
20 130 percent of AMI.
21 In this case we're providing -- what
22 this bill does, which we haven't gotten to, is
23 basically freeze the portion of somebody's
24 housing costs that are a result of the ground
25 rent that their building is paying to the state
2023
1 authority that the Battery Park City Authority
2 is, and that money, the surplus of the
3 Battery Park City Authority, all of it goes to
4 the City of New York.
5 So as I think my colleague is quite
6 aware, the City of New York has a wide range of
7 programs to subsidize affordability for
8 middle-class families to continue to live in
9 various parts of the city, and this is one such
10 program.
11 SENATOR MARTINS: Thank you.
12 Mr. President, thank you. I want to
13 thank the sponsor as well.
14 On the bill.
15 ACTING PRESIDENT COONEY: Senator
16 Martins on the bill.
17 SENATOR MARTINS: So,
18 Mr. President, here we are again. We have an
19 area of Lower Manhattan, widely considered to be
20 one of the most affluent areas of the entire
21 city, if not the entire state. Average income
22 for the households is $345,000. Median income,
23 $228,000.
24 And we're not talking about helping
25 people who are trying to make ends meet, trying
2024
1 to support a family on limited income, we're just
2 trying to figure out how do we keep affluent
3 people living in their homes and in their
4 communities in the sponsor's district.
5 For context, in the Bronx the median
6 household income is $50,000 -- actually, less
7 than $50,000. In Brooklyn, it's less than
8 $85,000. In Queens, less than $85,000. In
9 Staten Island, $95,000. Manhattan, about
10 $106,000.
11 But we're going to make a decision
12 in this body that we're going to actually
13 subsidize or allow for a redistribution in an
14 authority that is run by New York State for the
15 benefit of people who are making less than
16 $187,000. Mr. President, I think that's bad
17 public policy.
18 Now, if we were sitting here talking
19 about providing relief to people on limited
20 incomes in some of these other areas that I just
21 mentioned, yeah, let's have that discussion.
22 Let's help people who actually need and are
23 struggling to provide housing for themselves and
24 their families, struggling to make ends meet.
25 This isn't it.
2025
1 So let's substitute Battery Park
2 City for Scarsdale or Rye, where the median
3 income is $224,000, and this place would probably
4 be up in arms. This is no different. Why are we
5 making an exception? And why would this body sit
6 here and consider making an exception for a very
7 specific, very affluent area of New York City?
8 For context, area median income or
9 average household income in Binghamton, $46,000.
10 Rochester, $47,000. Buffalo, $50,000. Syracuse,
11 $47,000. Albany, $60,000. Yonkers, $85,000.
12 That's where people need help.
13 Sixty percent, 80 percent of AMI,
14 you want to talk about helping people stay in
15 their homes, support their families, provide
16 state resources for it? Sure, let's have that
17 discussion.
18 You've often heard me talk about, on
19 this floor, the need for us to means-test
20 housing. This is an example. Why is this the
21 priority? At a time when we don't have a budget
22 yet -- it's April 1st -- at a time when we're
23 raising spending across the board by nearly
24 $17 billion year over year, why are we sitting in
25 this chamber considering a bill that's just going
2026
1 to help some of the most affluent people in
2 New York City continue to stay in those very
3 homes?
4 If they can't afford it, you know
5 what we do? Many people in my community, we
6 downsize. Many people who lose -- you know, they
7 have their families move on, their kids go on,
8 they move to an apartment, they downsize to a
9 smaller house.
10 But with the Battery Park City
11 Authority, you know what we're going to do?
12 We're going to provide them with state subsidies
13 for capital because they need help, because it's
14 a special place and it's an authority.
15 But think about what we're doing
16 here. You want to talk about developers and
17 incentivizing developers to build more housing?
18 Sure. We've got to give them a set-aside of up
19 to 120 percent, 125 percent.
20 But when we talk about affordable
21 housing, certainly in my district, and we go and
22 seek help, whether it's a PILOT or something
23 else, it's 80 percent. Sometimes it's
24 60 percent. But I guess when we go into areas of
25 New York City, it's 150 percent.
2027
1 And yet we come back in here time
2 and time again and talk about the affordability
3 crisis and the need we have to get together and
4 make a difference for those people who are
5 struggling to make ends meet -- this isn't them.
6 So, Mr. President, I'll be voting
7 no. I've got to tell you, I know that we're
8 going to hear about how this is all
9 self-enclosed, that they're actually going to be
10 redistributing it themselves. That this is
11 actually a subsidy that doesn't involve any
12 expense for the taxpayers.
13 It's a state authority. The state
14 set it up. The state structured it. Just a
15 couple of years ago we were here talking about
16 the need for capital. We were all asked to
17 support a bill to put money into the Battery
18 Park Authority in order to pay for capital
19 improvements.
20 But here we are. They must be
21 flush, because they have the ability and the
22 extra money to actually provide for this.
23 So come from a community where the
24 average income is $50,000 or $60,000? Ask
25 yourself why this is necessary and why you would
2028
1 possibly vote for something like this. You're
2 probably all going to vote for it anyway, but
3 think about it.
4 I vote nay.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT COONEY: Are there
6 any other Senators wishing to be heard?
7 Seeing and hearing none, debate is
8 now closed.
9 The Secretary will ring the bell.
10 SENATOR GIANARIS: Mr. President,
11 we've agreed to restore this bill to the
12 noncontroversial calendar.
13 ACTING PRESIDENT COONEY: The bill
14 will be restored to the noncontroversial
15 calendar.
16 Read the last section.
17 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
18 act shall take effect immediately.
19 ACTING PRESIDENT COONEY: Call the
20 roll.
21 (The Secretary called the roll.)
22 ACTING PRESIDENT COONEY: Senator
23 Helming to explain her vote.
24 SENATOR HELMING: Thank you,
25 Mr. President.
2029
1 The bill before us creates a housing
2 rebate that's limited to certain homeowners and
3 renters in one small area of New York City. But
4 the reality, as we all know, is housing
5 affordability isn't just a Battery Park issue,
6 it's a statewide issue.
7 Like so many people in this chamber,
8 I've heard the concerns from our young people who
9 are struggling to afford to buy or to rent their
10 first home. And I've heard from so many seniors
11 who are worried about being forced out of their
12 lifelong homes because of the state mandates that
13 are driving up property taxes and utility costs.
14 But the good news, Mr. President, is
15 I have a housing affordability package that
16 includes real solutions to make housing more
17 affordable and more attainable for people across
18 the entire state.
19 Legislation that includes help for
20 first-time homebuyers, incentivizes new
21 construction, offsets the infrastructure costs
22 needed to build new homes -- you know,
23 Mr. President, you and I in our districts are
24 struggling with the lack of electric capacity.
25 Legislation that encourages the
2030
1 renovation of existing properties by providing
2 relief from increasing property assessments.
3 These are real, practical, statewide
4 solutions to reduce costs and expand housing
5 opportunities, and I am frustrated that they've
6 been sitting in committees for years. These are
7 good solutions that should be considered.
8 The bill before us does not consider
9 statewide impact, so for that reason I vote no.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT COONEY: Senator
11 Helming to be recorded in the negative.
12 Senator Gianaris to explain his
13 vote.
14 SENATOR GIANARIS: Thank you,
15 Mr. President.
16 I was quite heartened to hear
17 Senator Martins' assault on those who are doing
18 too well in this state and in fact have no need
19 for government assistance. In fact, if I'm not
20 mistaken, his district is one of the wealthiest
21 in the state.
22 And so I would encourage him to be
23 consistent with what he just said and support
24 what we are trying to do and actually ask for
25 more from those people.
2031
1 If he's so concerned that there are
2 people who are doing so well that we shouldn't
3 think about what they might need -- they're
4 flush, I think was the word that he used -- he
5 represents many, many flush New Yorkers. And
6 perhaps the best way to deal with the problem
7 that he identified is to ask them to give a
8 little more so we can truly help those who are
9 genuinely in need in this state.
10 I vote yes, Mr. President. Thank
11 you.
12 ACTING PRESIDENT COONEY: Senator
13 Gianaris to be recorded in the affirmative.
14 Senator Kavanagh to explain his
15 vote.
16 SENATOR KAVANAGH: Thank you,
17 Mr. President.
18 I just wanted to clarify a few of
19 the things that have been said here on the floor
20 today.
21 First of all, on the notion that the
22 state is subsidizing the Battery Park City
23 Authority and the capital subsidies were proposed
24 for improvements to Battery Park City, the
25 capital subsidies that we have authorized but not
2032
1 paid for, through state law, are to do the very
2 expensive resiliency projects that are intended
3 to protect all of Lower Manhattan from the kind
4 of catastrophic damage that we saw during Sandy.
5 This -- in order to protect
6 Lower Manhattan, we need to basically address the
7 waterfront all the way around, basically for all
8 of my district, but down the Hudson River, around
9 the Battery, and up the East Side.
10 And the City of New York, mostly
11 through city capital dollars, are spending many
12 billions of dollars to do that. And what we
13 authorized is the Battery Park City to borrow
14 money against its own revenue -- not the
15 state's -- which is mostly generated by rents
16 paid for by the people who live in that space,
17 who then are going to pay back the bonds for
18 capital subsidies that will do the resilience
19 projects necessary to prevent catastrophic
20 flooding throughout Lower Manhattan, as we saw in
21 Sandy.
22 There is not a substantial amount of
23 state subsidy going into Battery Park City in
24 general. In fact, very nearly -- like I can't
25 think of a state taxpayer subsidy that goes
2033
1 directly to Battery Park City.
2 The second thing is just -- and I
3 referenced this before, but all of the surplus
4 revenue of the Battery Park City Authority goes
5 to the City of New York. So if you're worried
6 your taxpayers will be paying for any portion of
7 this, this is entirely going to be a financial
8 transaction that will address -- will have a very
9 minor increase in the city's revenue and no
10 increase in the tax burden of any New Yorker who
11 doesn't live in New York City.
12 The total estimated cost of a bill
13 like this, it varies, because it's hard to know
14 how many people will take it up and how many
15 people will be eligible. But roughly we're
16 talking about the Battery Park City Authority
17 waiving about half a million dollars in rent
18 payments.
19 These are ground rent payments.
20 They still will pay rent on their apartments.
21 They'll pay payments in lieu of taxes, they'll
22 pay other things. They will not pay an increase
23 in the ground rent that their building pays --
24 which are going up very rapidly because, as my
25 colleague noted, Manhattan has become a very
2034
1 desirable place to live in recent years.
2 Most of the people who are
3 recipients of this are people who went to
4 Battery Park City when it was not such a
5 desirable place. The people who are
6 recipients -- when you make $140,000 in my
7 district, you are not a wealthy person. Sorry,
8 but the figure is slightly larger than that.
9 But the kinds of people that are
10 paying this are teachers, they are firefighters,
11 they are people making what we consider
12 middle-class incomes.
13 The idea that somehow it would be
14 beneficial to people in the Bronx to price those
15 people out so that the millionaires my colleagues
16 are talking about can move into their apartments,
17 is an odd one, to say the least.
18 For perspective, the Battery Park
19 City Authority's operating revenue is
20 $445 million a year. Again, a great percentage
21 of that goes directly to the City of New York.
22 And again, the total cost of this bill would vary
23 somewhere in the range of half a million to a
24 million dollars a year, or about $1 or $2 per
25 thousand dollars of revenue of the Battery Park
2035
1 City Authority.
2 So this is not going to break the
3 bank. It is subsidizing middle-class people. I,
4 for one, think it's important that we continue to
5 make sure middle-class people can live in all of
6 our neighborhoods, not just on the outskirts of
7 our cities.
8 And I vote aye. Thank you.
9 ACTING PRESIDENT COONEY: Senator
10 Kavanagh to be recorded in the affirmative.
11 Senator Martins to explain his vote.
12 SENATOR MARTINS: Thank you,
13 Mr. President.
14 I do represent what I consider to be
15 the best district in New York State, the
16 Northern Shore of Nassau County. And yes,
17 Senator Gianaris, it is an affluent district and
18 it has wealth there.
19 But this bill doesn't involve the
20 North Shore of Nassau County, Mr. President. It
21 involves Battery Park City.
22 And if we're going to talk about
23 paying their share, I can tell you that the
24 hundred billion dollars in additional state
25 spending that has been imposed on all
2036
1 New Yorkers, including the people in my district,
2 by the Majority in this house over the last
3 eight years is significant. That's $100 billion
4 that was pulled out of the New York State
5 economy, including the residents of my district.
6 So yes, they have contributed --
7 probably more than they should, but so has each
8 and every one of your community members. Every
9 person, when you do the math, is paying. Every
10 person is paying $5,000-plus more per year today
11 because of the additional spending that this
12 state has incurred over the last eight years. A
13 family of four, between $20,000 and $25,000.
14 So yes, Senator Gianaris, they are
15 paying. My district, your district, every other
16 district. And that's why I'm opposing it, and I
17 continue to oppose the incredible increases that
18 are being suggested by this body, irresponsible
19 increases that are being supported by this
20 Majority.
21 And I continue to vote no on this
22 bill.
23 Thank you, Mr. President.
24 ACTING PRESIDENT COONEY: Senator
25 Martins to be recorded in the negative.
2037
1 Senator Salazar to explain her vote.
2 SENATOR SALAZAR: Thank you,
3 Mr. President.
4 I wanted to speak a little bit to
5 this idea that there should be more means-testing
6 in affordable housing. We already of course use
7 means-testing quite a lot in affordable housing
8 policy. We use it for Section 8 vouchers. We
9 use means-testing in determining eligibility to
10 live in public housing, to live in other projects
11 that have an affordability component.
12 Means-testing in even broader
13 strokes, such as when a renter applies for a
14 rent-stabilized apartment or seeks to live in
15 rent-regulated housing, is bad public policy.
16 Practically speaking, it would be a
17 nightmare to actually implement. But it would
18 also serve to exclude more people from housing in
19 a time when we should absolutely not be
20 interested in doing that. But also, it does
21 nothing to increase housing supply.
22 And to this idea that we have
23 rent-stabilized or rent-regulated renters who are
24 wealthy Manhattanites exploiting the system,
25 we -- based on 2023 data from the Furman Center,
2038
1 we know that the median rent-stabilized household
2 income in New York City is about $50,000 to
3 $55,000 annually. That is not a wealthy person,
4 certainly not in New York City. And they are
5 demonstrably typically very rent-burdened.
6 So I really appreciate
7 Senator Kavanagh's commitment to Battery Park
8 City residents and also to ensuring that we have
9 permanently affordable housing in New York City
10 and in our state.
11 Thanks.
12 ACTING PRESIDENT COONEY: Senator
13 Salazar to be recorded in the affirmative.
14 Announce the results.
15 THE SECRETARY: In relation to
16 Calendar 583, voting in the negative are
17 Senators Ashby, Borrello, Canzoneri-Fitzpatrick,
18 Chan, Gallivan, Griffo, Helming, Lanza, Martins,
19 Mattera, Murray, Oberacker, O'Mara, Ortt,
20 Palumbo, Rhoads, Rolison, Stec, Tedisco, Walczyk,
21 Weber and Weik.
22 Ayes, 38. Nays, 22.
23 ACTING PRESIDENT COONEY: The bill
24 is passed.
25 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
2039
1 605, Senate Print 8046A, by Senator Bynoe, an act
2 to amend the Emergency Tenant Protection Act.
3 ACTING PRESIDENT COONEY: Senator
4 Martins, why do you rise?
5 SENATOR MARTINS: Mr. President, if
6 the sponsor would yield for a few questions.
7 ACTING PRESIDENT COONEY: Will the
8 sponsor yield?
9 SENATOR BYNOE: Yes, Mr. President.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT COONEY: The
11 sponsor yields.
12 SENATOR MARTINS: Thank you. Thank
13 you, Senator Bynoe.
14 Can you tell us -- how many units
15 are we talking about that would be covered by
16 this bill outside of New York City?
17 SENATOR BYNOE: Through you,
18 Mr. President, I don't have the number of units.
19 SENATOR MARTINS: Through you,
20 Mr. President, if the sponsor would continue to
21 yield.
22 ACTING PRESIDENT COONEY: Will the
23 sponsor yield?
24 SENATOR BYNOE: Yes.
25 ACTING PRESIDENT COONEY: The
2040
1 sponsor yields.
2 SENATOR MARTINS: So has this bill
3 been introduced at the request of DHCR?
4 SENATOR BYNOE: Through you,
5 Mr. President, no.
6 SENATOR MARTINS: Through you,
7 Mr. President, if the sponsor would continue to
8 yield.
9 ACTING PRESIDENT COONEY: Will the
10 sponsor yield? Does the sponsor yield?
11 SENATOR BYNOE: Yes.
12 ACTING PRESIDENT COONEY: The
13 sponsor yields.
14 SENATOR MARTINS: So does DHCR
15 support the bill? Have they indicated or have
16 you asked them whether or not they support
17 committing resources from DHCR in this way?
18 SENATOR BYNOE: No, I did not --
19 sorry. Through you, Mr. President, I did not
20 confer with DHCR.
21 SENATOR MARTINS: Through you,
22 Mr. President, if the sponsor will continue to
23 yield.
24 ACTING PRESIDENT COONEY: Will the
25 sponsor yield?
2041
1 SENATOR BYNOE: Yes.
2 ACTING PRESIDENT COONEY: The
3 sponsor yields.
4 SENATOR MARTINS: So do you have or
5 have you calculated how much additional funding
6 would be necessary through DHCR for them to be
7 able to do this level of enforcement on units
8 outside of New York City?
9 SENATOR BYNOE: Through you,
10 Mr. President, we have requested that DHCR review
11 up to 5 percent of those units outside of
12 New York City, and we have estimated around
13 $5 million for that activity.
14 SENATOR MARTINS: Through you,
15 Mr. President, if the sponsor would continue to
16 yield.
17 ACTING PRESIDENT COONEY: Will the
18 sponsor yield?
19 SENATOR BYNOE: Yes.
20 ACTING PRESIDENT COONEY: The
21 sponsor yields.
22 SENATOR MARTINS: So would that be
23 $5 million in addition to what they spend right
24 now currently on doing IAI enforcement? Or would
25 that be $5 million total for DHCR to do that,
2042
1 including the units that they have in New York
2 City?
3 SENATOR BYNOE: It would be
4 $5 million additional.
5 Through you, Mr. President, I'm
6 sorry. Through you, Mr. President.
7 SENATOR MARTINS: Through you,
8 Mr. President, if the sponsor will continue to
9 yield.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT COONEY: Will the
11 sponsor yield?
12 SENATOR BYNOE: Yes.
13 ACTING PRESIDENT COONEY: The
14 sponsor yields.
15 SENATOR MARTINS: Are you aware
16 that the current budget for DHCR for this is
17 about $5.6 million in last year's budget and
18 continues to be about $5.6 million in this year's
19 budget -- that is, not only in the Governor's
20 proposed budget but in the Senate one-house, for
21 all of their IAI inspections in the city, outside
22 of the city, all in, $5.6 million for this work?
23 SENATOR BYNOE: Through you,
24 Mr. President. What I am aware of is that in the
25 Village of Hempstead, the landlords in that space
2043
1 have been alleged to have provided improvements
2 that did not materialize. So much so that the
3 Rent Guidelines Board in Nassau County did not
4 allow for increases in the Village of Hempstead.
5 And the conditions that were
6 illustrated and exemplified by residents in the
7 Village of Hempstead were in poor conditions,
8 they were in squalor, there was evidence of
9 rodent infestation, hazards in terms of
10 electrical appliances and the like.
11 So this is in the interest of safety
12 for the residents that are residing in those
13 rent-regulated apartments. It's a matter of
14 ensuring that we detect incidences of willful
15 overcharging, and it's in the interest of making
16 sure that we deter bad actors from preying on
17 people who are reliant on them for the assurance
18 of decent and affordable housing.
19 SENATOR MARTINS: Through you,
20 Mr. President, if the sponsor will continue to
21 yield.
22 ACTING PRESIDENT COONEY: Will the
23 sponsor yield?
24 SENATOR BYNOE: Yes.
25 ACTING PRESIDENT COONEY: The
2044
1 sponsor yields.
2 SENATOR MARTINS: Aside from the
3 community or the Village of Hempstead, I
4 understand there are other communities not only
5 in Nassau County but also in Westchester County
6 and others, and villages and cities that have
7 rent-stabilized units.
8 And so this 5 percent figure that
9 you have for units outside of New York City,
10 without a sense of how many units those are, do
11 you have a calculation of how many people you
12 would need or DHCR would need to have in order to
13 conduct an audit of those units sufficient to be
14 able to meet the need of this bill?
15 SENATOR BYNOE: Through you,
16 Mr. President. It would be the requirement of
17 the division to create the programmatic
18 guidelines and to be able to fulfill the
19 obligations of this bill.
20 SENATOR MARTINS: Through you,
21 Mr. President, if the sponsor would continue to
22 yield.
23 ACTING PRESIDENT COONEY: Will the
24 sponsor yield?
25 SENATOR BYNOE: Yes.
2045
1 ACTING PRESIDENT COONEY: The
2 sponsor yields.
3 SENATOR MARTINS: Has there been a
4 commitment made to fund the budget to provide the
5 resources necessary in order to be able to -- for
6 DHCR to be able to hire people sufficient to be
7 able to do the task?
8 Or -- or is DHCR going to be
9 expected to take those people who are currently
10 doing this work from the work perhaps within
11 New York City and dedicate those resources
12 outside of New York City in order to meet the
13 needs of this bill?
14 SENATOR BYNOE: Through you,
15 Mr. President. In response to the question
16 regarding whether they would have to shift their
17 resources within the division to be able to
18 achieve this, again, we will leave -- they're a
19 capable agency that we will rely on to carry out
20 the programmatic and procedural requirements of
21 this bill.
22 SENATOR MARTINS: Thank you.
23 Through you, Mr. President, if the
24 sponsor will continue to yield.
25 ACTING PRESIDENT COONEY: Will the
2046
1 sponsor yield?
2 SENATOR BYNOE: Yes.
3 ACTING PRESIDENT COONEY: The
4 sponsor yields.
5 SENATOR MARTINS: So as I
6 understand it, the purpose of the bill is that
7 there's audits every time a unit is --
8 improvements are made to an individual unit.
9 Are you familiar with the audit
10 process, how these audits are conducted and
11 whether or not currently those audits include
12 visits to the unit itself or whether it's a
13 review of paperwork that is submitted to DHCR?
14 SENATOR BYNOE: Through you,
15 Mr. President. Currently there isn't a
16 requirement for physical inspection. This bill
17 would require the physical inspection of those
18 units.
19 SENATOR MARTINS: Thank you.
20 Through you, Mr. President, if the
21 sponsor would continue to yield.
22 ACTING PRESIDENT COONEY: Will the
23 sponsor yield?
24 SENATOR BYNOE: Yes.
25 ACTING PRESIDENT COONEY: The
2047
1 sponsor yields.
2 SENATOR MARTINS: Through the bill
3 there's a determination of willfulness in terms
4 of an unsubstantiated claim being interpreted as
5 being willful.
6 Before there's a determination, is
7 there an opportunity for the property owner to
8 supplement, provide further information or, if
9 there's a discrepancy in the document itself,
10 that that will actually trigger the additional
11 inspections that -- to all of the other units
12 that they have?
13 So what -- where is that trigger
14 specifically, if you could.
15 SENATOR BYNOE: Through you,
16 Mr. President. Again, it will be the requirement
17 of the division to determine whether there is a
18 willful act or there is in some, you know, other
19 means a discrepancy that was inadvertent, they
20 will determine what threshold would determine
21 whether someone was willfully overcharging.
22 SENATOR MARTINS: Through you,
23 Mr. President, if the sponsor would continue to
24 yield.
25 ACTING PRESIDENT COONEY: Does the
2048
1 sponsor yield?
2 SENATOR BYNOE: Yes.
3 ACTING PRESIDENT COONEY: The
4 sponsor yields.
5 SENATOR MARTINS: So just to be
6 clear, the language of the bill says if the audit
7 finds that the recoverable costs claimed by the
8 landlord cannot be substantiated, the resulting
9 overcharge shall be considered to be willful.
10 And so to be clear, and just so we
11 can create the record, there is then the
12 opportunity for the landlord to supplement,
13 provide resources or provide additional
14 information before there is a determination of
15 willfulness.
16 SENATOR BYNOE: Through you,
17 Mr. President, yes. The division would need to
18 create a process to which a landlord would be
19 able to ask for an appeal or provide supplemental
20 information.
21 SENATOR MARTINS: Through you,
22 Mr. President, if the sponsor will continue to
23 yield.
24 ACTING PRESIDENT COONEY: Does the
25 sponsor yield?
2049
1 SENATOR BYNOE: Yes.
2 ACTING PRESIDENT COONEY: The
3 sponsor yields.
4 SENATOR MARTINS: So I'm glad you
5 brought up the appeal aspect of it, because
6 naturally it's going to be my next question.
7 What is the appeal process? So if
8 there's a disagreement between the person
9 conducting the audit and the landlord such that
10 they believe that they have provided the
11 information but the interpretation of DHCR is
12 that they haven't, to whom do they appeal?
13 SENATOR BYNOE: Through you,
14 Mr. President. The division would create the
15 policies and procedures that would be required
16 based on this law.
17 So they would actually be able to
18 detail that specifically so that each landlord
19 would understand their opportunity for
20 due process.
21 SENATOR MARTINS: Through you,
22 Mr. President, if the sponsor would continue to
23 yield.
24 ACTING PRESIDENT COONEY: Will the
25 sponsor yield?
2050
1 SENATOR BYNOE: Yes.
2 ACTING PRESIDENT COONEY: The
3 sponsor yields.
4 SENATOR MARTINS: So just so we
5 understand this, the -- DHCR would itself decide
6 the appeal?
7 So the appeal would effectively be
8 to DHCR or someone in DHCR, perhaps a supervisor
9 or someone else, but effectively would remain
10 within the agency to make that determination and
11 not someone outside of the agency to take an
12 appeal.
13 SENATOR BYNOE: Through you,
14 Mr. President, correct.
15 SENATOR MARTINS: Through you,
16 Mr. President, if the sponsor would continue to
17 yield.
18 ACTING PRESIDENT COONEY: Will the
19 sponsor yield?
20 SENATOR BYNOE: Yes.
21 ACTING PRESIDENT COONEY: The
22 sponsor yields.
23 SENATOR MARTINS: And so if there
24 is a determination that it was willful, and they
25 took an appeal and it was confirmed that it was
2051
1 willful, this bill would require, then, DHCR to
2 do a search of all of the properties that that
3 particular owner had outside of New York City,
4 right?
5 SENATOR BYNOE: Correct. Or
6 through you -- sorry, Mr. President. Through
7 you, correct.
8 SENATOR MARTINS: Through you,
9 Mr. President, if the sponsor would continue to
10 yield.
11 ACTING PRESIDENT COONEY: Will the
12 sponsor yield?
13 SENATOR BYNOE: Yes.
14 ACTING PRESIDENT COONEY: The
15 sponsor yields.
16 SENATOR MARTINS: So I know that
17 there are 1.2 million rent-stabilized units
18 within New York City. And I know that DHCR has
19 this responsibility to audit those units within
20 New York City with a budget line of
21 $5.67 million, and of that, the personnel line is
22 only $2.7 million.
23 So with those many units inside of
24 New York City and the limited number of units
25 outside of New York City -- I believe that in the
2052
1 Village of Hempstead it's probably about
2 6500 units, and I believe that in places like
3 Garden City Plaza in the Village of Mineola and
4 some other villages within our respective
5 districts, you know, there may be other
6 rent-stabilized housing units.
7 Do you have concerns whether DHCR is
8 going to have the means, resources, personnel and
9 the mechanisms to be able to effectively
10 implement this bill, if it's passed, and whether
11 or not that would come at the expense of being
12 able to do it in other parts of the state where
13 it currently provides those services?
14 SENATOR BYNOE: Through you,
15 Mr. President, we are currently in a budget
16 process, and this is an opportunity for us to
17 have those discussions and vet out the ability
18 for the division to be able to carry out these
19 activities, and what funds would be required.
20 SENATOR MARTINS: Mr. President,
21 thank you. Senator Bynoe, thank you.
22 On the bill.
23 ACTING PRESIDENT COONEY: Senator
24 Martins on the bill.
25 SENATOR MARTINS: I want to
2053
1 thank -- I want to thank the sponsor for the
2 bill. I want to thank the sponsor for this
3 attempt. But Mr. President, I'm concerned that
4 the bill, frankly, misses the mark.
5 If we're going to go down this road
6 and we're going to hold bad actors responsible, I
7 think absolutely, I'm with you a hundred percent,
8 let's go after those landlords who are not
9 providing proper housing and resources and let's
10 make sure we hold them accountable. But let's
11 make sure that DHCR has the wherewithal and the
12 ability to do just that.
13 You know, when we talk about
14 5 percent of the units, we talk about then
15 willfulness and then triggering even more
16 inspections -- you know, by my estimation, if you
17 have a personnel line in a budget of a little
18 over $2 million, I think that accounts for about
19 20 people.
20 If we have those 20 people doing
21 inspections right now, the bulk of
22 rent-stabilized housing in the state is in
23 New York City, and they're expected to do it
24 statewide, not just in New York City. And now
25 we're going to dedicate resources outside of the
2054
1 city to other places and require actual on-site
2 inspections and then require, in the event of
3 willfulness, that they have to do further
4 inspections of all those other units -- it's not
5 going to happen for the $5.7 million that's in
6 the budget.
7 And I haven't seen the one-house
8 from this Majority adjust it to account for the
9 additional resources and funds that are going to
10 be necessary to actually make this work.
11 So I would urge my colleagues who
12 are concerned, hopefully as much as I am, that
13 there may be resources out there that need to be
14 targeted somewhere, put it here. And don't just
15 vote on a bill in order to require DHCR to go do
16 something without putting the resources behind it
17 that's necessary for that to happen.
18 I would ask that you consider also,
19 target those bad actors that are out there.
20 Understand that if there is a discrepancy in
21 documentation that's provided, make sure that
22 that documentation is substantiated and warrants
23 it. Because there is no criteria here. It could
24 be an inconsequential amount, or it could be a
25 significant amount.
2055
1 But the reality I think we all
2 should arrive at, all of us, is that we want to
3 incentivize property owners and landlords to
4 actually maintain their buildings. We want to
5 give them the opportunity, through policy, to be
6 able to invest back in their buildings.
7 And to have that discussion we have
8 to kind of look at policies that have been passed
9 in this chamber that have made it difficult, if
10 not sometimes impossible, for landlords to make
11 ends meet.
12 Hold them accountable. But let's
13 reevaluate some of the policies that have been
14 passed in this chamber. The difficult process
15 that we put before our landlords for removing
16 tenants, and how long it takes for them to do so
17 not receiving rents at all, and the cost that
18 that has to a landlord in their ability to
19 reinvest in those buildings as well.
20 Now, we all think -- or at least
21 some people in this chamber think that anyone who
22 owns a building has got to be rich. They've got
23 to be filthy rich, Mr. President. And so they've
24 got money, they can absorb the hit from not being
25 able to collect rent from tenants.
2056
1 But the reality is they collect
2 those rents and the good ones, or even the
3 average ones, invest back in those buildings. No
4 one has an interest in owning a building and
5 watching it fall apart.
6 But we create policies in this
7 chamber that prevent people and landlords from
8 being able to actually collect those rents and
9 reinvest them.
10 So let's analyze that. Let's take a
11 look at the things we're doing from a policy
12 standpoint that are preventing our landlords from
13 doing it.
14 I had a landlord recently ask me a
15 question. And maybe, Mr. President,
16 rhetorically, everyone can maybe consider this
17 and think about it. But, you know, they asked:
18 What if I have a tenant, and I do -- this person
19 did -- had a tenant in a building that was up all
20 night making noise, bringing people in and out,
21 disrupting the other tenants, and the landlord
22 couldn't get them out of the building because of
23 laws that have been passed in this chamber.
24 Now, the landlord in this case
25 didn't live in the building, Mr. President, but
2057
1 he couldn't get that person out, which affected
2 all the other tenants in the building, who then
3 decided not to pay rent because their enjoyment
4 and use of their building and their units had
5 been compromised.
6 And so now this landlord had a
7 problem. Because of policies and laws that were
8 passed in this chamber, they no longer had the
9 ability to collect rents. And if they did, and
10 if they wanted to enforce those rights, we've
11 made it so difficult that it takes months if not
12 years to actually go through landlord-tenant
13 court to have somebody removed.
14 So if we're going to talk about
15 reinvesting in buildings and maintaining
16 buildings and making sure that buildings are
17 adequately maintained, let's consider those
18 things that have been done to make it difficult
19 on our landlords and our property owners in order
20 to maintain those buildings as well.
21 So, Mr. President, I'll be voting no
22 on this bill.
23 I am willing and looking forward to
24 working with the sponsor to figure out ways we
25 can actually hold bad actors accountable. But
2058
1 I'd also like to work with the sponsor and my
2 colleagues in this chamber to come up with ways
3 that we can change the bad policies that have
4 been passed in this chamber that have impacted
5 our own property owners and prevented them from
6 actually being able to make ends meet and make
7 the resources available.
8 And sure, if there are people out
9 there who are taking advantage of the system,
10 target them. But unfortunately, the policies in
11 this chamber, Mr. President, have consistently
12 been written with a broad brush. Which means
13 we've impacted every property owner, the good and
14 the bad. And that's a shame.
15 Because we're now seeing the results
16 of those policies. Each and every day we see
17 another bill or another effort where people come
18 up here and protest the fact that they have a
19 conflict with their landlords.
20 Let's make good policy.
21 I'll vote nay.
22 ACTING PRESIDENT COONEY: Are there
23 any other Senators wishing to be heard?
24 Seeing and hearing none, debate is
25 now closed.
2059
1 The Secretary will ring the bell.
2 Senator Gianaris.
3 SENATOR GIANARIS: Mr. President,
4 let's restore this to the noncontroversial
5 calendar as well, please.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT COONEY: The bill
7 will be restored to the noncontroversial
8 calendar.
9 Read the last section.
10 THE SECRETARY: Section 4. This
11 act shall take effect immediately.
12 ACTING PRESIDENT COONEY: Call the
13 roll.
14 (The Secretary called the roll.)
15 ACTING PRESIDENT COONEY: Senator
16 Kavanagh to explain his vote.
17 SENATOR KAVANAGH: Thank you,
18 Mr. President.
19 I just wanted to rise, I'd
20 especially like to thank and compliment the
21 sponsor on a very important piece of legislation
22 today.
23 You know, individual apartment
24 improvements have historically been a real source
25 of risk of improper rent increases and in some
2060
1 cases, well-documented cases, fraud.
2 This bill is a very, very reasonable
3 and modest response to that. Roughly speaking,
4 outside of New York City there are something on
5 the order of 120, maybe 130 or 140 IAI
6 applications per year. There may be roughly per
7 year, in all of Nassau County, about 20 such
8 applications.
9 This bill would require 5 percent of
10 those applications to be audited by HCR. And in
11 the event they find the landlord to be
12 overstating the cost of their own improvements,
13 and using that to increase people's rent, there
14 would then be a penalty of -- the normal penalty
15 that applies when people overcharge their tenants
16 willfully.
17 So again, this is a modest -- we've
18 done a lot to address concerns about IAIs in
19 recent years. This bill is another very positive
20 step forward. And from, you know, working for
21 many years with HCR, I believe this is a bill
22 that they would have ample resources to
23 implement.
24 And this is also a bill that went
25 through the Housing Committee. I know most
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1 members of both houses, both sides of the aisle,
2 have voted for this bill in the past, and I urge
3 them to continue to support this just to make
4 sure that the system continues to have the
5 efficacy that we all need to make it work
6 effectively.
7 And on that, I vote aye.
8 ACTING PRESIDENT COONEY: Senator
9 Kavanagh to be recorded in the affirmative.
10 Announce the results.
11 THE SECRETARY: In relation to
12 Calendar 605, voting in the negative are
13 Senators Borrello, Canzoneri-Fitzpatrick, Chan,
14 Griffo, Helming, Lanza, Martins, Mattera, Murray,
15 O'Mara, Ortt, Palumbo, Rhoads, Stec, Tedisco,
16 Walczyk, Weber and Weik.
17 Ayes, 42. Nays, 18.
18 ACTING PRESIDENT COONEY: The bill
19 is passed.
20 Senator Gianaris, that completes the
21 reading of today's controversial calendar.
22 SENATOR GIANARIS: Is there any
23 further business at the desk?
24 ACTING PRESIDENT COONEY: There is
25 no further business at the desk.
2062
1 SENATOR GIANARIS: I move to
2 adjourn until Tuesday, April 7th, at
3 11:00 a.m. -- early start time next week,
4 colleagues -- intervening days being legislative
5 days.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT COONEY: On
7 motion, the Senate stands adjourned until
8 Tuesday, April 7th, at 11:00 a.m., with the
9 intervening days being legislative days.
10 (Whereupon, at 1:05 p.m., the Senate
11 adjourned.)
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