Carmen N. De La Rosa

This bill would repeal the requirement that the Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) perform X-ray fluorescence (XRF) testing to test for the presence of lead-based paint in dwelling units. Instead, HPD would assume that the paint in the relevant dwelling unit is lead-based paint unless the owner of such dwelling rebuts that presumption. The bill would also require dwelling unit owners to permanently keep all XRF inspection reports and would require HPD to create a publicly accessible database of all XRF inspection reports.

This bill would add to the annual algorithmic tools compliance report to require agencies to report on the impacts of algorithmic tools on city employees and employment responsibilities. Specifically it would require the city to report on the number of employees whose employment status have been impacted by the use of such tool; including the number funded agency positions eliminated due to the use of such tool, the number of funded agency positions for which there was any displacement, the number of salaries changed due to changes in responsibility due to use of such tool, and the number of city employees who were required to undertake any new trainings due to the use of an algorithmic tool.

This bill would allow vendors to place their pushcarts two feet from the curb unless there is an obstruction in or on the sidewalk, in which case it would allow vendors to place their pushcarts as close as possible to the obstruction. Currently, the law requires pushcarts to abut the curb, endangering the safety of vendors who must exit their carts onto the street, and potentially, into oncoming traffic.

This bill would require the Mayor to establish an Office of Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity and Expression (“SOGIE”). The SOGIE Office would promote City programs, and community outreach and education, with respect to issues of concern to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, intersex, asexual, nonbinary, gender nonconforming and other individuals identified by the director of the Office.

This bill would require the commissioner of consumer and worker protection (commissioner) to establish and maintain an online, publicly available database that compiles information related to workplace fatalities that occur in New York City. To facilitate maintenance of such database, this bill would require the chief medical examiner to deliver to the commissioner reports of deaths that, in the chief medical examiner’s judgment, occur as the result of a work-related fatal injury in the workplace. This bill would also require direct employers, contractors, and subcontractors to provide the commissioner with additional information in relation to such deaths. A failure to report such information would be punishable by a civil penalty of no less than $1,000 and no more than $2,500 for each violation.

This bill would repeal the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene’s (DOHMH)’s current permitting system for non-tobacco hookah establishments and replace it with a non-tobacco hookah establishment licensing scheme implemented by the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP). Unlike the current permitting system, the bill would allow new licenses to be granted to establishments that generate half or more of their sales from serving non-tobacco shisha. It would also allow licenses to be granted to restaurants and bars to serve non-tobacco shisha between the hours of 9:00 p.m. and 4:00 a.m. Only people aged 21 and over would be allowed entry into businesses serving non-tobacco shisha, and these businesses would still be subject to existing restrictions on tobacco, nicotine, and cannabis smoke. The bill would also amend the Fire Code and definitions related to hookah in the Administrative Code to reflect this new licensing scheme.

This bill would require the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (“DOHMH”) to post on the department’s website information on best practices for protecting workers from extreme weather

This bill would double the maximum allowable civil penalties for certain violations of the Fair Work Week Law. Employers that violate the Fair Work Week Law for a second time within two years after a first violation could receive a civil penalty of up to $1,500 instead of $750, and for further violations, $2,000 instead of $1,000. The bill would also raise allowable civil penalties in civil actions for a pattern and practice of violations of the Fair Work Week Law to $30,000 from $15,000. Further, the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection may direct the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene to suspend, revoke, deny or refuse to renew a food service establishment permit for employers that: 1) have not satisfied a fine or civil penalty for violating the Fair Work Week Law or the Earned Safe and Sick Time Act; 2) a court has found the employer has engaged in a pattern or practice of violations of the Fair Work Week Law or the Earned Safe and Sick Time Act; or 3) the employer has been ordered to pay an aggregate of $500,000 or more in penalties or monetary relief for violations of the Fair Work Week Law or the Earned Safe and Sick Time Act in a three-year period. This bill would also entitle employees of employers whose food service establishment permits are suspended are revoked to receive a severance for the first 14 days.

This bill would impose minimum standards for the processing of claims for certain benefits offered to municipal employees of New York City, and require the establishment of an online portal through which municipal employees could submit and track their benefits claims, receive information about benefits, and communicate with benefits administrators. This bill would require the New York City Office of Labor Relations (OLR) to submit an annual report on employees’ utilization of such portal and basic data on claims processing by administrators. This bill would also require OLR to create a City Benefits Help Center, which would be responsible for offering information and guidance to employees about the availability and structure of benefits. Finally, this bill would require OLR to design and administer a one-time survey for municipal employees to provide feedback on the substance and administration of benefits.

This bill would raise the fines for operating an all-terrain vehicle in the city. The first offense would be punishable by a fine and/or a civil penalty of at least 375 dollars and up to 750 dollars. Any subsequent offense would be punishable by a fine and/or a civil penalty of at least 750 dollars and up to 1500 dollars.