Shekar Krishnan

This bill would reaffirm the intent of the Council to liberally construe the city human rights law and clarify the interpretation of specific sections of the law as they pertain to punitive damages, mistakenly perceived alcoholism, municipal immunity, individual liability, and the nexus between an unlawful discriminatory practice and the city.

This bill would amend the definitions of harassment in the Housing Maintenance Code to include source of income discrimination as a form of harassment, such that the Department of Housing Preservation and Development would not be permitted to issue a Certification of No Harassment to a property owner, unless the department concludes there has been no source of income discrimination by such property owner in the relevant statutory period.

Under current city law property owners or their agents are required to disclose whether they will obtain a tenant screening report that may report on a prospective tenant’s credit, criminal record, history in housing court, or other factors. If the applicant is denied, the landlord or agent must disclose that the denial was based on such a report and instruct the applicant on how to obtain a copy of the report. This bill would require the landlord or agent to also provide applicants with the criteria they use to reject applicants based on the tenant screening reports.

This bill would require the Department of Education (DOE) to collaborate with the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) to develop materials relating to the importance of dental care and fluoride. DOE would be required to distribute these materials to every student and every parent of each student.

This bill would require the City Commission on Human Rights (CCHR) to impose civil penalties for acts of discrimination based on lawful source of income for housing accommodations. Where CCHR finds such a discriminatory practice, in a multiple dwelling with 1 to 100 units the civil penalty would be $5,000 to $125,000, in a multiple dwelling with 101 to 500 units the civil penalty would be $50,000 to $125,000, and in a multiple dwelling with more than 500 units the civil penalty would be $75,000 to $125,000. Where CCHR finds that such a discriminatory practice results from a willful, wanton or malicious act, in a multiple dwelling with 1 to 100 units the civil penalty would be $10,000 to $250,000, in a multiple dwelling with 101 to 500 units, the civil penalty would be $100,000 to $250,000, and in a multiple dwelling with more than 500 units the civil penalty would be $150,000 to $250,000.

This bill would require the Department of Design and Construction to coordinate with other agencies as appropriate to prepare a strategic blueprint to reduce the duration of capital projects by at least 25 percent. Such blueprint would review, at a minimum, early completion incentives; standardization of processes, timelines, and forms; and agency coordination with utility companies.

Under the New York City Human Rights Law, discrimination based on a lawful source of income is illegal. This bill would clarify that, where a tenant’s housing costs are covered in full or in part by programs like Section 8 or CityFHEPS, prospective landlords may not request, seek access to, or use a tenant’s consumer credit history as a condition to a lease agreement.

This bill would increase the maximum civil penalty that can be imposed for failure to comply with an order issued by the Commission on Human Rights.

This bill would require the inclusion of information about discrimination based on lawful source of income in the online property owner registry. This information would include the amount of any penalties imposed for engaging in source of income discrimination.

This bill would require the Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) to dispatch a team of tenant relocation specialists to a building when a vacate order has been issued.