L.L. 2005/015

Enactment date: 2/15/2005

Int. No. 176-A

By Council Members Comrie, Nelson, Sears and the Speaker (Council Member Miller), Baez, Brewer, Clarke, Felder, Fidler, Gennaro, Gerson, Jackson, Jennings, Katz, Koppell, Lopez, Monserrate, Perkins, Quinn, Reed, Rivera, Sanders, Seabrook, Stewart, Weprin, Yassky, Moskowitz, Addabbo, Barron, Gentile, Martinez, McMahon, Recchia, Liu and The Public Advocate (Ms. Gotbaum)

A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to payday loans.

Be it enacted by the Council as follows:

Section 1. Legislative declaration. The Council finds that certain payday lenders may be unfairly taking advantage of New Yorkers throughout the City. These lenders, which can conduct business as storefront establishments, by mail, electronic, the Internet, or telephonic means, often charge high interest rates and fees for short-term loans. Accordingly, low-income New Yorkers may become trapped in burdensome high-interest loans.

State law and federal regulations, including provisions of the U.S.C.A. and C.F.R., extensively govern the operating procedures and lending requirements of state and federally chartered lending institutions. Further, federal regulations enable state and federally chartered banks to export their home usury caps, if any, to states in which those institutions issue loans.

Without limiting in any manner the scope of this subchapter, the Council declares that it is the general intent of this subchapter to reiterate that in the city of New York, some of the practices in activities commonly referred to as payday lending, deferred deposit advances, cash on demand, or cash advance services and other similar activities are currently illegal, subject to the exemption of certain entities by federal law, and to strengthen the penalties for those engaging in such activities.

The Council finds that companies not subject to state and federal regulatory policies that elect to engage in the practice of payday lending must clearly disclose the terms of their loans to otherwise uninformed consumers. Accordingly, the Council intends to take action where permissible and require lenders to provide a disclosure notice to each would-be borrower so that he or she has a clear sense of the lender's operations and intentions. In addition, the Council is requiring such payday lenders to provide both the Department of Consumer Affairs and the Council with demographic information on the individuals taking out payday loans to ensure better tracking and public education in the future.

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[Consolidated provisions are not included in this Appendix A]

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§ 3. This local law shall take effect forty-five days after its enactment.

L.L. 2005/019

Enactment date: 3/7/2005

Int. No. 172-A

By Council Members Baez, the Speaker (Council Member Miller), Rivera, Clarke, Dilan, Fidler, Foster, Gentile, Gioia, Katz, Koppell, Martinez, McMahon, Monserrate, Nelson, Quinn, Recchia, Seabrook, Stewart, Yassky, Gerson, Gennaro, Jackson, Liu, Vann, Gonzalez, Avella, Weprin, Perkins, and the Public Advocate (Ms. Gotbaum)

A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to requiring the department of health and mental hygiene to develop a prescription drug discount card program.

Be it enacted by the Council as follows:

Section 1. Legislative findings and intent. National spending for prescription drugs has continued to rise dramatically over the last decade. It is estimated that Americans spent more than $180 billion on prescription drugs in 2003, and that such spending could reach as much as $250 billion by 2006. According to a recent report from the Association of Chain Drug Stores, brand-name retail drug prices jumped nearly $10 per prescription between 2002 and 2003.

The rising cost of prescription drugs has become particularly problematic as the number of uninsured individuals has continued to increase. According to a 2004 report by Families USA, approximately 81.8 million people - including one out of three of those under the age of 65 - were without health insurance in the United States for all or part of 2002 and 2003. In New York State, the proportion of individuals without insurance is even higher than the national average, with more than one out of three people under the age of 65 without health insurance for all or part of 2002 and 2003. In New York City, it is estimated that 1.8 million people had no health insurance in 2002, and two-thirds of the uninsured were employed. According to the New York City Community Health Survey, during 2003, an estimated 908,000 people chose not to fill one or more prescriptions because of cost.

Accordingly, the New York City Council finds that a New York City prescription drug discount card program should be made available to all New York City residents regardless of age, income, immigration status or health insurance coverage status, and without any barriers, such as a fee for the card or a registration process, to participation in the program.

It is the intent of the Council that the discounts under such program will pass to the beneficiary - the consumer - at the point of sale. Based on the experience of prescription drug discount cards in other jurisdictions, the Council expects that consumers will receive a substantial discount on prescription drugs under the New York City program. For example, under the Nassau County prescription drug card program, users of the NassauRx card benefited from drug prices that were up to 40% lower than the lowest commonly available retail price. Furthermore, it is also the intent of the Council that a New York City prescription drug discount card be used for purchases at pharmacies, through mail order and over the Internet. It is not the intent of the Council that the New York City prescription drug discount card be used in conjunction with any other discount prescription drug card during the same transaction or that this chapter be construed to require prescription drug manufacturers to participate in such program or to negotiate with any administrator regarding such program.

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[Consolidated provisions are not included in this Appendix A]

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§ 3. This local law shall take effect one hundred and twenty days after its enactment into law.

L.L. 2005/021

Enactment date: 3/7/2005

Int. No. 215-A

By Council Members Perkins, the Speaker (Council Member Miller), Baez, Barron, Clarke, Comrie, Lopez, Martinez, Monserrate, Nelson, Quinn, Seabrook, Stewart, Vann, Gennaro, Addabbo Jr., Boyland, Weprin, Gerson, Liu, Katz, Recchia Jr., Provenzano, Rivera, Moskowitz and The Public Advocate (Ms. Gotbaum)

A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to the rent payable by a tenant enrolled in the senior citizen rent increase exemption program when a rent reduction order has been issued.

Be it enacted by the Council as follows:

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[Consolidated provisions are not included in this Appendix A]

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§ 3. This local law shall take effect immediately after its enactment into law and shall apply to rent reduction orders issued by the state division of housing and community renewal in effect on or after such enactment date.

L.L. 2005/024

Enactment date: 3/28/2005

Int. No. 185-A

By Council Members Gerson, Yassky, Brewer, Jackson, Koppell, Lopez, Quinn, Stewart, Gonzalez, Avella, Martinez, Gennaro and Nelson

A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to creation of a review process in the event of the closure of a publicly mapped street.

Be it enacted by the Council as follows:

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[Consolidated provisions are not included in this Appendix A]

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§ 2. This local law shall take effect one hundred eighty days after it is enacted into law and shall apply to any street closures which commence after the day this local law is enacted into law, except those street closures related to construction pursuant to a project for which a bid has been issued by the city prior to the effective date of this local law, and provided further that it shall apply to those closures initiated by a local law enforcement agency for security reasons, which, if closed prior to the enactment of this local law, shall be deemed to have commenced on the date of enactment of this local law. However, if the government entity responsible for issuing the community reassessment, impact and amelioration (CRIA) statement described in subdivision b for such closure initiated by a local law enforcement agency for security reasons and in effect on the date of enactment of this local law is unable to complete such statement within two hundred ten days of the date of enactment of this local law, the commissioner shall so notify the council member in whose district the street closure is located and the time within which to issue the CRIA statement shall be extended to no more than one hundred eighty additional days, provided that a public forum is held within the first two hundred ten days. In addition, the commissioner of transportation may take any actions necessary prior to such effective date for the implementation of this local law, and shall adopt any necessary rules including, but not limited to, rules that may require a public or private entity seeking permission for a street closure to prepare the CRIA statement.

L.L. 2005/028

Enactment date: 4/4/2005

Int. No. 149-A

By Council Members Vallone Jr., Addabbo Jr., Gerson, Koppell, Nelson, Recchia Jr., Yassky, Moskowitz, Gallagher, Quinn, Martinez, Monserrate, Gentile, Fidler, Avella, Liu, Weprin, Sears, Oddo and the Speaker (Council Member Miller).

A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to maintenance of records regarding the issuance of alteration permits for cellular telephone antennas and equipment.

Be it enacted by the Council as follows:

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[Consolidated provisions are not included in this Appendix A]

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§ 2. This local law shall take effect ninety days after its enactment into law and shall apply to permits issued on and after such effective date.

L.L. 2005/029

Enactment date: 4/4/2005

Int. No. 462-A

By Council Members Gioia, Avella, Barron, Boyland, Clarke, Comrie, Fidler, Gennaro, Gerson, Gonzalez, Koppell, Liu, Martinez, McMahon, Nelson, Quinn, Recchia Jr., Reed, Rivera, Sanders Jr., Weprin, Foster, Lanza and Gallagher

A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to posting beach inspection results, and to repeal section 18-131 of the administrative code of the city of New York, as enacted by local law number 14 for the year 1991.

Be it enacted by the Council as follows:

Section 1. Declaration of legislative findings and intent. As a way to increase public awareness of beach and park cleanliness and to ensure greater transparency and accountability in government, the Council finds that the Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR) ought to publish inspection data for parks and beaches on its official website. Bathing beach cleanliness data will be made available by posting results of water quality sampling obtained by the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene on its official website and having information posted at all bathing beaches operated by the City of New York. This information will inform the public of bathing beach water quality data, including acceptable bathing levels. In addition, the beach posting provisions require that DPR post the date and results of the last inspection of the beach and ancillary areas.

This law also requires DPR to post on its official website the date and results of all inspections of all DPR properties, including, but not limited to parks and beaches, and to provide the public with an easy-to-use mechanism to search for the ratings of their local park property. In addition, this law will correct a technical error in the Administrative Code of the City of New York, in that two sections are numbered § 18-131. To correct this, both sections have been combined under the title "Posting of signs."

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[Consolidated provisions are not included in this Appendix A]

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§ 4. This local law shall take effect immediately upon its enactment.

L.L. 2005/031

Enactment date: 4/28/2005

Int. No. 423-A

By Council Members Katz, Liu, Nelson and Perkins

A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to the regulation of outdoor advertising and repealing sections 5, 6, 7 and 8 of local law 14 for the year 2001 in relation thereto.

Be it enacted by the Council as follows:

Section 1. Sections 5, 6, 7, and 8 of local law number 14 for the year 2001 are REPEALED.

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[Consolidated provisions are not included in this Appendix A]

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§ 11. Severability. If any clause, sentence, paragraph, section or part of this local law or the application thereof to any person or circumstance shall for any reason be adjudged by a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, such judgment shall not affect, impair or invalidate the remainder of this local law or the application thereof to other persons or circumstances, but shall be confined in its operation to the clause, sentence, paragraph, section or part thereof directly involved in the controversy in which such judgment shall have been rendered and to the person or circumstance involved.

§ 12. Section 1 of this local law shall take effect immediately

§ 13. Sections 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11 of this local law shall take effect on July 1, 2005 and prior to such date the Commissioner shall promulgate rules.

L.L. 2005/032

Enactment date: 4/28/2005

Int. No. 541-A

By Council Members Gioia, DeBlasio, Quinn, the Speaker (Council Member Miller), Clarke, Fidler, Gerson, Jackson, James, Liu, Martinez, Nelson, Palma, Reed, Seabrook, Sears, Weprin, Baez, Koppell, Moskowitz, Gennaro, Brewer, Monserrate, Reyna, Addabbo Jr., Avella, Perkins, Gonzalez and The Public Advocate (Ms. Gotbaum)

A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to the reporting requirements for the division of AIDS services or its functional or legal equivalent.

Be it enacted by the Council as follows:

Section 1. Declaration of legislative findings and intent. The Council hereby finds and declares that people with clinical/symptomatic HIV disease and AIDS who seek assistance from the department of AIDS services and income support or its legal or functional equivalent (the "division"), have particularly acute needs for the timely receipt of benefits and services, intensive case management, and safe, clean housing to keep them healthy. The Council further finds that having accurate information regarding the division's success in providing timely access to benefits and services, intensive case management and safe housing is critical to accomplishing its charter mandated oversight role with respect to the division. The Council hereby aims to ensure the gathering and reporting of information crucial to determining compliance with the legal mandates imposed on the division.

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[Consolidated provisions are not included in this Appendix A]

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§ 4. This local law shall take effect upon enactment.