L.L. 1992/070

Enactment date: 8/13/1992

Int. No. 82-A

By Council Members Eldridge, McCaffrey, Cerullo III, Fisher, Eisland, Spigner, Alter, Ognibene, Malave-Dilan, Foster, Pagan, Wooten, Abel, Berman, Castaneira-Colon, Clarke; Cruz, DeMarco, DiBrienza, Duane, Fields, Freed, Fusco, Harrison, Horwitz, Koslowitz, Linares, Marshall, McCabe, Michels, Pinkett, Powell IV, Robinson, Robles, Ruiz, Sabini, Ward, Warden, Watkins, White, Williams, Maloney and Dear

A Local Law to amend the Administrative Code of the City of New York in relation to requiring security measures at automated teller machine facilities located within the city

Be it enacted by the Council as follows:

Section 1. Legislative intent. The Council hereby finds that the use of automated teller machines (ATMs) to conduct banking transactions has become a fact of daily life for millions of New York City's residents, commuters and visitors. According to a March 1992 report to the City Council prepared by representatives of the city's banking industry, New Yorkers use ATM machines nearly one million times each day. In 1991, there were 8.1 million active ATM bank cards in New York City - more than the city's total 1990 population of 7.3 million people - which were used to conduct over 326 million transactions. Further, more than 18 million cardholders in the NYCE-banking network have access to an ATM in New York City. According to the banking industry, there are approximately 2418 ATMs in 1038 locations located throughout the city; 780 of those locations, or 75%, are open 24-hours a day. The banking industry asserts that the popularity of ATM banking continues to grow.

From January 1990 to December 1991, the New York Police Department reported 743 robberies and attempted robberies associated with ATMs; the actual number of such crimes is believed to be much higher. Many of these were crimes of extreme violence, such as the shooting of a Manhattan Assistant District Attorney at an ATM in Brooklyn and the murder of Police Sergeant Keith Levine, who was trying to intervene in what appeared to be a robbery at a midtown Manhattan ATM.

The Council also finds that security measures currently used at the majority of ATM locations are inadequate to protect the public safety. At present, there is no uniform set of standards for security at ATM facilities. The banks report that only 33% of all ATM locations are equipped with surveillance cameras; only 10% have guards. Moreover, a Council survey of 231 ATM locations throughout the city revealed that access to an ATM facility is not limited to persons having ATM bank cards; virtually any card having a magnetic stripe will allow entry into an ATM location. Of the interior ATMs surveyed by Council staff, 26% had broken or faulty door locks; 6% provided "elevator mirrors" allowing users to see blind spots and 37% posted signs with consumer safety information. The safety of ATM facilities thus frequently differs widely from location to location and the users of such facilities are often vulnerable to robberies and muggings.

The Council therefore concludes that it is necessary and appropriate for the protection and safety of the public to require banks and other institutions providing ATM services to install certain minimum security measures at each ATM facility. It is the Council's belief that these requirements, including adequate lighting, surveillance cameras, transparent windows, reflective mirrors and surfaces, and consumer safety warnings, will significantly enhance the safety and well-being of New York City's residents, workforce and visitors.

The Council recognizes the need for further technological developments to create a system by which access to ATM machines is limited, to the greatest extent possible, to holders of valid access cards issued by banks and other financial institutions. In order to facilitate the development of such technology, the bill calls for the formation of a task force of bank representatives and other appointees of the Mayor and Speaker of the Council to join in a cooperative effort to examine the technological feasibility of the limited access door requirement, and report to the Mayor and the Council no later than one year after its formation. If within six months after the submission of this report, an ATM facility is unable to comply with the limited access door requirement, the bill requires that at least one security guard be stationed within the ATM facility during those times, after regular banking hours, when the ATM facility is available to customers.

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[Consolidated provisions are not included in this Appendix A]

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§ 3. This local law shall take effect 180 days after its enactment into law, except that subdivision c of section 10-160 of the administrative code of the city of New York as added by section two of this local law shall take effect immediately.