The commissioner:
1. shall be the chief archivist of the city and shall advise the mayor, borough presidents and council on those matters concerning the preservation of the city's historical documentation;
2. shall act as the chief reference and research librarian for the mayor, borough presidents and council and shall ensure that all significant research material pertaining to the operations of the city as well as other municipalities shall be preserved and readily available for use;
3. shall act as the chief public records officer for the mayor, borough presidents and council and shall, except as otherwise provided by law, establish standards for the proper records management in any agency or government instrumentality funded in whole or in part from local tax levy monies, and
4. shall have the power to exercise or delegate any of the functions and duties vested in such commissioner by law, subject to the provisions of subdivision five of this section.
5. In addition to the above duties, the commissioner shall ensure the city's custody and control of city records as follows:
a. Pursuant to an approved records disposition schedule as set forth in section eleven hundred thirty-three of this charter, the commissioner shall ensure that the records of any city officer or agency that are of historical, research, cultural or other important value shall be delivered directly to the department's municipal archives. Upon delivery, the department shall begin to review such records and publish a survey of such records with appropriate specificity, and, to the extent practicable, the contents of such records. Where the commissioner has certified in writing as to its necessity, under extraordinary circumstances, such records may be transferred to an archival establishment to be organized and prepared for archival preservation, provided that such establishment meets the specific requirements specified in paragraph b of this subdivision.
b. If the commissioner decides that it is necessary to enter into an agreement or contract with another archival establishment outside the department, to organize and prepare records for archival preservation, it may not be with a private entity as defined by this chapter, and may not be with any entity outside the city. The commissioner shall include with the agreement or contract a plan for strictly monitoring the status and progress of the archiving operations. The commissioner shall devise and publish such plan, which shall include at least the following: (i) a list of the tasks to be conducted and a timetable for the completion of each such task; (ii) a description of the resources, staffing and training dedicated by the archival establishment to carrying out such tasks; (iii) allowances for direct supervision by department archivists; and (iv) an agreement by the archival establishment to issue, at a minimum, quarterly reports of its activities to the commissioner. The commissioner shall also include with such agreement and publish a schedule, where applicable, for the municipal archives to send original records to such archival establishment and to receive such records when processing is completed. To the extent practicable, such schedule shall take into account that original records should be sent in a limited and controlled manner and that no new such original records should be sent until receipt of any previously sent under such schedule. Any such agreement, contract, plan and schedule must be approved by the law department for compliance with this subdivision. The commissioner will at all times remain responsible for the proper handling and archiving of records, notwithstanding any agreement with an archival establishment outside the department.
c. No agreement provided for in subdivision five of this section shall be entered into during the term of office of any elected official of the city with regard to whose records such agreement applies.
d. Nothing in this subdivision shall prevent officers or members of such officer's administration from donating money to the department's municipal archives or other archival establishment so long as such officers or members are not involved in the supervision, control or management of the archival processing pertaining to their respective administrations.
e. Nothing in this subdivision should be construed to limit access by the public to city records. The department shall be responsible for granting access to records in accordance with applicable provisions of law. Additionally, agencies of the city shall have free access to such records as needed.
Editor's note: For related unconsolidated provisions, see Administrative Code Appendix A at L.L. 2003/022.