Except as otherwise provided by law, the commissioner shall have charge and control of and be responsible for all functions and operations of the city relating to business and economic development, the enhancement of economic development and financial opportunity for minority and women owned business enterprises, and ensuring equal employment opportunity by city contractors. Such powers and functions shall include, without limitation, the following:
1. With respect to business and economic development generally the commissioner shall have the power and duty:
a. to establish business, industrial and commercial policies, programs and projects which affect the business, industrial, commercial or economic well-being, development, growth and expansion of the economic life of the city;
b. to serve as liaison for the city with local development corporations, other not-for-profit corporations and all other entities involved in economic development within the city. In furtherance of this function, the department shall include in any contract with a contracted entity, as defined by section 22-821 of the administrative code, under which such contracted entity is engaged in providing or administering economic development benefits on behalf of the city and expending city capital appropriations in connection therewith, the provisions required by subchapter 2 of chapter 8 of title 22 of the administrative code.
b-1. [Repealed.]
b-2. By August 1, 2017, and by August 1 every year thereafter, the entity under contract with the department to provide or administer economic development benefits on behalf of the city shall assess and evaluate each business entity to which it provided assistance in the form of a loan, grant or tax benefit in excess of one hundred fifty thousand dollars, or sale or lease of city-owned land for a project expected, in accordance with information provided by the applicant for the sale or lease, to retain or create not less than twenty-five jobs, to determine whether they met minority and women-owned business goals, if any, pursuant to the contract. The findings of such assessments shall be submitted to the department on or before November 1, 2017, and on November 1 every year thereafter. By January 30, 2018, and by January 1 every year thereafter, the department shall submit such assessment and evaluation to the mayor and the speaker of the council, which shall include, but not be limited to: (i) a list of all recipients of such economic development benefits; (ii) the minority and women-owned business goals for these recipients; (iii) whether the recipient conducted a good faith effort to identify and utilize minority and women-owned businesses to achieve such goals; and (iv) if minority and women-owned business contracting goals were not met by a recipient, a description of the reasons the goals were not met.
c. to study, organize, promote, coordinate and carry out within or without the city, activities, projects and programs designed to encourage, stimulate and foster the well-being, development, growth and expansion of business, industry and commerce in the city, and the enhancement and protection of the economic life of the city;
d. to assist, encourage and promote broadened employee ownership, particularly through the use of employee stock ownership plans and producer cooperatives, by conducting research, outreach and public informational programs pertaining to employee ownership and employee stock ownership plans; by providing technical assistance to employee groups exploring an employee buyout, where such an action might be instrumental in retaining a business within the city of New York; and by ensuring that firms applying for financial assistance from any entity involved with economic development in the city of New York shall be correctly advised as to the potential advantages of forming an employee stock ownership plan;
e. to serve as a clearinghouse in connection with efforts to devise solutions for problems affecting business, industry and commerce in the city;
f. to promote and encourage the expansion and development of markets for city products;
g. to promote and encourage the location and development of new business and industry in the city, as well as the maintenance and expansion of existing business and industry, and for this purpose to cooperate with public and private agencies, organizations and individuals;
h. to promote, coordinate and implement activities, projects and programs designed to attract foreign direct investment and promote overseas sales by firms in the city and to otherwise encourage, stimulate and foster the well-being, development, growth, and expansion of international business, commerce, and trade in the city;
i. to administer and promote the development of foreign trade zones within the city;
j. to study conditions affecting business, industry and commerce in the city, and to collect and disseminate such information, make such studies and carry on such educational activities as may be necessary or useful in relation to the promotion and development of business, industry and commerce in the city;
k. to maintain a business information service in order to assist business and industry in the city, and to encourage business and industry outside of the city to patronize the business and industrial establishments of the city;
l. to make, from time to time, recommendations to the mayor concerning steps deemed advisable for the promotion and advancement of business and industrial prosperity in the city and the elimination of restrictions, burdens and handicapping factors having an adverse effect on business, industry and commerce in the city;
m. to publicize the economic advantages and other factors which make the city a desirable location for business and industry;
n. to collect information and compile and distribute literature and publicity material dealing with the facilities, advantages and attractions of the city and the historic and scenic points and places of interest therein;
o. to plan and conduct publicity and information programs designed to attract tourists, vacationers, visitors and other interested persons to the city, and to encourage, coordinate and cooperate with the efforts of public and private agencies, organizations and groups to publicize the advantages and attractions of the city for such purposes;
p. to encourage and cooperate with the efforts of public and private agencies, organizations and groups in publicizing the business, industrial and commercial advantages of the city;
q. to cooperate with and assist any corporation, organization, agency or instrumentality, whether public or private, the objects of which include, or which is authorized to act for, the advancement of the business and industrial prosperity and economic welfare of the city, or the furnishing of assistance in the location of new business and industry therein, or the rehabilitation or expansion of existing business and industry therein, or the creation of job opportunities or additional employment therein, so as to provide support for any action, efforts or activities for the accomplishment of any such purposes in the city on the part of any such corporation, organization, agency or instrumentality; and
r. to issue permits for the taking of motion pictures, and for the taking of photographs and for the use or operation of television cameras and/or any other transmitting television equipment in or about city property, or in or about any street, park, marginal street, pier, wharf, dock, bridge or tunnel within the jurisdiction of any city department or agency or involving the use of any city owned or maintained facilities or equipment.
2. The commissioner shall have the power and duty to exercise the functions of the city relating to the development, redevelopment, construction, reconstruction, operation, maintenance, management, administration and regulation of public markets, wharf property, water front property and airports within the city of New York including, without limitation, the following:
a. to have exclusive charge and control of the public markets of the city, to fix fees for services, licenses and privileges in connection therewith, to rent space therein and to enter into leases therefor, and to regulate all facilities in use as public markets for the public health, safety and welfare;
b. to have exclusive charge and control of the wharf property and water front owned by the city and of the building, rebuilding, repairing, altering, maintaining, strengthening, protecting, cleaning, dredging, and deepening of such wharf property and water front property; provided, that the commissioner may, subject to the approval of the mayor, designate parcels of wharf property and water front property to be managed pursuant to this paragraph and leased or permitted pursuant to paragraphs g and h of this subdivision by the commissioner of citywide administrative services. Any such designation shall be made in writing and may be withdrawn by the commissioner subject to the approval of the mayor;
c. to have the exclusive power to enforce with respect to public markets, water front property and any structures on water front property under its jurisdiction, the labor law and such other laws, rules and regulations as may govern the dredging, filling, removal, construction, alteration, maintenance, use, occupancy, safety, sanitary conditions, mechanical equipment and inspection of structures in the city, and the issuance of permits and certificates of completion in reference thereto, and to establish and amend fees to be charged for the issuance of such permits or certificates of completion, which fees shall be established by the rules of the commissioner;
d. to have exclusive power to regulate water front property and the following structures on any water front property: wharves, piers, docks, bulkheads, structures wholly or partly therein, and such other structures used in conjunction with and in furtherance of water front commerce and/or navigation;
e. to have exclusive power to regulate the use of marginal streets so that they may be used to the best advantage in connection with wharf property and to regulate by license or otherwise the transfer of goods and merchandise upon, over or under all such marginal streets;
f. to lease, subject to the approval of the council, any wharf property belonging to the city primarily for purposes of water front commerce or in furtherance of navigation. Such leases may be sold at public auction duly advertised in the City Record for at least ten days prior thereto, and if not so sold the terms of any lease must be approved by the council by a three-fourths vote after a public hearing, notice of which shall be published in the City Record for the six days of publication of the City Record immediately prior thereto. All such leases shall be for such terms and shall contain such conditions as may be provided by law. The council shall act within forty-five days of the filing of the proposed terms and conditions of any such lease with the council. Failure of the council to act on a lease within such forty-five day period shall be deemed an approval of such lease. All votes of the council pursuant to this subdivision shall be filed by the council with the mayor and shall be final unless disapproved by the mayor within five days of such filing except that there shall be no right of mayoral disapproval if a three-fourths vote of the council is required pursuant to this subdivision. Any such mayoral disapproval shall be filed by the mayor with the council and shall be subject to override by a two-thirds vote of the council within ten days of such filing;
g. to lease, pursuant to review and approval pursuant to sections one hundred ninety-seven-c and one hundred ninety-seven-d, any wharf property belonging to the city for purposes other than water front commerce or in furtherance of navigation, including, without limitation, commercial, industrial, residential or recreational purposes. All such leases shall be for such terms and shall contain such conditions as may be provided by law. No such lease may be authorized by the commissioner until a public hearing has been held with respect thereto after the publication of notice in the City Record at least thirty days in advance of such hearing;
h. to grant temporary permits terminable at will for a period not exceeding three years for the purposes of water front commerce or in furtherance of navigation and not exceeding one year for other purposes to use and occupy any wharf property belonging to the city;
i. to set aside by order any wharf property belonging to the city, which has not been leased, for general wharfage purposes or for the use of any special kind of commerce, or of any class of vessel, or of any agency, and to revoke or modify such order as to any such wharf property at any time;
j. to regulate the charges for wharfage, cranage and dockage of all vessels or floating structures using any wharf property set aside under paragraph i of this subdivision, provided that the rates which it shall be lawful to charge for wharfage, cranage and dockage from any vessel or floating structure which makes use of any other wharf property within the port of New York shall be fixed by rules of the commissioner;
k. to sell buildings, structures and other improvements on market property and wharf property to a person leasing such property pursuant to paragraphs a, f and g of this subdivision; provided, however, that any such sale of improvements shall be subject to the procedure for review and approval applicable to the lease related to the improvements;
l. to manage and promote the economic development of all airports, airplane landing sites, seaplane bases, heliports and helistops owned by the city, and to lease such property, subject to review and approval pursuant to sections one hundred ninety-seven-c and one hundred ninety-seven-d. No such lease may be authorized by the commissioner until a public hearing has been held with respect thereto after the publication of notice in the City Record at least thirty days in advance of such hearing;
m. except as provided in section 487, to have charge and control of the regulation for the health and safety of the general public of all airports, airplane landing sites, seaplane bases, heliports, helistops, marginal streets and parking facilities appurtenant thereto owned by the city;
n. except as provided in section 487, to establish, amend and enforce rules for the proper care and use of all public markets, wharf property, water front property and all airports, airplane landing sites, seaplane bases, heliports and helistops owned by the city and placed in his or her charge or over which he or she shall have power of regulation, and to issue such orders as may be necessary for such enforcement. The violation of or the failure to comply with any such order or rule shall be triable in criminal court and punishable, upon conviction, by not more than thirty days imprisonment or by a fine of not less than one hundred dollars nor more than five thousand dollars, or both;
o. except as provided in section 487, to have the exclusive power to regulate all privately owned airports, airplane landing sites, seaplane bases, heliports and helistops and the operation out of and into such bases as well as the control of ground effect craft and aircraft operations to or from other sites within the city not so designated as airports, heliports, helistops, airplane landing sites or seaplane bases;
p. to promote and encourage the expansion and development of the city as a center for intrastate, interstate and international overland freight transportation; and
q. to administer and enforce the provisions of the zoning resolution of the city of New York in respect to the following structures on any water front property: wharves, piers, docks, bulkheads, structures wholly or partly thereon, and such other structures used in conjunction with and in furtherance of water front commerce and/or navigation in the same manner and in accordance with the same procedure as is prescribed therein.
3. With respect to energy matters, the commissioner shall have the power and duty:
a. to plan, formulate, coordinate and advance energy policy for the city;
b. to analyze the energy and fuel needs of the city with respect to all kinds of energy, to prepare intermediate and long-range plans, goals and programs designed to meet such needs, and to establish priorities among them;
c. to develop, implement and manage energy-related programs for economic development and other purposes, including, without limitation, the administration of the public utility service established by section 22-301 of the administrative code, and to exercise all of the functions, powers and duties of such public utility service; and
d. to perform such other responsibilities with respect to energy matters, including responsibilities delegated elsewhere by the charter, as the mayor shall direct.
4. For purposes of subdivision three of this section, "energy" shall include work or heat that is, or may be, produced from any fuel or source, including but not limited to electrical, fossil, geothermal, wind, hydro, solid waste, tidal, solar and nuclear.
5. The commissioner shall have the power and duty to:
a. advise and assist the mayor in developing policies designed to meet the job training and employment needs of the economically disadvantaged and unemployed residents of the city of New York, as well as the labor needs of private industry;
b. provide job training and employment services for economically disadvantaged and unemployed residents of the city of New York;
c. disburse available city, state and federal funds for job training and employment programs throughout the city, and, when practical, to coordinate such funds with available funding from the private sector;
d. maintain, operate and control such programs as may be necessary or required to achieve the objectives of the department;
e. promote cooperation among business, labor and community organizations in response to labor market conditions; and
f. promote public awareness of resources available for the economically disadvantaged and unemployed, and to refer the public to appropriate job training and employment services.
(Am. L.L. 2016/003, 1/5/2016, eff. 1/5/2016; Am. L.L. 2016/109, 9/28/2016, eff. 9/28/2016; Am. L.L. 2017/222, 12/1/2017, eff. 1/15/2018)
Editor's note: For related unconsolidated provisions, see Administrative Code Appendix A at L.L. 1991/061, L.L. 1996/059, L.L. 2003/052, L.L. 2008/026, L.L. 2013/102 and L.L. 2013/148.