City Council

Thursday, January 29, 2026, 1:30 p.m. (New York City time), Council Chambers - City Hall

Video of the meeting

On the agenda

Roll-call votes

Documents

Summary

The New York City Council's stated meeting of January 29, 2026 opened with roll call and an invocation by Cardinal Timothy Dolan, which Council Member Ariola moved to spread on the record. Speaker Menin delivered remarks on the recent snowstorm, federal immigration enforcement, and antisemitism, and announced a package of antisemitism-related bills and a Jewish Caucus task force. The council then voted to override 17 vetoes issued by former Mayor Eric Adams, covering street vendor reform, taxi/for-hire driver deactivation protections, tax lien sale reform, a city land bank, security guard wage standards, the gender-motivated violence act, and the 'safer sanctuary' act; all 17 bills passed over the mayor's objections with two-thirds majorities, and the remaining general orders items were adopted 51-0. Members did not act on vetoes of the COPA housing bill and a CCRB body-camera bill, which many members lamented. General discussion included introductions of new legislation on antisemitism, small business, parks, early childhood education, organ donor leave, a Department of Community Safety, TPS for Haitians, and more.

Transcript

0:12 Seats. Quiet on the floor,

0:12 please. Quiet on the floor

0:17 ,please.

0:17 Ladies and gentlemen at this

0:18 time, please place all

0:20 electronic devices to vibrate

0:22 all electronic devices t

0:24 ovibrate majority leader. Good

0:29 afternoon and welcome to the

0:29 stated meeting of January 29

0:32 2026 I am majority leader

0:33 Shaun Abreu I'd like to thank

0:34 you for joining us if you like

0:36 to please follow along the

0:37 agenda for today's meeting is

0:38 posted on our website. Please

0:42 join us for the pledge of

0:48 allegiance. I pledge

0:49 allegiance to the united

0:52 states. You, the republic

0:55 sense one nation under god

1:00 . Everything. Oh, thenack b

1:08 roll call you aldo here areola

1:18 sono qui Avilés present.

1:26 Thanks.

1:27 Here. Watcher present.

1:35 Brewer? Yeah. Brooks Powers,

1:36 president cab on dela Rosa.

1:47 Yeah, dinner wits here and

1:53 carnations present Epstein

1:57 hockey party oz present Felder

2:05 here. Police are here. Genero

2:15 . Good heroes.

2:18 Hey, I just got a text that

2:18 I was called for attendance,

2:20 but I don't hear anything.

2:24 Council Member kamara text

2:26 testimony to, but I can't hear

2:30 anything quiet

2:30 . In the chambers, please. I

2:38 need here. Hankerson here.

2:45 Hanks.

2:46 Present Hudson president

2:53 Joseph here. Krishnan here,

3:04 please. Here, luis present

3:10 Maloney here. Martin. Here.

3:17 Mealy president moreno here

3:25 ,darcy's present Nurse

3:31 . Jose, I'm here. Paladino

3:35 .I'm here to.

3:41 Wrestler here, reilly

3:51 president salah president

3:55 Justin Sanchez seated.

3:56 Purina, such as here, santos

4:03 so here, showman here, Stevens

4:09 put all the bits.

4:14 That Thomas Henry present un

4:22 president vernick off Williams

4:33 president one present guang

4:41 present put xuan yeah, cab on

4:57 president, car president

5:02 . Brad ou, president

5:03 . Speaker mennen.

5:08 President. Thank you. W

5:09 ewill now have today's

5:10 invocation, which we delivered

5:11 by the legend, cardinal

5:14 timothy dolan, archbishop of

5:14 New York of st patrick's

5:15 cathedral, which is located on

5:16 fifth avenue in manhattan. Let

5:28 us pray.

5:28 God is for us a refuge and

5:29 strength to help your close at

5:31 hand in time of distress. So

5:35 we shall not fear, though the

5:36 earth might rock, though the

5:39 mountains fall into the depths

5:40 of the sea even tughho its

5:43 waters, rage and foam, even

5:44 though the mountains be shake

5:45 n, the lord of hosts is with u

5:48 s, the god of jacob is our

5:52 stronghold, the waters of a

5:52 river give joy to god's City,

5:58 god's City that holy place

5:59 where the most high swells.

6:00 God is within here that City

6:03 cannot be shaken. God will

6:04 help it at the dawning of the

6:06 day nations are in tumult

6:08 .kingdoms are shaken, the lord

6:11 lifts his voice, the earth

6:12 shrinks away because the lor

6:13 dof hosts is with us, the god

6:15 of jacob is our stronghold.

6:18 Consider those works of the

6:20 lord he puts it into wars over

6:21 all the earth. The spear, h

6:25 esnaps, he burns the shields

6:29 with fired, be still and know

6:30 that I am god's supreme among

6:32 the nation's supreme on the

6:35 earth. The lord of hosts I

6:35 swith us, the god of jacob is

6:38 our stronghold and he lives in

6:39 reigns forever and ever. Amen

6:44 .amen. Thanks, Madam speaker

6:45 for the honor of leading

6:46 prayer and thanks to all of

6:48 you distinguished leaders o

6:49 fthis City that I've come to

6:51 love over my past 70 years as

6:53 archbishop and please be as

6:56 good to my successor, who will

6:56 be installed the week from

6:59 tomorrow as you have been t

6:59 ome a deal. Right? Thank you.

7:02 God bless all right

7:12 , thank you. Now ask council

7:14 member Joann Ariola spread the

7:15 invocation on the record.

7:18 Thank you, majority leader

7:21 first, I would like to wis

7:24 hthe cardinal an early happy

7:25 birthday, which will happen on

7:29 February 6 happy birthday to

7:30 you many and more happy and

7:33 healthy.

7:33 Cardinal timothy dolan

7:34 served as the archbishop of

7:36 New York from 2000 nine to

7:39 choose 2025 and served as the

7:42 archbishop of milwaukee for

7:44 nearly seven years before tha

7:47 t

7:48 . He was made a cardinal by

7:49 pope benedict the sixteenth in

7:51 2000 , 12 and in anne

7:53 capacity has worked hard t

7:55 ospread the catholic faith in

7:58 an increasingly secularized

8:02 world, cardinal dolan has

8:02 served as a strong voice for

8:05 persecuted christians across

8:07 the globe and has repeatedly

8:10 advocating

8:10 . What he calls Christopher

8:14 phobic terrorism.

8:15 A major foreign polic

8:16 ypriority in his own words when

8:17 it comes to the persecution of

8:19 christians. We are talking

8:21 about an international

8:23 emergency and we should never

8:25 apologize for keeping the

8:28 issue alive

8:29 . In public discourse of major

8:30 facet of religious life in New

8:32 York City.

8:32 For almost 17 years,

8:34 cardinal dolan has truly been

8:39 in shepherd.

8:40 Thank you again, majority

8:42 leader, speaker

8:42 . Men in I would like to thank

8:44 cardinal dolan for being here

8:46 today and I make a motion for

8:48 unanimous consent to spread

8:50 the invocation in full upon

8:54 the record.

8:54 Thank you, councilmember, we

8:55 will not ask councilman Harvey

8:56 Epstein for the adoption of.

8:58 Minutes. I make a motion

8:59 that the minutes of the

9:00 charter meeting of January 7

9:03 2026 in the stadium meeting of

9:05 January 15 26 be02 adopted as

9:09 printed. Thank you, councilman

9:10 messages and papers from the

9:11 Mayor.

9:12 None communication from cit

9:13 y, county and bar offices done

9:15 petitions of communications.

9:17 None.

9:17 Lanyon ups none. Thank you.

9:20 We will not have communication

9:22 from speaker Julie Menin.

9:27 Thank you. And I really want

9:28 to thank everyone for being o

9:29 n

9:30 . Time. So really it's it's

9:32 it's great, thank you. So

9:35 before we talk about today's

9:37 stated meeting I first of all

9:38 cardinal dolan want to thank

9:40 you for everything you have

9:41 done on behalf of our City

9:43 during times of crisis in

9:45 times of pain you have brought

9:47 our City together and I true

9:49 interfaith way that has

9:51 affected every single one of

9:52 us and we can't thank you

9:54 enough for your service and

9:54 your leadership and we really,

9:56 really going to miss you.

10:00 Thanks, gardner. Thank you so

10:01 much. Thank you for being her

10:03 e. So before we talk about

10:04 today's state of meeting. I

10:05 want to start with a few brief

10:09 acknowledgments, obviously

10:09 over the last several days we

10:12 witnessed a truly historic

10:14 snowstorm, the worst we've

10:15 seen honestly in five years

10:18 and dangerously cold

10:20 temperatures, it tragically

10:20 claim the lives of 10 New

10:25 yorkers a storm of this

10:26 magnitude required a

10:29 comprehensive all government

10:30 hands on deck response. I want

10:33 to first thank the sanitation

10:34 workers who worked around the

10:37 clock toiling away and

10:38 oftentimes very dangerous

10:40 conditions to keep our streets

10:42 clear and clean, and I want t

10:44 othank City Hall, the first

10:45 responders and all the City

10:47 agencies for their hard work

10:50 in keeping New yorkers safe. I

10:51 also want to briefly

10:53 acknowledge events happening

10:54 beyond New York City that have

10:57 understandably caused concern

10:58 here at home.

11:00 What is unfolding I

11:01 nminnesota is more than merely

11:04 disturbing. It flies in the

11:05 tto do, which is protect the

11:11 public in the past several

11:13 weeks. We have seen that you

11:16 two individuals have been

11:17 fatally shot and there have

11:18 been multiple reports of

11:19 children being taken into

11:23 custody. These actions are

11:24 indeed during the public and

11:25 they are eroding trust in

11:28 government institutions. This

11:30 is untenable, it's unsafe and

11:32 it's an unacceptable situation

11:33 and the public deserves full

11:35 transparency and

11:38 accountability. And while I'm

11:38 not able to discuss details t

11:41 oprotect the privacy and

11:42 integrity of the ongoing

11:44 process, our council employee

11:46 raffaele, who remains in ice

11:48 custody despite having all of

11:50 his legal work authorization

11:54 papers is totally and wholly

11:56 unacceptable. We are working

11:57 around the clock for his safe

12:00 return and I will have more to

12:01 say on that in the coming

12:04 weeks would that turning t

12:05 othis afternoon stated meeting

12:07 I first of all want, want to

12:09 begin by acknowledging the

12:10 rabbi and Council Member

12:11 showman's district, who was

12:13 verbally and physically

12:15 assaulted on Tuesday in a

12:16 nabhorrent anti semitic attack

12:19 and just last night and

12:20 Council Member hudson's

12:21 district. I know we were on

12:22 the phone last night about

12:25 this, a vehicle struck the

12:25 entrance to 7 70 habad world

12:28 headquarters and yet another

12:31 deeply disturbing incident

12:32 that is under investigation by

12:34 the we've been in close

12:35 contact last night and today

12:36 with the nypd, these have

12:40 become almost daily

12:41 occurrences now and it is

12:42 intolerable in every way I was

12:44 in borough park, brooklyn.

12:44 Just a few days ago where 7

12:47 3swat were painted on slides on

12:51 children's play equipment. It

12:53 is truly horrific and we are

12:54 taking action to put an end to

12:57 that 27 was holocaust

12:59 remembrance day when we honor

13:00 the memory of millions of

13:01 jewish people and other

13:02 victims who were murdered

13:03 during the holocaust. I really

13:06 want to say is the daughter

13:08 and granddaughter of holocaust

13:09 survivors. I would not be here

13:10 today without their courage

13:12 and their strength and it is

13:14 critical that we ensure tha

13:15 tthis history is shared and I

13:16 want to thank so many

13:17 colleagues who went this week

13:18 to the museum of jewish

13:21 heritage to visit the

13:22 permanent holocaust exhibitio

13:22 n. Thank you so much for

13:24 attending on a lighter note. I

13:26 want to wish a very happy

13:28 birthday to council members

13:30 Shahana, Hanif Harvey Epstein,

13:32 who share the same birthday,

13:38 February 5 birthday. Twins

13:38 . And I also want to welcome

13:41 our majority leader's father,

13:43 one embryo to the council

13:45 chambers today. Adrienne.

13:46 Thank you so much for joining

13:47 us today. We really appreciate

13:49 you being here and now with

13:53 that, we're going to move on

13:53 to our state agenda so today

13:55 the New York City Council is

13:57 taking action, that is both

13:59 rare and it's incredibly

14:03 consequential.

14:04 We are going to override

14:05 more vetoes in one day than

14:07 this City Council has done in

14:09 the past decade. Baptist, yes,

14:17 and these last minute late

14:18 night vetoes that we received

14:20 from Mayor erik adams again

14:22 stood in the way of the

14:24 progress of this council in

14:25 terms of work protection

14:28 street vendor protection so

14:30 many important issues taxi

14:31 drivers. So many, so many

14:33 different issues that we were

14:35 legislating and so that is why

14:37 I'm so thrilled that we are

14:38 doing these overrides today

14:41 these overrides with black

14:41 legislation that's been

14:44 debated thoroughly refined

14:45 carefully and supported by a

14:47 clear super majority of

14:49 elected representatives from

14:49 across our City when the

14:51 council acts with that level

14:51 of consensus. We have an

14:54 obligation to follow through,

14:58 the council will vote to

14:58 advance the following bills

14:59 that promote good governments

15:01 and transparency because that

15:02 is what New yorkers expect and

15:03 deserve. So I'm going to read

15:05 through them introduction 1

15:07 279 b, sponsored by former

15:09 deputy speaker diana ayala

15:11 limit rules issued by the

15:11 department of sanitation

15:14 prohibiting supplemental

15:15 sanitation service providers

15:17 from placing, refuse or

15:18 recycling by public litter

15:20 baskets and further requiring

15:21 them to set me out for

15:24 collection by y with tight

15:28 fitting lids. Thank you to the

15:29 staff, morgan barrett

15:32 introduction hundred 25, als

15:34 osponsored by a former deputy

15:35 speaker would require that in

15:37 most circumstances, nypd must

15:39 obtain the consent of a parent

15:41 legal guardian or attorne

15:43 ybefore collecting a sample

15:46 from a minor who want to thank

15:47 our staff, jeremy reitman, who

15:49 worked on this introduction 39

15:54 1 a also known as that, alan

15:58 ,our former speaker adrian

15:59 adams would direct security

16:02 guard employers to provide

16:03 their employees with minimum

16:07 wage. Haid vacation time and

16:10 supplemental benefits this

16:11 legislation was inspired by

16:13 the heroic acts of alan, a

16:16 former 32 security guard who

16:19 literally put his life on the

16:20 line closing down the elevator

16:22 Banks saving lives so

16:24 additional people who are

16:25 harmed in that fatal shooting

16:28 over the summer. Thank you t

16:29 othe staff of sarah swain t

16:31 onatalie meltzer to rachel

16:33 cadre introduction for 79, a

16:35 sponsored by council, Julie

16:37 juan would require the City

16:38 chief procurement officer t

16:40 oestablish standards and

16:42 procedures for contractors t

16:44 odetermine the existence of

16:45 conflicts of interest and

16:47 misconduct concerning cit

16:48 ycontracts valued over $100000.

16:52 Thank you to alex pauline off

16:53 and alexi oblon for their work

16:56 on this.

16:57 Introduction 14 12

16:58 . Also known as the safer

17:00 sanctuary apps monster by

17:02 Council Member Tiffany cab on

17:04 would bar federal immigration

17:06 authorities so maintaining

17:07 offices on land under the New

17:08 York City department of

17:12 corrections jurisdiction would

17:13 also man the city's sanctuary

17:14 City laws to account for

17:17 current federal immigration

17:18 enforcement practices. Thank

17:19 you to in kolkata, rebecca

17:21 perilla and nicholas wachowski

17:23 for your work on.

17:24 This introduction 12 97,

17:26 asponsored by council members

17:28 savina books Powers would

17:29 create a civil cause of action

17:33 for crimes of violence

17:33 motivated by gender that

17:35 occurred prior to January

17:38 ninth 20 20.

17:38 Two. It would allow such

17:40 claims against any party who

17:41 committed, directed and

17:44 participated or conspired I

17:45 nthe commission of a crime of

17:47 violence motivated by gender

17:50 to bring a civil claim against

17:52 that party. Thank you to

17:54 dzhokhar frazier, juanita,

17:56 john, julia goldsmith. Pinkha

17:57 m. Sorry, lis. Sahar, masami