Tuesday, June 16, 2026, 1 p.m. (New York City time), 250 Broadway - 8th Floor - Hearing Room 1
Committee: Committee on Parks and Recreation
The Committee on Parks and Recreation, chaired by Council Member Ty Hankerson, held a hybrid hearing on six bills: Intro 89 (mapping tree pits, Brewer), Intro 576 (certified arborist requirement and annual reporting for tree removals), Intro 666 (publishing tree maintenance prioritization ratings, Williams), Intro 859 (process for posting biographical information for street and park co-namings, Brewer), Intro 864 (dog waste composting pilot at dog runs, Epstein), and Intro 80 (dog waste signage at park entrances, Narcisse). The Parks Department and the Department of Records and Information Services (DORIS) testified; Parks opposed Intro 89 and Intro 864 as drafted, raised concerns about Intro 576, Intro 80 and the DOT-related signage mandate, and expressed support for the intent of Intros 666 and 80, while DORIS supported Intro 859. Members questioned the agencies on tree pit data, storm response, dog waste enforcement, and Staten Island co-naming records. Public testimony largely urged Parks to issue written authorization so H2O's Ridgewood Reservoir restoration crews could resume work, along with calls for increased parks funding and a concession for the Marine Park Nature Center. No votes were taken during the hearing.
0:08 You. Good afternoon and
0:08 welcome to the New York City
0:10 hybrid and the committee on
0:11 toxic mercury shen, please.
0:13 Seven. All electronic devices
0:15 of this time also, please do
0:17 not approach the ideas. If you
0:20 have any questions with your
0:20 hand or you're playing assist
0:22 you. Thank you very much for
0:24 the cannes cooperation clearly
0:25 to be good. Thank.
0:26 You. Good afternoon tide
0:28 Hankerson, chair of the
0:28 committee on parks and
0:31 recreation. I'd like t
0:31 owelcome all of you to the
0:37 hearing today at this hearing
0:38 will be considering six
0:39 various pieces of legislation
0:40 introduced by my colleagues,
0:41 which relate to various parks
0:43 related topics. First is intro
0:47 8 9 sponsored broad member
0:48 Brewer this bill would require
0:49 the commission of to identify
0:53 a tree pits located on streets
0:54 and in landscaped parks and
0:56 display them on the city's
0:58 online treatment within three
0:59 years and also updated the map
1:01 annually to reflect changes t
1:02 otreat pits and the creation of
1:03 New tree pits nexus intro 5 7
1:07 6 sponsored by council members
1:10 this bill would specify that
1:11 only issue a permit to remov
1:14 ea City owned tree if the
1:16 permit application provides
1:17 the name of the certified
1:19 arborist who will remove the
1:20 tree and report annually on
1:22 City owned trees removed in
1:22 the previous year, including
1:26 the location of remove trees
1:27 and whether parks has replaced
1:29 those removed trees intro 6 6
1:33 6 interesting number sponsored
1:34 by counselor Williams would
1:36 require to publish any current
1:38 maintenance prioritization
1:39 rating assigned by two each
1:42 tree under its jurisdiction
1:43 and the reason for the rating
1:45 on it's interactive treatment
1:49 website nexus intro 85
1:51 9sponsored by cast member
1:52 Brewer, which wldou specify
1:54 the process to be used by the
1:56 department of records and
1:58 information services to comply
2:00 with existing law that
2:01 requires the posting, a
2:03 biographical biographical
2:04 information for the subjects
2:05 of name changes of streets and
2:08 parks when no bar graphical
2:09 information can be found in
2:12 the legislative record. Excuse
2:14 me. Finally, we have two bills
2:15 on minimized, minimizing dog
2:16 ways through our City, which
2:19 is quickly becoming one of the
2:20 largest quality of black
2:21 concerns
2:22 . Intro 8 6 4, sponsored by
2:23 councilman mr Epstein, what
2:25 required to establish a pilot
2:27 program to collect dog feces
2:30 from dog runs under
2:31 jurisdiction for composting at
2:33 dog runs the commissioner
2:34 would install dog waste
2:35 collection bands provide
2:38 compostable dogs, feces, bags
2:38 and post a sign at each other
2:41 the bends, recommending the
2:43 individual deposit dog waste
2:44 and the.
2:45 Bends get individuals
2:46 deposit dog waste in the bins.
2:48 The waste would then be
2:49 transferred to the appropriate
2:53 compost facility,
2:53 and intro 8 0
2:56 . Sponsored by Council Member
2:58 would require signs at the
3:00 entrances and exits of parts
3:01 and have certain park
3:03 facilities stating the rule
3:04 prohibiting a person from
3:04 leaving dog waste on the
3:07 ground and the associated
3:08 penalties for violations, it
3:10 would also require lot signs
3:13 on the New York state
3:15 requirement concerning dog
3:16 waste removal in public areas
3:18 and associated penalties
3:22 . I look forward to examining
3:23 these skills and more detail
3:23 and I'd like to welcome the
3:24 to testify. Thank you with
3:30 that. I'm going to go over to
3:32 my colleagues for
3:33 . Their remarks, starting with
3:35 Council Member and then
3:35 Council Member of well, thank
3:44 you. Chair and thank you. Pots
3:46 of hot and for being present.
3:49 Thank you all the fellows and
3:53 rule in the house I love you
3:55 guys. You've been very helpful
3:58 to district 46, I would never
3:59 forget that I now be there t
4:02 osupport. I love to see young
4:03 folks not spending this summer
4:04 not doing anything but be
4:06 present and participant,
4:07 especially when he come to our
4:09 environment. So thank you for
4:11 your
4:11 . Time. Um, I am proud to
4:13 sponsor and true number 8 0
4:15 this bill is simple dog owners
4:18 are required by law to clea
4:19 nup after their pets whether
4:22 they are in a park or on the
4:25 sidewalk, but across the City
4:27 that rule is really posted
4:30 anywhere you cannot expect
4:31 people to follow the.
4:32 Law or a rule they have
4:35 never seen and never heard of
4:37 central. It is zero. We cry as
4:39 the parks department to put
4:41 signs at every park entrance
4:44 playground. I would beat.
4:45 Our fitness area picnic spot
4:48 end overrun it
4:49 . Also requires zero to
4:51 respond to 3 1 1. Complaints
4:52 about a dog weighs on side
4:56 walks and and pedestrian pas
4:58 us with the signage in those
5:00 locations, and it is quiet
5:03 annual public reporting. So we
5:04 can track where the problems
5:07 are and whether there is all
5:08 that if this works. This is
5:11 working for us.
5:11 Science work. They tell us
5:15 which way to drive down the
5:17 streets. They want us when a
5:19 beach or it's not safe for
5:21 swimming and they can help us
5:23 get a handle on the dog waste
5:27 too. I have heard every excuse
5:28 is under the gun to the sky,
5:31 my dog is small. I forgot a
5:33 bag. I did not see it happen?
5:36 Well, your neighbors saw it
5:38 and they are calling 311 about
5:41 it, this bill gives the City a
5:44 clear locust tool to back up a
5:46 law that already exists and I
5:51 look forward to working wit
5:52 hthe administration to give
5:53 this implemented because this
5:55 is be simple for for a lot of
5:57 folks, but not for some
5:58 because when you step on it.
6:01 You don't. I mean, I don't
6:02 like it when I'm going to my
6:04 car or your children running
6:05 in the park and step pointed
6:07 to come to you that's not goo
6:09 d. So I'm looking forward t
6:10 omake sure we implement this.
6:12 So thank you, cheer
6:13 .appreciate your time. Thank
6:16 you, councilmember
6:16 cocilmunember.
6:17 Brewer. Thank you. Thank you
6:18 very much. I'm.
6:19 Calling your attention t
6:20 ointro 89
6:24 . I think we all know that the
6:25 trees die. There are vacant
6:27 tree beds, constituents
6:28 contact our office about them
6:29 all the time they want t
6:31 oplant them and they want to
6:34 treat and sometimes the empty
6:35 treat bed is still a viable
6:38 planting site or sometimes as
6:39 I'm getting now the requests
6:41 all the time because it's more
6:44 ecologically correct to expand
6:48 the bed. Other times, the
6:49 tweet bed can't be replanted
6:50 to meet the parks department's
6:52 current standards, perhaps the
6:53 three bed is too small. You
6:55 can't be expanded. It's a
6:56 front of a building entrance,
6:59 the side walker too narrow to
7:02 comply with.
7:02 Or utilities are present
7:03 below, so I know that, uh,
7:06 that's a concern, but I have
7:07 to say in most cases there was
7:10 a tree there and a nutri can
7:12 be planted, just constituents
7:14 and black associations place
7:16 duplicate requests of the same
7:18 tree bed, which can be time.
7:19 Consuming for the top parks
7:21 department and frustrating for
7:24 constituents and black
7:24 associations and nonprofits
7:25 who are in the environmental
7:27 world because they all want to
7:29 expand. We all want to expand
7:31 our local tree canopy. We want
7:34 to work with the department of
7:38 environmental protection to do
7:39 initiatives like rain gardens
7:41 . Into 89 would require the
7:43 commissioner of parks and
7:45 recreation to identify treat
7:46 pits located on streets
7:49 , and in landscape parks and
7:51 display them on the city's
7:52 online pre map within three
7:55 years after the effective date
7:56 of the bill.
7:59 The commissioner would
8:00 therefore have to update the
8:01 map annually to reflect
8:03 changes too. Tree pits and the
8:04 creation of New tree pits.
8:08 The map must note whether
8:10 each pre pit contains a tree
8:11 and if a tree pit does not
8:13 contain a tree. The reason for
8:14 the disuse of the treatment
8:18 . Developing the legislation
8:19 we worked with the nature
8:20 conservancy and trees New yor
8:21 k. These people work daily with
8:25 trees.
8:25 We were sensitive to not
8:26 wanting the data collection
8:28 process to beat to onerous,
8:28 has written the bill
8:31 envisions that this
8:32 information would be
8:33 catalogued as part of the tree
8:36 inspection process, which the
8:38 parks department does. The
8:40 goal is transparency to
8:42 opportunity for greeting
8:43 locally and help reach our
8:45 city's aggressive
8:46 sustainability goals while
8:47 consolidating this information
8:50 centrally.
8:50 On the city's three map and
8:51 I have.
8:52 To say, I know that the
8:54 parks department make carly be
8:55 against it, but I hope they
8:56 continue to work with us the
8:58 maps are important, people
8:59 don't know why there's no tree
9:01 in a spot they do need to know
9:04 . I also just want to talk
9:04 about 85 9 8 5 9, um, honors
9:11 New yorkers were street co
9:12 name means twice a year, and I
9:15 want to just be clear. Aah! We
9:18 celebrated as others have the
9:20 pianist larry harlow on west
9:22 86 feet. We've all done many,
9:24 many honoring h's the council
9:28 .just I made all this in 1 2003
9:32 past local oh 104, which
9:34 called on the department of
9:36 records and information
9:37 services known as doris, one
9:38 of my favorite.
9:39 To create a searchable map
9:41 of these co naming, and they
9:43 did. It took me like 20 years
9:44 to get this frigging map, but
9:47 they did and into 2002 and
9:52 2003, I was there 400 plus
9:53 streets were named for first
9:56 responders killed on 9 11, I
9:57 went to many, many, many of
9:59 those signings with a sign
10:02 went up.
10:02 What? Many of those tweets
10:04 lacked biographical
10:04 information. The same went up
10:08 so fast.
10:08 Under the guidance of former
10:09 doris commissioner paulino
10:10 tool and her staff. The
10:11 stories of these individuals
10:12 lost on that terrible day were
10:16 compiled.
10:17 And info. 8 5 9 Allows doris
10:18 to update the map a special
10:22 note of appreciation, the
10:23 committee counsel Chris. So
10:25 rmodel for their work on local
10:31 law 104 as well as 8 5 9 and I
10:33 want to thank
10:36 . Schuler, cooter from my
10:37 office, the background here is
10:39 that I think the name could
10:40 have just gone up on the
10:43 website, however, to doris
10:45 credit. They felt that they
10:45 wanted the City Council to be
10:49 sure to bless them
10:52 legislatively and legally and
10:53 then when they go up, there's
10:54 a feeling that the
10:55 biographical information is
10:56 correct, I believe we've got
10:59 all but one person of all the
11:01 signs in the entire five
11:03 boroughs and we're still
11:04 trying to get that one perso
11:06 nfrom staten island who we
11:08 can't find, thank you very
11:13 much. Even jimmy otto can't
11:14 find them, but we're still
11:17 trying. Thank you. Thank you,
11:18 councilmember? I am going to
11:20 read to the best of my ability
11:23 . Um, the statement from a
11:27 deputy speaker Williams
11:30 regarding her bill um, intro 6
11:33 6 6. Okay, here we go.
11:37 As I'm sure my fellow
11:37 council members are aware
11:38 residents across the five
11:41 boroughs have repeatedly
11:42 expressed frustration
11:42 regarding dangerous trees
11:43 outside their homes and within
11:45 their neighborhoods and local
11:49 parks, street trees and park
11:49 trees are an important part of
11:52 our city's.
11:52 Infrastructure, they improve
11:55 air quality provide shade
11:56 reduced urban heat and
11:57 contribute to help you and
11:59 more livable.
12:00 Communities at the same time
12:01 wind trees are damaged.
12:03 Deceased. Excuse me. Diseased
12:04 or structurally comprised. A
12:08 compromise today is a day they
12:10 can pose serious risk t
12:11 opublic safety and property
12:15 . The department of the
12:16 department of parks and
12:16 recreation currently utilizes
12:19 internal party criteria to
12:22 determine which.
12:22 Trees require maintenance or
12:23 removal based on safety and
12:27 conditions. However this
12:28 information is not publicly
12:31 available, leaving residents
12:31 unaware of potentially
12:35 dangerous trees.
12:35 Until they are either
12:36 maintained or pose immediate
12:37 risk this lack of transparency
12:40 causes confusion and the
12:42 frustration, especially I
12:43 nareas with high foot traffic
12:44 or after storms when fall in
12:48 or damaged trees can create
12:51 dangerous conditions.
12:52 Constituents often contact our
12:54 offices, a me constituents
12:58 often contact our offices
12:59 after reporting tree related
13:01 concerns. 2 3 1 1 Seeking
13:04 updates and answers about when
13:05 actually will be taken too
13:07 often residents are left
13:09 without meaningful information
13:11 about where their complaints,
13:13 stan, or how the City is
13:16 determining urgency of that
13:19 uncertainty undermines public
13:19 confidence that makes it
13:20 harder for communities t
13:22 ounderstand the maintenance
13:24 process. My bill entro, 6 6 6
13:28 would codify into law the tree
13:30 part ization ratings that
13:31 already exists and require
13:33 that these ratings, along with
13:34 the reasoning behind them be
13:35 made publicly available. This
13:39 is a common sense transparency
13:42 measures by making this
13:42 information assessable to the
13:43 public residents will have a
13:44 clearer understanding of how
13:45 maintenance decisions are made
13:47 in which trees are considered
13:49 higher priority for
13:52 intervention
13:53 . This simple change to the
13:53 administrative cold would
13:54 increase transparency between
13:56 and the public improve
13:58 accountability and help create
13:59 a safer environment for all
14:00 New yorkers. I'd like t
14:02 omention that we've been joined
14:05 by a murano, Lee breuer,
14:08 Salaam, on zoom verena Sanchez
14:12 , Nurse? Um, yes, ok with that
14:15 . I'm going to turn it over to
14:17 the agency for their opening
14:19 remarks for being sworn in and
14:23 opening remarks. Thank you all
14:24 for being with me. Thank you.
14:27 Sure? With the representatives
14:28 of the parks department and
14:28 department of records
14:30 information services, please
14:30 raise your right hand if
14:32 you're able, do you affirm t
14:33 otell the truth, the whole
14:34 truth and nothing but the
14:35 truth and your testimony