City Council

Thursday, July 16, 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 held a stated meeting on July 16, 2026, chaired by Majority Leader Shaun Abreu with remarks from Speaker Julie Menin. The Council adopted land use call-ups (reported as 40 affirmative, zero negative) covering rezonings across all five boroughs, including the Greenpoint 'Monitor Point' project, developments in Coney Island, Chelsea, Staten Island, the Bronx, and Hell's Kitchen. The Council then passed a general orders calendar including the paraprofessional workforce stabilization payment bill (Intro 692), the small business 'Red Tape Relief Act' (Intro 955), a bill raising the NYPD civil service exam age limit, a public officials' salary increase, and land use, landmark, and finance items. Members also introduced new legislation during general discussion (senior tax exemptions, a permanent NYPD street takeover unit, utility rate freeze resolutions, a public bank study task force, and a private equity impact study) and adopted Resolution 371 designating August 6 as Fat Man Scoop Recognition Day. No public comment was taken, as members of the public do not speak at stated meetings.

Transcript

0:02 Afternoon and welcome to the

0:02 stated meeting of July 16 2026

0:05 I am.

0:06 Majority to Shaun Abreu. I I

0:07 you for joining us as a

0:09 reminder decorum must be

0:09 respected at all times if

0:12 you'd like to follow along the

0:13 agenda for today's meeting is

0:14 posted on our web site on

0:16 behalf of the body. I welcome

0:17 the members of the public who

0:18 have joined us today during

0:20 stated meetings only members

0:21 of the council speak, members

0:23 of the public should remain

0:24 silent if you wish to express

0:25 your support of any remarks

0:27 you make the silent approval

0:29 gesture. Thank you. Please

0:33 join us for the pledge of

0:55 allegiance row call aldo bowl

1:09 president arriola

1:09 present Avilés why are always

1:20 thanks here, Brewer? Yeah,

1:28 Brooks Powers cab on president

1:34 dela Rosa here, inuits

1:47 incarnation felt her police

2:00 here. Genero

2:00 . Good years, but I sent honey

2:06 here. Hankerson here.

2:10 Thanks present, Hudson

2:20 president Joseph Krishnan, Lee

2:37 lewis present Maloney.

2:41 Present martin.

2:44 Present Mealy moreno here,

2:58 darcy's president, Nurse. Oh,

3:05 say president Paladino

3:13 wrestler here, reilly,

3:16 president Salaam president

3:21 . Justin Sanchez here, Pierina

3:32 Sanchez the here. Thank you

3:35 , santoso so here. Showman.

3:44 Yeah. Stevens. Oh, I'm here.

3:53 Thank you, Thomas Henry,

3:58 president on present vernick

4:13 off. Oh, let's shoot Williams,

4:13 is it Wilson president one

4:31 president.

4:32 Adrienne. Here you are. Yea

4:42 h, car president abroad,

4:47 present speaker men in here

4:54 .thank you. We will not have

4:55 today's invocation, which

4:56 would be delivered by the

4:57 reverend dr. Hamel did of New

5:00 jerusalem worship center

5:01 ,which is located at 1 2 2-0 5

5:04 smith street in queens, all

5:13 right, let us pray for lord,

5:15 our lord. How excellent is

5:16 your name and all the earth,

5:17 father. God, we just thank you

5:20 for allowing us to be here one

5:21 more time, more god as we

5:24 convene and we look to you,

5:24 the author and finisher of our

5:26 faith, father. God bless every

5:27 hard in mind that is here

5:29 within this council meeting

5:31 lead them and guide them

5:34 according to your wisdom,

5:35 knowledge and understanding

5:36 anoint them of fresh lord as

5:40 the look to you, lord god as

5:43 you begin to just show

5:45 yourself mighty. Show yoursel

5:46 fstrong in the midst. We thank

5:48 you. We praise your giving you

5:49 all the honor glory in praise

5:51 in the name of the father, son

5:53 and holy spirit on it

5:59 . When I was very brief, huh?

6:05 Thank you. I would now ex

6:06 counts from a thai hanker

6:08 sense to spreading the

6:09 vacation on the record we get

6:11 things

6:11 . Done. Thank you. A majority

6:13 leader. I would like to think,

6:15 reverend Kamillah spore for

6:17 being here today and I make a

6:19 motion for unanimous consent

6:20 to spread the invocation and

6:21 full upon the record.

6:25 Reverend dr hamel a della

6:26 spore is a lifelong New yorker

6:27 from hollis, queens, shaped by

6:29 the strong community and

6:29 church roots of his upbringing

6:32 raised by his mother, the late

6:34 grace marie branch della spore

6:35 , organist at cornerstone

6:36 baptist church in brooklyn, he

6:39 learned early the volume of

6:40 service, faith and community

6:41 leadership, his virtual

6:42 journey deep into 19 90 when

6:44 he came to faith in christ at

6:46 long island City tabernacle

6:48 under bishop moses taylor he

6:50 pursued biblical training at

6:51 the long island City bible

6:53 institute, earning a

6:54 certificate and evangelism in

6:57 19 95 and later andrea is

6:58 called to ministry in 200

6:59 4license in 2005, a New

7:01 missionary baptist church

7:02 under reverend larry l. Shell,

7:04 he served the youth of his

7:06 community for four years

7:06 investing in the next

7:10 generation. Reverend ellsberg

7:10 contain his development

7:11 through New York theological

7:12 seminary and later through

7:13 advanced academic study

7:15 earning degrees from alliance

7:17 theological seminary, regent

7:18 university in newberg

7:21 theological seminary at the

7:21 New jerusalem worship center

7:22 he has served in numerous

7:24 roles that strengthen both the

7:26 congregation and the

7:27 surrounding community,

7:29 including spiritual

7:30 development coordinator,

7:31 evangelism ministry

7:32 brotherhood ministry,

7:33 transportation ministry and

7:34 personal safety and security

7:35 for bishop and lady rice, his

7:37 leadership is grounded in

7:41 compassion and a commitment t

7:41 ocommunity well being being

7:44 beyond the church he serves as

7:45 community health worker as a

7:47 community health worker and

7:48 the I and also noticed in

7:50 touch institute and as an

7:52 educator with the New yor

7:53 kcity department of education

7:54 at the New heights charter

7:56 school of harlem, continuing

7:57 his lifelong commitment to

7:58 empowering individuals and

8:01 families. Reverend dr hamel a

8:02 della sport and his wife of 34

8:04 years Crystal denise jones,

8:05 sellers for our proud parents

8:07 and grandparents deeply rooted

8:08 in faith, family and community

8:10 and we thank him for being

8:15 here today. Thank you

8:15 the Mayor. None communication

8:20 from City, county and bar

8:21 offices

8:21 . M 84 and reported.

8:27 Petitions and communications

8:28 none lanyards call ups 85 and

8:31 80

8:31 . Six. Thank you as a clerk

8:32 take a roll call vote on

8:34 today's land use.

8:36 Crawl apps how they will I

8:39 vote I areola, I vote, I thank

8:44 you. A village Banks.

8:52 I Brewer? Yes, Brooks Powers

8:58 I cab on.

9:01 I dela Rosa ry janowicz I

9:08 incarnation, I Epstein

9:13 . Farías Felder. Felice I

9:27 panero Gutiérrez, I honey, if

9:32 I Hankerson I thanks. I Hudson

9:40 I Joseph I. Krishnan, I thank

9:50 you, Lee.

9:51 I thank you, lewis, I

10:03 Maloney mart I millie murano,

10:14 I marcie's I Nurse, I vote,

10:20 jose. I would Paladino rustler

10:32 . I

10:32 . Riley salam vote I, Justin

10:39 Sanchez. I Pierina Sanchez

10:43 . Here when you screw ups

10:46 Council Member Sanchez

10:47 . Fluent language.

10:48 Clubs. Oh, sorry, I am here

10:50 and I thank you

10:55 , santoso so I thank you,

11:00 showman, I. Stevens

11:06 . For written on one. The

11:07 room's in there, counselor.

11:12 Meera permission denied

11:14 because there's been no, um,

11:15 there has been no. One who's

11:16 been asked who's been granted

11:18 permission to leave because we

11:19 have a quorum issue today

11:27 cause thank you, councilmember

11:28 when you call ups. Thank you,

11:31 Thomas. Henry I Maloney, I

11:43 thank you. Um I Inna Vernikov

11:50 I would I? Wilson I one. I

12:01 . Wang ivo I huang, I thank

12:12 you. Car I are you? I thank

12:33 you, speaker men I but, uh,

12:50 today's land use call ups are

12:51 adopted by a vote of 40 60

12:53 affirmative and zero in the

12:55 negative. You we will not have

12:58 from speaker Julie Menin

12:59 . You so much. Good afternoon,

13:01 everyone on this very hot and

13:05 hazy day. So this has been a

13:06 very busy week to put it madly

13:09 for the City Council.

13:10 Yesterday we held a hearing on

13:13 romance named after romance

13:15 maha john who tragically died

13:16 after he was thrown from a

13:19 horse drawn carriage in

13:20 central park last month we

13:22 heard very compellin

13:23 gtestimony from his family from

13:27 animal welfare advocates. Some

13:28 Chi w you from drivers

13:30 medallion owners and I really

13:32 first of all want to to thank

13:34 Council Member showman for

13:36 sharing that marathon, I think

13:37 it was 10 hours it clocked in

13:39 at the end 10 hour hearing and

13:42 all the council members who

13:43 turned out and I look forward

13:46 to hearing thoughts from

13:47 additional counsel members as

13:49 we go through this process and

13:50 as we consider any amendments

13:54 and additional language to th

13:54 ebill and thank you to council

13:56 member as well. Um okay, so

14:00 moving along for those

14:02 residents who are small

14:03 business owners we've kept up

14:05 our efforts to make life

14:06 easier for them today. We're

14:08 introducing a bill that I

14:09 . Spend lying on the floor

14:13 ,please. That aims to topple

14:13 the barriers that prevent

14:15 small businesses from

14:16 succeeding this spill would

14:18 establish a quadrennial

14:19 commission, whose

14:21 recommendations would ease

14:21 permitting and licensing

14:23 inspections as well as reduce

14:24 fines and fees we know that

14:26 about 5000 small businesses

14:28 closed last year. So this is

14:31 an urgent, urgent crisis I

14:32 nthat vein. We're voting on

14:34 legislation sponsored by

14:35 council members, which would

14:37 help cut through the maze of

14:40 bureaucratic red tape that

14:41 aspiring business owners are

14:43 forced to navigate as a former

14:45 small business owner myself. I

14:47 really understand that we

14:48 talked to so many small

14:50 business owners and heard from

14:51 them. Some of whom were just

14:52 said it's taking them

14:55 sometimes several years to b

14:56 eable to open their small

14:57 business, so that's not

14:58 acceptable and now the council

15:01 is taking action to address

15:04 that on Tuesday, we announced

15:05 that the council secured $1.5

15:09 million in the budget for

15:11 60000 free swim lessons for an

15:13 additional 3002 graders. Um

15:17 gthe bronx for a number of

15:21 colleagues where we announced

15:23 this, and I think this is so

15:25 incredibly important. It

15:25 builds on the work we did from

15:28 last council I had had a bill

15:29 that a mandated free some

15:31 lessons to evidence every

15:32 single second grader, but in

15:33 the last administration that

15:35 wasn't fully implemented s

15:36 onow we're adding additional

15:39 funding to do that we end,

15:40 this builds on some work tha

15:40 ti had done with Council Member

15:43 Chris and the grey foundation,

15:45 asphalt green where we launch

15:46 a pilot program about a year

15:49 ago, which is already provided

15:51 free some lessons, just 6000

15:52 public schools, second graders

15:56 earlier this morning I was

15:57 thrilled to gather in the

15:58 rettendon with many of you

16:01 where we advocated for our

16:03 paraprofessionals and for the

16:06 respect act proud to be

16:07 wearing this pin on this today

16:09 for our amazing, amazing paris

16:12 first of all want, want t

16:14 othank Council Member Carmen De

16:16 and I have been on a two year

16:18 journey along with the u on

16:21 this important work, and I

16:21 just want to say a word about

16:24 this, our cities prayer

16:25 professionals starting salary

16:27 is $32000 32 thousand 500 to

16:32 be specific, we know our

16:33 parros are helping our most

16:34 special reason source our

16:37 children

16:38 . And really our most

16:38 vulnerable children, those

16:40 with special needs we have

16:45 1600 vacancies at of

16:46 paraprofessionals.

16:46 We are spending $1.5 billion

16:49 a year on carter cases largely

16:52 because in so many classrooms

16:54 there is no pair of

16:55 professional so many of our

16:57 pair of professionals and

16:57 we've heard this literally at

16:59 every single rally. I think we

17:01 did four rallies,

17:03 councilmember dolorosa here

17:04 and high on this issue and at

17:04 every rally we hear fro

17:07 mimpair professionals who

17:08 literally say some of them are

17:09 living in the shelter syste

17:11 msome cannot afford groceries.

17:14 This is unconscionable and so

17:16 today or for hope is that we

17:19 will finally passed

17:20 legislation to address it. I

17:23 want to be clear. Obviously,

17:24 we believe this should be done

17:25 via collective bargaining or

17:27 through the budget, but that

17:28 was not happening. And so we

17:30 the council had to act and so

17:32 I think this is just

17:34 incredibly incredibly

17:37 important that we finally once

17:37 and for all. Give the pay they

17:39 so rightly deserve.

17:43 On a sweeter note. There are

17:44 a few things to look forward

17:45 to. I want to first of all I

17:46 wish very happy early birthday

17:49 to Council Member Justin

17:51 Sanchez his birthday is jul

17:55 y17 tomorrow? Yeah. Tomorrow. A

17:57 happy early birthday to deputy

17:59 with Elsie carnesi on her

18:00 birthday is on the nineteenth

18:02 ,so in a couple of days to

18:05 council members Rita, Joseph

18:06 Tiffany cab on whose birthday

18:08 is on July 24 so

18:13 . So happy. Happy birthday

18:14 this Sunday. I think we're all

18:15 going to be excitedly watching

18:17 as spain and argentina based

18:18 off in the world cup finals

18:21 right across the river at

18:24 metlife stadium over the past

18:25 few weeks. We've been proud to

18:26 continue the long practice of

18:28 welcoming visitors from all

18:30 across the world to our great

18:32 City, seeing their colorful

18:34 jerseys hearing the mix of

18:35 languages all across the fiv

18:36 eboroughs. So that has been in

18:38 just so incredibly exciting t

18:41 osee July 24 is national

18:43 disabilities day, marking the

18:46 36 anniversary of the american

18:48 with disabilities act. We

18:49 remember the decades of

18:51 activism. It took for congress

18:54 to pass this landmark

18:55 legislation, including when

18:57 nearly 60 activists ditch

18:58 their mobility aids dragged

18:59 their bodies up the capitol

19:01 steps and demanded their

19:04 rights thanks to their hard

19:05 work. The quarter of americans

19:06 who are disabled or guaranteed

19:08 the exact same rights to work

19:12 for transit and for access t

19:14 ospace as everyone else and as

19:14 a council. We must continue

19:16 their effort to make our

19:17 nation morequal e for all w

19:20 erefuse special guests in our

19:21 chambers that I'd like to give

19:22 a very warm. Welcome to you

19:24 first the counsel general of

19:26 lithuania as well as the

19:28 lithuanian alliance members

19:31 and associates welcome.

19:34 Welcome,

19:34 so we know New York and let

19:35 the weight and you have a long

19:37 history together, which goes

19:38 back to when our City was the

19:39 entry point for thousands of

19:42 lithuanian immigrants. So we

19:43 really welcome you here today

19:46 and another welcome. We have

19:46 the interns with senator chuck

19:48 schumer's office, so we want

19:50 to welcome you here to the

19:54 chambers welcome and then las

19:55 t. These students in the bronx

19:57 scholars institute at hostas

19:58 college. We welcome you as

20:04 well

20:04 . Okay, we have a busy stated

20:05 agenda first. We're going t

20:06 ovote on a number of land use

20:09 items today, this council is

20:12 taking essential action t

20:13 oaddress our city's housing

20:16 affordability crisis by

20:17 approving land use

20:18 applications that together.