Thursday, August 13, 2026, 10:30 a.m. (New York City time), 250 Broadway - 8th Floor - Hearing Room 1
Committee: Committee on Housing and Buildings
The Committee on Housing and Buildings met to vote on Introduction 839-A, which would make the Certification of No Harassment (CONH) program permanent and expand its criteria. The chair described the program, created in 2018, as a tool to deter owners from using construction to harass and displace tenants, and said the bill responds to reports of landlords threatening immigrant tenants with ICE reports. She outlined provisions expanding the definition of harassment, monitoring buildings with the same owners as those with harassment findings, creating incentives to clear violations, and clarifying that basic maintenance remains allowed. The committee approved the bill by a vote of nine in the affirmative, zero in the negative, and one abstention, as read aloud by the clerk.
0:09 Morning and welcome to today's
0:09 New York City Council vote on
0:12 committee and housing and
0:14 buildings at this time during
0:15 today's vote no 1 approach the
0:19 dais. Please silence any
0:20 electronic devices that you
0:21 have a chair. You begin. Thank
0:25 you, sergeant, and good
0:27 morning. Good morning
0:28 ,everyone. I am counsel member
0:31 still mourning. I am council
0:31 member gina Sanchez, chair of
0:32 the committee on housing and
0:34 buildings today. The committee
0:34 will be voting on intro number
0:37 8 39 a, which would make the
0:38 certification of no harassment
0:40 program permanent and add
0:41 criteria for inclusion of
0:42 certain buildings in that
0:45 program, every tenant deserves
0:45 to live free from harassment,
0:48 regardless of their
0:48 citizenship status in New York
0:50 City. It is unlawful for
0:51 landlords to retaliate against
0:53 tenants for exercising their
0:54 rights as tenants when a
0:55 tenant is suffering from a rat
0:57 infestation in their apartment
0:58 , for example, it is unlawful
1:00 for the lieutenant harassment
1:02 for the landlord. Excuse me t
1:03 opunish them for calling 311
1:06 today as the federal
1:06 government carries out a
1:07 program of mass deportation
1:09 and intimidation. Immigrant
1:10 New yorkers are particularly
1:12 vulnerable to threats of
1:14 retaliation they face
1:14 dangerous and unique forms of
1:16 harassment, and here in our
1:17 City. We have unfortunately
1:18 seen a pattern of mistreatmen
1:20 t, for example, a landlord who
1:22 threatened to call ice on an
1:26 undocumented tenant was fined
1:27 $17000 after are h r complaint
1:29 , a queens and long island
1:30 based management company
1:31 agreed to pay $55000 after
1:33 state officials found that the
1:35 company posted a sign in its
1:37 lobby, encouraging tenants t
1:38 oreport immigrants to federal
1:41 authorities and in sunnyside,
1:42 queens. There were reports of
1:44 being harassed, intimidated
1:45 and even threatened with
1:47 deportation simply for
1:47 requesting basic repairs at a
1:50 time when the federal
1:51 government is targeting
1:52 immigrant communities. We must
1:53 ensure that all of our
1:54 neighbors reiveecd the
1:56 strongest possible protections
1:58 . Today, the council will vote
1:59 on 8 39 a, which will make the
2:02 certification of no harassment
2:03 program permanent and stronger
2:05 ceo and created in 20 18 to
2:08 deter owners from using
2:09 construction to harass and
2:10 displaced sentence from their
2:13 homes and after two successfu
2:15 lpilots have proven itself t
2:16 obe useful for identifying high
2:18 risk buildings and deterring
2:19 bad actors. Today we build on
2:21 that success by codifying h as
2:23 a permanent tool in the city's
2:25 enforcement tool kit,
2:27 specifically the bill will
2:28 respond to to rising reports
2:30 of landlord's threatening to
2:31 call ice on their tenants by
2:32 expanding the definition of
2:35 harassment the bill will
2:36 monitor problematic portfolios
2:37 by reviewing all buildings
2:38 that have the same owner as
2:40 those with findings of
2:42 harassment and the bill will
2:44 create stronger incentives t
2:45 oclear violations by allowing
2:46 buildings to exit the program
2:48 only if those owners are
2:50 significantly improving living
2:51 conditions for their tenants.
2:54 Finally, this bill will
2:54 clarify that basic maintenance
2:56 continues to be allowed
2:57 without delay for any building
2:58 in the program and colleagues.
3:00 This is the thing that will be
3:01 lodged at you about this
3:04 legislation. Oh, now we can't
3:05 do basic repairs because of
3:09 the
3:09 . Repairs are still allowed.
3:11 We're talking about changes t
3:12 oa building to a a residents
3:16 that are have been used in the
3:17 past to harass tenants before
3:21 we vote. I just want to take a
3:22 moment to acknowledge first,
3:24 the coalition ofdvoc aates
3:25 whose testimony and
3:26 partnership made this
3:28 legislation possible 10 years
3:29 ago and also today, especially
3:32 annie and the team who have
3:34 stewarded this program through
3:35 its pilot phases and
3:37 negotiated this legislation
3:37 and good faith and former
3:40 Council Member, then
3:40 comptroller and future
3:43 congressman a brad lander, who
3:44 led the passage of the
3:44 original ceo and h pilot back
3:47 in 20 18. I'd also like t
3:48 othank the housing and
3:49 buildings a committee staff
3:50 austin malone, billy ac, mark
3:53 ehole, rhoda noah's and
3:58 mohammed shadid and finally
3:59 I'd like to think.ake t take
4:00 this opportunity to thank my
4:02 team, especially deputy chief
4:04 of staff ben ratner, who held
4:05 this piece of legislation as
4:07 your legislative baby.
4:11 Congratulations. Our deputy
4:11 chief can castellano, district
4:12 director maria jose mary's
4:15 gerard fernandez. Our schedule
4:16 for dylan campos, our fellow
4:18 ,our district team soraya bania
4:19 and arianna acevedo and our
4:20 intern who is here today
4:24 . You are all here today. I'm
4:25 so excited to have you? You
4:25 saw what it took to get here.
4:26 Thank you for your role in
4:28 this and with that. Thank you
4:30 unless colleagues have any
4:31 comments I'd like to ask the
4:32 clerk to call the roll. Oh,
4:37 yes. Thank you. Good morning
4:38 ,william martin, committee
4:38 clerk roll call vote committee
4:39 on housing and buildings
4:41 proposed introduction. 809 A
4:44 chair arena. Sanchez I, Riley
4:54 felice ah.
4:54 Abre u I congratulations
4:57 counselor with Sanchez Hudson
5:06 I, Joseph Williams.
5:07 How about I
5:13 . Say, huang
5:16 . I want to abstain my vote.
5:22 Maloney I Wilson, I vote? Aye.
5:26 What? The vote of nine in the
5:27 affirmative. Zero the negative
5:27 and one abstention item has
5:29 been approved by the committee
5:37 . Okay. Thank you all so very
5:37 much. Thank you colleagues for
5:39 your support, this