City Council

Thursday, September 24, 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

This stated meeting of the New York City Council on September 24, 2026 opened with an invocation by Rabbi Steven Exler of the Hebrew Institute of Riverdale in the Bronx, introduced by Council Member Eric Dinowitz. The Council voted on land use items, a finance transparency resolution, and legislation including the extension of the J-51 tax abatement program (Intro 1015), a streamlined Fair Fares enrollment process (Intro 248), and a requirement that the Department of Correction return unused commissary funds to people leaving custody (Intro 246). Resolutions passed by voice vote, including calls for a state Center for Fatherhood Initiatives, Korean Cultural Awareness Day, Black Pride Month, and African Immigrant Heritage Month. Members then introduced new bills during general discussion on topics including Legionella testing, 9/11 survivor assistance, veterinary price transparency, tree planting, delivery worker safe time, and tenant protections. No public comment was given.

Transcript

0:48 A moment

0:48 , are. Could I have your

0:49 attention, please, at this

0:51 time, please place all of

0:53 china devices electronic

0:55 devices to vibrate.

0:58 Majority leader's videos.

1:03 Good afternoon and welcome t

1:04 othe stated meeting of

1:06 September 24 2026 I am

1:07 majority to Shaun Abreu I'd

1:08 like to thank you for joining

1:09 us as a reminded the core must

1:10 be respected at all times if

1:14 you would like to follow along

1:14 the agenda for today's meeting

1:15 is posted on our web site on

1:17 behalf of the body. I welcome

1:19 the members of the public who

1:20 have joined us today during

1:21 the state meetings, all the

1:22 members of the council speak,

1:25 members of the public shall

1:26 remain silent if you wish t

1:27 oexpress your support of any

1:29 remarks you make the silent

1:31 approval gesture. Thank you.

1:35 Please join us for the pledge

1:55 of allegiance roll call held

2:00 the ball here.

2:03 Arriola present Avilés Banks

2:15 president.

2:16 Brewer Brooks Powers

2:17 president. Come on, dela Rosa

2:28 here. Inuits. Here,

2:33 Encarnación. President Epstein

2:35 present Farías president felt

2:44 her here. Police here present

2:56 genero Gutiérrez, honey.

3:06 Hankerson.

3:06 Thanks present

3:08 president Joseph Krishnan her,

3:26 e, plead here. Lewis present

3:35 Maloney.

3:36 Present martin president

3:46 Mealy moretto here. Darcy's

3:52 here, Nurse here, jose.

4:00 Paladino here. Wrestler

4:10 reilly, president Salaam

4:14 president.

4:15 Justin Sanchez here. Pierina

4:17 gina Sanchez presented

4:21 . Santos whoa! So here.

4:27 Showman. Yeah.

4:28 Stevens still here. Thomas

4:33 Henry, president on president

4:41 Inna Vernikov I'm here, will

4:50 soon president one here, one

4:57 present. Shuang yeah, car

5:04 present a bridge. Ooh, present

5:05 speaker men in here. Thank you

5:11 will now have today's a

5:13 vacation, which would be

5:14 delivered by rabbi steven

5:16 extra of by it hebrew

5:18 institute of riverdale, which

5:19 is located at 30700 Henry

5:21 Hudson parkway in the bronx

5:31 . I rise as a constituent

5:33 friend and admirer of council

5:35 member Eric Dinowitz the

5:38 deepest. Thanks. Let us pray.

5:43 Hello? Hey! I will halt the

5:46 whole besa god who bestows

5:47 your spirit upon all flesh

5:51 bring your blessing upon the

5:52 elected legislators of this

5:56 body, the City Council of the

5:57 great City of New York upon

5:59 its speaker and deputy speaker

6:02 , leader and all members grant

6:07 our legislators, the wisdom,

6:09 strength and moral force

6:12 . To faithfully represent

6:15 their constituents and to hear

6:16 their own inner voices so that

6:19 they might make laws that are

6:20 fair and just for all citizen

6:23 senshrining their freedoms and

6:26 promoting their health well

6:27 being and flourishing as

6:31 children of the creator of us

6:34 all. Grant our legislators,

6:36 the sacred chutzpah to reach

6:39 across the aisle and forge

6:42 compromises for the greater

6:46 good for what unites us is

6:48 truly greater than what

6:52 divides us.

6:52 25 Years after the most

6:55 hateful acts our City has

6:58 known and just two days before

6:59 the jewish holiday of suit

7:01 coat the feast of booths in

7:05 which jewish tradition

7:06 understands that the ultimate

7:08 sukar, the ultimate dwelling

7:11 is the sukha shalom, the

7:13 canopy of peace, we ask you

7:17 god to guide our city's

7:19 council members in making this

7:21 City, New York City a canopy

7:25 of peace and welcome for all

7:30 its inhabitants living free of

7:31 prejudice and fear a model

7:34 City for all cities of civil

7:38 discourse and civic friendshi

7:41 pof righteousness and justice

7:45 of love and loving kindness, a

7:48 City of peace

7:50 . Let us say I'm in. Thank you

7:57 rab,bi dexter. I will now ask

8:00 counselor erik to spread the

8:01 indication on the record.

8:04 Thank you, majority leader

8:07 . Rabbi steven excellent

8:08 serves a senior rabbi

8:11 . The he brings to the river

8:12 dale the bite a large orthodox

8:14 synagogue in the bronx know

8:18 for inclusivity and welcome

8:19 and community building for

8:20 people of all backgrounds, and

8:23 it is very easy for anyone in

8:24 a large group of large

8:27 congregation to lost, maybe

8:30 not feel at home when the

8:34 senior rabbi of the

8:34 institution greets everyone

8:36 with a warm embrace, both

8:40 figurative and literal it

8:41 means that everyone has a home

8:44 in the bite and it is one of

8:45 the most, and he is leading

8:47 one of the most incredible

8:50 congregations, I think in our

8:52 entire City it is felt in the

8:54 air every time I go t

8:56 oservices there every time I

8:57 bring my children there his

9:01 ordination is from yes

9:04 trovatore rabbinical school

9:05 and he's a bronx resident for

9:08 23 years, he's proud to cal

9:09 lhimself a New yorker, and I am

9:12 proud to call him a

9:13 constituent, a constituent

9:14 that I call on often to guide

9:17 me in jewish matters, both

9:21 large and small. Even the

9:23 tiniest of rabbinical

9:24 questions I know I can call it

9:25 him on any time, and I want t

9:30 oeven thank him today for

9:30 teaching us all a New term

9:34 sacred hot spot. Someone had

9:35 never hurt and I make a motion

9:38 for unanimous consent to

9:39 spread the invocation in full

9:40 upon the record. Thank you,

9:45 councilmember, we will now ask

9:46 counsel, mr Amanda Farías for

9:48 the adoption of minutes. I

9:49 . Make a motion that the

9:50 minutes of the stated meeting

9:52 of September 1020 26 h

9:54 eadopted us printed

9:57 . Messages and papers from the

10:00 Mayor. None communication from

10:01 City, county and borrow.

10:02 Offices. None petitions of

10:06 communications

10:06 . None lanyards, callebs none,

10:10 thank you will now have

10:10 communication from speaker

10:13 Julie Menin

10:14 . Afternoon, everyone on

10:15 Tuesday, the council hosted a

10:17 climate with climate week

10:19 City where more than 100000st

10:26 people from around the world

10:28 came together to advance

10:30 solutions for a more

10:31 sustainable and safer futur

10:35 eas activists sound alarms of

10:36 despair. It's up to us as

10:38 government officials to

10:40 respond with action and play a

10:42 leading part in the fight

10:44 against climate change back in

10:46 the City Council passed a law

10:49 to increase water quality

10:49 testing and created an

10:50 advisory board to develop a

10:53 wildlife management plan and

10:54 in this year's budget we

10:56 allocated funding to support

10:57 cornell tech and launch the

10:59 generative canopy project

11:02 investing a quarter of a

11:04 million dollars to protect New

11:04 yorkers from extreme heat and

11:07 bring environmental justice t

11:09 othe streets that we walk.

11:10 On the in particular, this

11:13 project is going to focus on

11:15 Eric regions that role and the

11:18 first ones are hunts point in

11:19 longwood and Council Member

11:22 sanchez's district. He's New

11:23 York and parts of council

11:24 member Banks and nurses

11:27 districts, corona and elmer's

11:28 in parts of Council Member

11:31 Thomas Henry Krishnan nuns

11:33 districts. The initiative is

11:34 going to map the location of

11:35 each tree in the five boroughs

11:37 as well as the cooling effect

11:39 that they have will inform

11:42 where it's most effective to

11:43 plant trees and these efforts

11:45 serve as just one example of

11:47 the many ways that we are

11:48 working on building it is

11:49 safer and healthier City as

11:53 part of the budget we passed

11:54 in the council secured the

11:57 largest expansion of fair

11:58 fares program in its history

12:02 so that residents earning up

12:03 to 200% of the federal poverty

12:06 line will soon qualify for

12:08 half price transit discounts

12:09 on the bus on the subway and

12:13 on paratransit. This expansion

12:14 now means that nearly New

12:17 yorkers can focus on where

12:19 they're going and not if they

12:20 can afford to get there while

12:22 this was a major victory for

12:25 transit, affordability and

12:25 something that counsel truly

12:28 prioritize. We still recognize

12:29 that there are unnecessary

12:31 barriers. General ing in the

12:34 program. As I said in during

12:35 our fair fair's oversight

12:37 hearing a 40% enrollment rate

12:40 is a failing grade, especially

12:43 for such a vital program. So

12:44 among the bills that we're

12:45 voting on today when the

12:48 Council Member Crystal Hudson

12:50 will mandate streamlined

12:52 process to enroll in fair

12:54 pairs. This effort effort is

12:55 even more important, given

12:57 that 340000 additional New

13:00 yorkers are now eligible due

13:02 to the expansion that the

13:03 council push for in the budge

13:05 t. Another bill introduced by

13:06 Council Member Pierina will

13:09 extend the one tax abatement

13:12 for certain co ops, condos and

13:15 rental buildings benefiting up

13:18 to 300000 of them this

13:19 legislation will make it

13:20 easier to preserve and

13:22 retrofit our city's stock of

13:24 aging buildings at a time when

13:25 the cost of the housing has

13:28 truly skyrocketed, making it

13:30 more affordable to complete

13:31 repairs without shifting the

13:32 burden onto tenets. Speaking

13:36 of affordability to counsel

13:37 also had a very significant

13:39 announcement yesterday. I was

13:40 so thrilled that so many

13:41 colleagues were able to join,

13:42 we announce that we allocated

13:44 more than $25 million t

13:48 obellevue hospital to modernize

13:50 and expand their adult

13:52 psychiatric department. Our

13:53 funding is going to add

13:56 approximately 40 inpatient

13:57 beds, helping the hospital

13:59 ?yes.

14:00 Yes, thank you,

14:01 councilmember Maloney for

14:02 leading the cheering on. This

14:03 is very important project

14:05 helping the hospital fulfill

14:06 its function is a primary

14:09 psychiatric institution for

14:10 lower manhattan and really

14:11 unparalleled in the City. Last

14:14 year alone, bellevue treated

14:15 more than 11000 adult

14:18 psychiatric emergency patients

14:19 with that unit operating at

14:24 98% occupancy. No New yorkers

14:25 should be forced to linger in

14:26 pain during the most

14:28 vulnerable moments, let alone

14:29 in a crowded emergency room,

14:33 they should be met with

14:33 immediate care and that's what

14:35 this investment will hel

14:36 pensure on the subject of

14:38 health Sunday was national

14:40 opioid awareness day and

14:42 Sunday the 29 is world heart

14:47 day, 80% of premature

14:48 cardiovascular deaths can be

14:50 prevented by mitigating key

14:52 risk factors, so talk to your

14:53 doctor and check out the world

14:55 heart federation website t

14:59 olearn more switching gears. We

14:59 have some special observers

15:01 with us here today, so on your

15:03 way in this morning. You have

15:04 noticed student art adjoining

15:07 the pretender. This was all

15:09 due to six student artists, so

15:10 I'd like to thank the New York

15:12 City arts in education

15:14 roundtable for setting this u

15:18 p

15:18 . We also have brothers from

15:19 iota phi beta here on

15:24 September 9 1963 at morgan

15:25 state college. 12 Men form the

15:28 fraternity based on the values

15:31 of scholarship, leadership,

15:33 citizenship, fidelity and

15:34 brotherhood since then, the

15:36 organization has grown to over

15:38 300 chapters and has initiated

15:40 over 75000 members, making it

15:44 one of the nation's largest

15:47 predominantly african american

15:48 social service fraternities,

15:50 you are our future and we hope

15:50 that you will pursue public

15:53 service beyond college, so

15:54 thank you so much for being

16:01 here, we also have some

16:03 celebration so happy birthday,

16:03 jj, you councilmember Farah

16:06 lewis, who celebrates tomorrow

16:10 and a Council Member Chris

16:12 Banks, will celebrate his day

16:12 on the thirtieth.

16:17 And lastly to cook starts at

16:19 sundown tomorrow for seven

16:20 days jewish people across the

16:22 world to eat, relax and recite

16:24 blessings in their circus.

16:25 It's a joyous holiday

16:26 celebrating the harvest time,

16:27 and I want to wish all jewish

16:29 New York New yorkers observing

16:33 hoxie, mac, now we're going t

16:34 omove on to our stated agenda

16:35 first. We're going to vote on

16:36 the following land use items 8

16:40 15 hutchison river parkway

16:41 rezoning

16:42 . Will facilitate the

16:43 conversion of portions of anne

16:45 existing commercial shopping

16:46 center for retail uses that

16:47 are not permitted under the

16:49 current zoning in council

16:50 member Shirley al duval's

16:54 district 8 6 2- 8 6 8 kent

16:56 avenue rezoning will

16:56 facilitate the development of

16:59 two residential buildings with

17:01 75 residential units, 18 of

17:02 which will be income

17:03 restricted pursuant to me and

17:06 community facilities space to

17:07 include a synagogue and

17:08 Council Member Lincoln rester

17:11 his district, the council will

17:13 disapprove an application by

17:15 cali to goddess bakery and

17:17 restaurant for a revocable

17:17 consent to operate a sidewalk

17:19 cafe and council members

17:20 by council members Sandy Nurse

17:28 would rip certain building

17:29 setback restrictions along

17:31 portions of eastern parkway

17:32 between rockaway, both avenue

17:33 and bushwick avenue. Next

17:37 we're going to vote on the

17:37 following finance items at

17:40 transparency resolution

17:41 approving New designations and

17:44 changes of certain

17:45 organizations receiving

17:45 funding in the expense budge

17:49 ttoday we were also vote on the

17:50 following pieces of

17:53 legislation resolution 184 or

17:54 sponsored by Council Member

17:56 Amanda farriers would declare

17:59 October 3 is korean cultural

18:00 awareness day annually in the

18:01 City of New York to

18:02 commemorate the myth beginning

18:04 of the korean people and to

18:06 celebrate their continued

18:08 cried in their shared ancestry

18:11 resolution six or six

18:13 sponsored by Council Member

18:14 out these Stevens would

18:14 declare the month of as black

18:16 pride month in the City of New

18:18 York recognizing the legacy of

18:20 New York City black pride

18:22 movement of uplifting the

18:25 black plus community and it's

18:28 continuing contributions to

18:29 creating a more equitable New

18:32 York City resolution 607, also

18:34 sponsored by Council Member

18:35 out these Stevens would

18:36 declare the month of as

18:39 african immigrant heritage

18:40 month in the City of New York

18:42 she celebrate the

18:43 contributions made by african

18:45 immigrants to New York City

18:46 and to the united states.

18:48 Thank you to regina, pa

18:50 introduction hundred 42 Kevin

18:54 Riley would call on the New

18:56 York state legislature to pas

18:57 sand the governor to sign