Assemblyman
Andrew Hevesi

70-50 Austin St. Suite 110
Forest Hills, NY 11375
(718) 263-5595

hevesia@assembly.state.ny.us

Construction in New York City has reached a historic pace and many communities have been negatively affected by the unsafe practices of a minority of contractors that continue to incur hazardous violations at their work sites.

Construction in New York City has reached a historic pace and many communities have been negatively affected by the unsafe practices of a minority of contractors that continue to incur hazardous violations at their work sites. Some of the most pervasive hazardous condition violations range from the execution of work sites plans that are contrary to plans approved by the Department of Buildings (DOB); illegal conversions from one family homes to four or more family dwellings; failure to adequately store combustible material; and the failure of supervisors on site to protect the facades of adjacent buildings during excavation projects. These and other hazardous work site conditions pose a threat not only to the safety of the workers on site, but to our communities and the general public.

A.7755 is designed to ensure that the Department of Buildings (DOB) oversees and requires resolution of hazardous conditions on building, excavation, and demolition sites. It mandates periodic inspections of work sites that have incurred a hazardous violation and establishes an array of actions, to be taken by the DOB, against owners that have a hazardous conditions violation on their property. These actions include the issuance of successive violations, stop-work orders, legal proceedings instituted by the corporation counsel, and the imposition of tax liens on the property.

This bill equips the DOB with the necessary tools and guidelines to monitor and abate the pervasive pattern of hazardous work site conditions. Specifically, it mandates that the Department of Buildings commissioner re-inspect work sites that have been found to be in violation of public safety standards by the Environmental Control Board (ECB) every sixty days until the owner’s Certificate of Correction has been approved by the ECB. In addition, this bill also specifies that, in the event that the hazardous condition persists for sixty days after an initial violation has been issued, the DOB commissioner is required to not only issue a subsequent violation, but must also issue a stop work order or call for the institution of legal proceedings by the corporation counsel. Finally, this legislation provides that, if none of the aforementioned actions have caused the owner to address the hazardous violation and the ECB issues a judgment to this effect, the commissioner may apply a tax lien on the property.

If you would like more information about the specifics provisions of these bills or their progress, please call either myself or my legislative director, Ashley Pillsbury, at (518) 455-4926.

A.614 This bill is designed to combat domestic violence and protect the lives and safety of crime victims by establishing a criminal penalty for those who prevent telephone calls or electronic requests for emergency assistance.

A.7088 This bill is designed to amend the definition of endangering the welfare of a vulnerable person to include assault against anyone over 70. This legislation was introduced in March in response to the brutal attacks of two elderly women in Queens.

A.9245 This bill provides for the payment of disability benefits to employees who take family leave, either to bond with a child under the age of one, or to care for a sick relative.

A. 2126 This bill increases the personal needs allowance of certain residents of residential health care facilities to one hundred dollars per month.

A. 8679 This bill creates the new crimes of sex trafficking and labor trafficking, and provides a mechanism to allow victims of human trafficking who are currently ineligible to receive social services to qualify for assistance.

A. 6247A This bill allows a private property owner in New York City to post a sign stating that advertisements and solicitations shall not be placed on this property and creates a civil penalty of between $250 and $1000 for each violation.

A.3794 This bill is designed to require the state Department of Health to collect information on pharmaceutical company expenditures incurred in the marketing of prescription drugs and to create a free guide on pharmaceutical drug manufacturer and wholesaler gifts to health care providers in order to inform consumers.

A.4856 This act is designed to amend the penal law and the correction law, in relation to sex offenses committed against children under 12 years of age and sex offenses committed by persons 21 years old or older against children under 14 years of age; to amend the correction law, in relation to requiring electronic monitoring of sex offenders convicted of such offenses against a child; to repeal subdivision 3 of section 130.35 of the penal law relating to rape of a child less than 11 years old; and to repeal subdivision 3 of section 130.50 of the penal law relating to a criminal sexual act with a child less than 11 years old.

A. 239 This bill provides that a negative resolution by a community board is presumptive evidence against the issuance of certain retail licenses for on-premises consumption.

A.3225 This bill directs the board of elections in New York City to furnish voting materials in Russian as well as in English.

A.3414A This legislation establishes the New York state greenhouse gases management research and development program.

A. 3496 This bill enacts the "dignity for all students act" to prevent harassment and discrimination.

The Greenstreets program, launched in 1996, is a citywide program designed to convert paved, vacant traffic islands and medians into green spaces filled with shade trees, flowering trees, groundcover, and shrubs. The city has planted 2,205 Greenstreet sites throughout the five boroughs since 1996. The budget allocations in PlaNYC provide dedicated funding for $2.7 million in 2007 and $3.2 million in 2008, which will allow the city to plant 80 new sites per year.

The city also allocated $25 million annually to eliminate the backlog of tree stumps and plant trees in every possible planting site.

If you have any suggestions for areas where new greenstreets could be placed, or locations of open tree pits, I would ask that you contact my office with the addresses of these sites. I look forward to your help.

I have learned a lot about our community and the ideas and concerns of the people living our my neighborhood through these responses. If you have concerns on either a community or a statewide level, please feel free to let me know your thoughts by mailing back this response card. I am also working on generating e-mail updates. If you would like to receive e-mails, please include your e-mail address and check the boxes of topics you would be interested in receiving updates on. I thank you in advance for your time and allowing me to continue to serve as your representative in Albany.