It is one of the most like-minded — and liberal — legislative bodies in the nation. The New York City Council, in lockstep with Mayor de Blasio, aims to make the city a model for progressive government.
So, six months into its term, how is the council, led by Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, spending its time?
On the expensive and comical.
With little debate, it passed a $75 billion budget, 7% more than last year, including $50 million in member items for each council member’s pet causes. But besides throwing money at things, the council’s legislative record is rather meager.
■ A major piece of legislation that Mark-Viverito took up as a personal crusade is the new identification card for residents of New York City. Intended as a form of ID for undocumented aliens, transgender people or anyone else who for whatever reason doesn’t possess legal proof of identity, the municipal ID card has been presented as a means of integrating a shadowed community of New Yorkers into society.
Council member Danny Dromm, the lead sponsor of the muni ID bill, has repeatedly said that the card will become the “must-have accessory” for all “real” New Yorkers. Councilmember Mark Weprin echoed this sentiment, saying during the vote on the bill that “we live in the coolest city in the world, right? And now we’re going to have a membership card, and people will want to be part of that club.”
All this is a smoke screen — the council knows the only people who will consider using the card are the undocumented workers for whom it is primarily intended. Except unlawful migrants will likely shun the card, since it will essentially become a scarlet letter advertising the bearer’s illegal status.
Dromm is undeterred. He intends to reintroduce a bill from last session that would expand voting in local elections to all residents of the city, regardless of citizenship or legal immigration status. (Dromm insists only “legal immigrants” will be covered). Why worry about being deported when you can legally vote?
■ A signal package of legislation that the council pushed forward, entirely at the behest of the mayor, is “Vision Zero,” which aims to reduce traffic fatalities. But the results are rather pedestrian. For instance, Local Law 29 increases the penalty for failing to yield to someone crossing the street: It is now a misdemeanor to hit someone with your car and injure them. Local Law 23 establishes the definition of “work zone” on bridges and mandates “a review of guidelines and best practices with regard to work zone safety on bridges.” These laws sound worthwhile, but presenting them as a major feat of progressive social engineering that will eliminate traffic deaths seems overblown.
■ Leave it to the City Council to throw a couple ridiculous crusades into the mix. Council member Peter Koo, who was born in China, wants all textbook references to the Sea of Japan also to call it the “East Sea.” Indicted council member Ruben Wills has introduced a law to establish a nine-member Cricket Task Force to promote the sport in the city. Neither has passed (yet).
■ The new budget may not raise taxes, but that doesn’t mean the City Council isn’t trying to nickle and dime in other ways. Council member Brad Lander wants the city’s stores to start levying a 10-cent fee (which the stores will keep) for every bag they give customers to carry their stuff out of the store. Handleless bags for use inside the store, such as for produce, are exempt, as are bags for pharmacy prescriptions. It hasn’t come to a vote yet.
■ Perhaps the biggest piece of legislation was overriding Michael Bloomberg’s veto of the paid-sick-leave bill and passing an expanded version of the bill.
The original bill covered businesses with 15 or more employees, while the new bill included businesses with as few as five employees. The revisions were made hastily, with a regulatory “blank check” given to the administration regarding implementation of the new law.
A number of council members expressed concern that while the original bill had been carefully negotiated with the business community, the new expanded law was rushed through with little regard for the concerns of the proprietors of small businesses, such as dry cleaners or lunch counters, which may employ five or six workers. For these businesspeople in low-margin industries, the expense of providing five sick days a year for each worker could result in the laying off of workers or in the cutting-back of hours.
The original bill was passed by Christine Quinn, and one wonders if the progressives — rankled that she would get credit — expanded the provision recklessly out of pride.
Now council member Jumaane Williams wants to push it even further, introducing a bill that would require all employers in New York City to give their workers paid vacation time. Workers with five years of employment would be eligible for three weeks paid leave per year, with the right to carry over unused time, and the right to be paid for unused time.
It’s a sign of thing to come. The debate in New York is not between liberals and conservatives. It’s between the left and the even further left. And we’re only six months in.
Seth Barron runs citycouncilwatch.net, an investigative Web site focusing on local New York City politics.