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Council Member Ben Kallos Statement on Intro 495

Council Member Ben Kallos Statement on Intro 495

 

New York, NY – Council Member Ben Kallos (D-Manhattan) came out strongly against Intro 495 this morning at a hearing on the legislation, issuing the following statement:

"Introduction 495, is not waste equity, it is waste inequity. 

Rather than relieving burdens on environmental justice communities, it simply creates new environmental justice communities.

Introduction 495 will: 

• Arbitrarily spread harms to create new environmental justice communities; 

• Unequally distribute waste, capping some communities, but not others, with a hidden loophole allowing an unlimited burden for districts with a Marine Transfer Station; and

• Ignore real solutions of reduction and recycling.

 

New York Post NYC City Council Schedules Hear Over Airbnb Safety Concerns by Bruce Golding

http://nypost.com/2015/01/12/nyc-city-council-schedules-hearing-over-airbnb-safe...

City Council members want to grill the subletting service Airbnb about fears renters could die in a fire while struggling to flee an unfamiliar apartment.

“We need to ensure Airbnb is not putting profit over people by allowing listings that cram too many tourists into apartments far too small to guarantee their safe escape from danger,” said Councilman Ben Kallos (D-Upper East Side).

The council’s Housing and Buildings Committee has scheduled a Jan. 20 hearing over “short-term rentals” arranged through Airbnb and other sites.

In a recent affidavit, an FDNY official said that, unlike hotels, apartments being illegally used for “transient occupancy” don’t offer visitors a “detailed fire-safety and evacuation plan.”

An Airbnb spokesman said the company was “eager to participate” in the hearing, and insisted, “We take safety seriously.”

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