Press Releases

“The City Record is the most important newsletter you've never read. City contracts, public meetings and notices of major changes to our city's structure are routinely published in a hard edition, but not in a machine-readable format online -- until now. I am proud to have passed legislation unlocking searchable public information -- a treasure trove for those who want to better understand the city or simply need access to current information that affects them,” said Council Member Ben Kallos. “Thanks to the Mayor for recognizing the essential importance of the City Record and BetaNYC and other civic partners for working to make this legislation into a reality. New Yorkers must be able to find the updates that affect them in a format that they use."

Council Member Ben Kallos announced a new vision for the East River Esplanade including a new master plan and investment from public/private partnership with Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) has agreed to invest in the East River Esplanade as part of a ULURP voted on by the New York City Council Thursday, that was negotiated between his Council office and HSS.

Reduction of Paperwork and Waste Targeted to Increase Number of Benefits Recipients and
Generate over a Billion Dollars for New York City’s Economy

More than a half  million New Yorkers would have improved access to government benefits under legislation introduced today by Council Member Ben Kallos, Chair of the Governmental Operations Committee. According to the legislation, benefits would be provided automatically and renewed based on information the government already has from applications and forms to increase efficiency and reduce bureaucracy. Among the proposed reforms include a requirement that whenever a city agency receives an application for one benefit, the agency would must work with the person to determine eligibility for additional benefits.

• Summary of Legislation
• Legislative Text
• Resolution Text

“The city must not stand in the way of progress when it comes to technology. Banning a technology company’s growth, before study or investigation, sends the wrong message to startups. Instead, New York City should be attracting top tech talent and entrepreneurs as a safe place to do business and invest, if we are to truly be a city of the future.