By Kim Velsey 9/19/12 11:32am

Pet Peeves

Sad puppy. (utterlycute.com)

Pet Politics: City Council Considers Animal Abuser Registry

Some might say it’s only puppy love, but councilman Peter Vallone Jr. is counting on a deep reserve of animal love to pass a City Council bill that would create an animal abuse registry—making New York City the largest jurisdiction in the country with such a database.

“It’s modeled after the sex offender registry,” Mr. Vallone said. “If you’re on the registry, you would not be able to adopt or buy a pet in the city. This list would be provided electronically to all animals stores, shelters and law enforcement agencies.”

Mr. Vallone introduced the bill—co-sponsored by council members Vincent Gentile and Elizabeth Crowley—to the council this month, saying that he had been inspired after a case last year in Astoria in which “a punk on Steinway Street threw a little dog out the window to its death.”

“It really outraged the community and got us to think what we could do,” the Queens councilman said. Read More

By Matt Chaban 7/25/12 6:39pm

Road Rage

ped_struck_II

Is the NYPD Letting Drivers Get Away With Murder? City Council Wants More Accident Investigations

Each year, there are upwards of 3,500 serious injuries resulting from traffic accidents. The NYPD has ten times as many officers, yet it only assigns 19 of them to look into such incidents and investigates less than 1 in 10 as a result. Even then, investigations take place only when those involved are dead or believed to be dying. Sometimes they die without an investigation because on the scene, officers believe the injured will make it.

Members of the City Council and families who have lost relatives on the road arrived on the steps of City Hall this morning to decry what they consider a lack of enforcement and announce the introduction of a set of bills and resolutions they hope will impel the police department and the Bloomberg administration to take action. Read More

By Eddie Small 4/16/12 8:52pm

Troubling Developments

Elisha Otis demonstrating his first elevator. How much has changed?

After a Decade and Two Deaths, the City Council Gets Serious About Elevator Safety

The hearing room was full and the overflow room was overflowing at the New York City Council’s offices at 250 Broadway this afternoon. Maybe it was the fact that this was the first elevator safety hearing since two New Yorkers lost their lives in elevators in the past year. Maybe it was the fact that this was the first oversight hearing on elevator safety since 2003.

This in a city where most people live and work in high-rise, all serviced by some 60,000 elevators.

The main issue of the afternoon was two new elevator safety bills proposed by the council: one that would require existing elevators to be furnished with more safety devices and another that would require elevator workers to be licensed.

“We require licensing of our plumbers. We require licensing of our electricians. And the lack of elevator licensing is a major loophole,” said councilmember James Vacca, a sponsor of the licensing bill. “It is also a threat to the safety of millions of New Yorkers.” Read More

By Andrew Wood 7/15/11 6:40pm

Anti-Ffiti Legislation

Photo by Ian Reid for Getty Images

War on Graffiti Rages On

On July 1st, Councilman Peter Vallone’s newest piece of anti-graffiti legislation went into effect. The new bill, which prohibits the purchase and installation of new roll-down security gates (a classic canvas for graffiti) on city storefronts, took the Councilman five years to get passed. “This bill is one of the things I am most proud Read More

By Azi Paybarah 7:26pm

For Twenty Dollars, Be Peter Vallone's Buddy

Here’s part of the invitation a reader sent over for Queens Borough President candidate Peter Vallone, Jr.’s birthday party and fund-raiser for next month.

Many fund-raisers feature a cutesy way of referring to different levels of contributors. This one takes the cutesiness to a whole new level.

Ticket Prices:
$3,850 – BFF
$1,000 – Best Read More

By Azi Paybarah 2/05/08 4:52pm

Giants Fans at City Hall

A reader safely tucked into her office at One Centre Street sent this picture from far above the festivities celebrating the Super Bowl victory of the New York Giants.

"This is madness," writes the reader. "I’m already panicked about how to get lunch."

It took me about 30 minutes to work my way through the Read More