Erik D. Bottcher
0:10:01
Thank you so much, chair Sanchez.
0:10:03
I really wanna congratulate council member Keith Powers on this huge accomplishment and thank him for his leadership on this issue.
0:10:13
He pulled us together from day one and really helped lead the charge on this issue.
0:10:21
To my mind, there are a few issues that all New Yorkers can agree on, very few issues, people of both political parties.
0:10:33
One is people who don't pick up after their dogs.
0:10:36
I think that's like a universal hatred New Yorkers have.
0:10:40
The other is the fact that 300 plus miles of sidewalks are covered by scaffolding.
0:10:48
And for some, they're up years and years and years.
0:10:52
And New Yorkers have just been told, like, that's the way it is.
0:10:55
This is how it is.
0:10:58
And never mind the fact that when you travel around the world, you don't see it like this.
0:11:02
This is New York, and this is how we're going to do it.
0:11:05
My colleagues and I haven't been okay with that.
0:11:09
So we've been looking at this, what could be changed to maintain safety, but also improve the quality of life in our neighborhoods, make it better for small businesses who are hurt by these, make it better for neighborhoods who are made less safe by these.
0:11:26
And we're passing bills today that'll do just that.
0:11:31
One of my bills will establish time limits for property owners to do the work.
0:11:37
No more leaving your shed up forever with no consequence.
0:11:43
There will be a time limit to pull the permits, a time limit to do the work.
0:11:49
If you need more time, you'll just have to get permission.
0:11:52
And there are sometimes when there are circumstances where they'll need more time, you'll just have to get a waiver, but no more leaving it up forever without consequence.
0:12:04
The other bill I have will change the lighting requirements underneath the sheds.
0:12:11
You may have heard that gay men hate overhead lighting.
0:12:17
I'm one of those.
0:12:18
The only overhead lighting that I actually like is in sidewalk sheds.
0:12:23
That's the only time I like it to be bright overhead.
0:12:26
Otherwise, it's lamps only.
0:12:30
My bill will increase the lighting requirements under the sidewalk sheds, increase the lumens per watt, and and require the LED strips, not not these old light bulbs that you see.
0:12:44
We're also gonna have, it requires, some shielding to direct make sure it points down and not into people's windows.
0:12:54
Simple stuff that will go a long way.
0:12:57
Thank you, everyone, who is part of this.
