Press Releases

I am deeply grateful for intervention by Mayor de Blasio’s office who dispatched emergency services and finally reunited children with their parents.

We should not need emergency services to rescue our children from school buses. Parents should not spend hours panicking without knowing where their children are. We should not have to scramble to find out where a school bus is, at the mercy of whether a driver gives parents their personal mobile phone number. We must pass Int. 1099 of 2018 to require GPS on every school bus, so parents know where their kids are.

“New Yorkers just voted big money out of politics. After a decade’s long fight for campaign finance reform, I am glad the voters took matters into their own hands and got big money out."
 
“Starting today candidates for public office in New York City can run on small dollars. The voters have spoken and I hope every candidate in 2021 hears their message, refuse big money from real estate and take more small dollars instead. Voters will finally have a choice come election day with viable candidates running on small dollars."
 
"Thank you to Mayor Bill de Blasio for calling a Charter Revision Commission that empowered New Yorkers to vote through reforms that we couldn’t get done through the political process. Thank you to the Mayor’s Charter Revision Commission for a six months long process with hearings in every borough, online and even by phone with a result that reflects they truly listened to the voices of our city."

"High turnout may be the new normal, with lines today that rivaled 2008, and it is time for the Board of Elections to make voting easy.

We can start by splitting massive poll sites with more than a dozen election districts. For buildings with more than one hundred units, the Board of Elections should expand its offering of a poll site in your building. As someone who has voted in my own building's lobby, nothing is more convenient or engages more voters. Let's bring this citywide.

With today's election results I hope we can finally implement key election reforms to get rid of lines and make voting easy:

-Automatic and same-day registration,

-Vote by mail with no-fault absentee voting, and

-Early voting.

Just to name a few.

We need to overhaul the Board of Elections so broken by patronage that it can't even run an election with new laws to take the party bosses out of control and hand it over to the voters."

America is stronger together; no amount of hatred and violence will ever change that. As someone who could've just easily been at synagogue with his daughter this Shabbos, today my prayers are with the victims and families of those killed at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania. During times like these, we must stand together even closer against any form of bigotry and demand swift justice of anyone responsible for such a heinous act.

Mass shootings in our country’s schools, and now houses of worship must not be allowed to become the norm. It appears today’s tragic event was an act of home-grown terror and is the result of what happens when hate, racism, and anti-Semitism are not rooted out immediately but are left unchecked to thrive. Thank you to the first responders in Pittsburgh for their brave actions which I am sure saved many lives. New York City and the Upper East Side stand with Pittsburgh and pray for healing.

October 12, 2018) New York Public Library (NYPL) President Tony Marx and NYC Department of Design and Construction (DDC) Commissioner Lorraine Grillo today announced that construction has begun on a new, much larger Roosevelt Island branch. NYPL and DDC joined island residents and local elected officials to break ground on the $7.8 million project – funded by Mayor Bill de Blasio, Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer, City Council Member Ben Kallos and former City Council Member Jessica Lappin – which will more than double library space on Roosevelt Island. The project, being managed by DDC for the Library, is projected to be completed in late 2019.

The project will convert the first floor of a former school at 504 Main Street into a new, energy efficient 5,200-square-foot New York Public Library branch, replacing the smaller existing branch down the street at 524 Main Street. The new space will provide new accommodations for the community, unavailable in the current one-room library. A separate multi-use community room will serve the public for various events and activities, and will include an audio induction loop to help the hearing impaired. A children’s room will also be provided, with glass doors and a glass partition to maintain a sense of openness inside the new facility.

New York, NY -Today, live-streaming of Community Board 8 in Manhattan began again. This program is funded by Council Members Ben Kallos (District 5) and Keith Powers (District 4) and the service is provided by WNET.

Council Member Kallos has funded the live-streaming of 6 Community Board 8 meetings through a budget allocation of $20,000. Council Member Powers will split his $20,000 allocation between multiple boards in his district, funding 3 Community Board 8 meetings for this fiscal year.

Community Board live-streaming is a program of WNET. WNET has streamed, curated and archived 86 community board meetings using the latest digital technology since the program began two years ago. This program is supported by grants from individual Council Members across the City.

$336,000 in Security Cameras Roll Out to Cover Hard-to-Patrol Parks, Transit Hubs and Quality of Life Hot Spots on the Upper East Side

Public/Private Delivers Security Cameras Through Partnership Between 
Council Member Ben Kallos, Rockefeller University and Hospital for Special Surgery

WATCH THE VIDEO 
 

New York, NY – The Upper East Side already known as a safe place to raise a family, is about to get safer with $336,000 in security cameras for hard-to- patrol parks, transit hubs and quality of life hotspots funded by Council Member Ben Kallos following positive vote by hundreds of residents in Participatory Budgeting. The security cameras were placed in consultation with community organizations and local commanding officers to provide a live feed to the NYPD and its local precincts.

Security cameras will target hard-to-patrol parks including Andrew Haswell Green and the East River Esplanade in a public/private partnership with Rockefeller University and Hospital for Special Surgery, the 86^th Street subway hub for the Q and 4/5/6 subways as well as 75^th Street and First Avenue, a hotspot for quality of life violations. The new access makes it possible for the Police Department to monitor the isolated areas in real-time, 24 hours a day.
 
Location of new NYPD security cameras:
Hard-to-Patrol Parks - $160,000

• 64^th Street and FDR Drive to cover pedestrian bridge and Andrew Haswell Green - $35,000
• FDR Drive at 65^th Street and 68^th Street to cover East River Esplanade - $90,000
• 70^th Street to cover the East River Esplanade - $35,000

Transit Hub - $141,000

• 83^rd Street and 2^nd Avenue to cover Q subway station
• 86^th Street at 2^nd Avenue to cover Q subway station
• 86^th Street at 3^rd Avenue to cover 4/5/6 and Q subway stations
• 86^th Street and Lexington Avenue to cover 4/5/6 station

Quality of Life Hotspots - $35,000

Council Members Treyger, Deutsch and Kallos Stand with Advocates and Families Calling on the OPT to Install GPS Trackers on School Buses and to Report Bus Routes to Families 30 Days Prior to First Day of School.
 
Int. 1099-2018 Provides Parents, Schools with Location Monitoring for School Buses
Int. 2018-3003 Requires OPT Share bus routes, how routes are determined, and any process for public to improve the routes.

 
New York, NY – Legislation being heard today in the City Council’s Education Committee requires GPS devices to be installed on all school buses contracted with the Department of Education’s (DOE) Office of Pupil Transportation (OPT). It would also require OPT to provide real-time GPS location data to authorized individuals, such as parents and school administrators, and eliminate the problem of bus drivers and escorts fielding frantic and angry calls from parents and schools when they are supposed to be focused on doing their jobs safely.

Prior to the hearing, lead bill sponsor Council Member Ben Kallos Education Chair Mark Treyger and Council Member Chaim Deutcsh who worked on an earlier version of the bill as a staffer for Council Member Michael Nelson in 2000 were joined by dozens of parents and activists to call for reform at OPT.

 The new bills come as a result of years of complaints by schools, parents, and advocates about the many systemic issues plaguing OPT, including missing buses, chronic delays in bus arrivals and pick-ups, poor routing, failure to abide by medical codes for disabled students, a lack of specific training for drivers and escorts working with disabled children, and unsanctioned routing changes.

In recent years the back to school period in New York City has been made more stressful by school buses taking hours to drive students to and from public schools. In an effort to stop this annual problem before it repeats next year, new legislation also heard in today’s hearing will make bus routes available to parents at least 30 days before school starts with enough time to prevent a miserable commute for their children. The legislation will also force OPT to perform trial runs for the routes chosen, report annually on how yellow bus routes are determined, report the number of buses and staff needed to meet those goals and recommendations.

"No parent should wonder where their child is or when their child is finally getting home from a school bus ride gone off track. Parents would rest assured knowing when and where their school bus is to pick up or drop off their child using an app on their phone," said Council Member Ben Kallos a new parent. "After trying to work with the Office of Pupil Transportation for years I am disappointed that despite every promise parents still don't know where a school bus is with their child. Thank you to Education Chair Mark Treyger for his leadership, Council Member Chaim Deutsch who has spent 18 years working on this issue starting under then Council Member Michael Nelson."

Download the Full Testimony (PDF)

Download the Full Testimony (PDF)

In working with Council Member Ben Kallos, HSS agreed to:

• Master Plan – Work with key community stakeholders to develop a Masterplan for the East River Esplanade from 62^nd Street to 78^th Street, in partnership with Rockefeller University, led by the Council Member.
• Noise Barriers - Noise barriers eight-feet in height under its East Wing Building between East 70th and East 71st Street. Water Fountain and Irrigation - Water for the Esplanade at 71^st Street for a water fountain and irrigation to keep plants alive.
• Greening the Esplanade - Key esplanade improvements between 70^th and 72^nd include:
  • New planting beds and landscaping.
  • Improved lighting through repair and replacing of light fixtures.
  • Repair and repainting of railings as well as new seating and paving.
• Maintenance in Perpetuity - Maintenance in perpetuity, for all improvements, provided by HSS from 70^th to 72^nd.

Council Member Ben Kallos Co-Chairs the East River Esplanade Taskforce with Congress Member Carolyn Maloney. Both also sit as Ex-Officio Board Members of Friends of the East River Esplanade, a conservancy to which the Council Member has directed over $170,000 in funding and brought on Board Members from Rockefeller University and HSS.
 
“It is wonderful to finally be able to see residents enjoy some peace and quiet, lush greenery and in a portion of the park that will be cared for by HSS forever. The sound barriers quell the noise of passing vehicles, plants that died without water are growing green from irrigation, while residents have a new water fountain,” said Council Member Ben Kallos. “Thank you to HSS for their partnership with the community investing in our park space and conservancies.

Kallos Chides NYPD Commissioner for Failure to Maintain Telegraph and Suggest Removal of Poverty Wages

Read the Full Testimony

• Bill of Rights to free higher education, affordable health and mental health care, and, access to parks, libraries, public transit and affordable internet
• Protect the will of the people requiring anything passed by referendum to come back before voters for changes. 
• Empowering City Council and Borough Presidents with appointments to Mayoral Boards with Land Use Powers
• Right for residents to propose legislation for Council hearing and vote

Read the Full Testimony

Download the Testimony in PDF

Our City’s Charter is in desperate need of an upgrade for the next generation.

The last telegram was sent in 2006, so I don’t think the Charter should require telegraph to be maintained by NYPD Commissioner. The minimum wage is about to be $15 an hour, and I think the Mayor’s fourth enumerated power should be to pay election workers $20 a day.

We are presented with an opportunity to examine the balance of powers, the infrastructure of our government, and ultimately who is empowered to make decisions on behalf of the 8.7 million people who call this city home. Since August, I have carried a copy of the Charter around with me, highlighting interesting sections, and soliciting input. I must admit that I haven’t made it all the way through to Section 3103 of the Charter. My testimony represents a best effort through a cursory review identifying challenges with proposed solutions as a starting point.

I joined hundreds of New Yorkers in participating in the Mayor’s Charter Revision Commission by testifying over several months in favor of items now on the ballot including term limits and urban planners for Community Boards and a slate of Campaign Finance reforms to reduce large contribution and match more small dollars with more public dollars to finally get big money out of New York City politics.

First and foremost I would ask that if these measures pass, this Commission not weaken them in anyway and in fact strengthen them by adding a requirement that any part of the Charter adopted through a vote of the people only be subject to change by those same people at another vote.

Along those lines there are certain reforms that must be protected from future change without a vote of the people, such as ethics reforms for a life time ban on lobbying and life time term limits for elected officials and enshrine reforms in the Council to make the job full time, eliminate “lulus” for equal compensation and standardize budget allocations for each Council Member.

In the face of an attack on our rights from the Federal government, New York City is in need of its own bills of rights guaranteeing residents a right to a free higher education and child care, affordable health and mental health care, access to parks, libraries, and public transit, affordable internet, freedom from hunger, clean air and water, just to name a few.

This Commission can create a pathway for all the residents with great ideas for laws at these hearings and in the future to submit bills to the City Council for a guaranteed hearing and vote.

Ultimately the 1989 Charter Revision Commission gave many of the powers from the Board of Estimate to the Mayor and boards appointed by the Mayor. Regardless of the Mayor, other elected officials and communities have often been without power to stop a wrong. My recommendations hope to democratize many of the city’s most powerful boards with appointments from the Borough Presidents and the Council to achieve fair housing and affordable housing goals. Borough Presidents and Community Boards must be empowered to veto bad rezonings, the Council empowered with a final vote on franchises that have left residents without reliable cable or Internet, and both empowered to initiate land use changes in their own right.

I would highlight for this commission three main themes:

1. Land Use: Empower communities in land use by changing the makeup of decision making boards to have fewer Mayoral appointments and include representation from the City Council
2. Budget: Create a budget that anyone can review complete with budgeted amounts, modifications, and spending with the ability to drill down to individual salaries and how much they spent on pencils.
3. Protect the Will of the People to Enshrine Campaign Finance and Ethics Reforms: Reforms that are essential to the functioning of our democracy, established through previous referenda, local law, and City Council rules, should be enshrined in the City Charter.

Download the Testimony in PDF

Giving Parents, Schools Access to School Bus GPS Data Will Make Our Most Vulnerable Students Safer

Int. 1099-2018 Will Provide Parents, Schools with Location Monitoring for School Buses

New York, NY – Legislation introduced last week in the City Council would require GPS devices to be installed on all school buses contracted with the Department of Education’s (DOE) Office of Pupil Transportation (OPT). It would also require OPT to provide real-time GPS location data to authorized individuals, such as parents and school administrators, and eliminate the problem of bus drivers and escorts fielding frantic and angry calls from parents and schools when they are supposed to be focused on doing their jobs safely.

The new legislation was introduced by Council Member Ben Kallos and is co-sponsored by Education Chair Mark Treyger and Council Member Chaim Deutch who worked on an earlier version of the bill as a staffer for Council Member Michael Nelson in 2000. The bill comes as a result of years of complaints by schools, parents, and advocates about the many systemic issues plaguing OPT, including missing buses, chronic delays in bus arrivals and pick-ups, poor routing, failure to abide by medical codes for disabled students, a lack of specific training for drivers and escorts working with disabled children, and unsanctioned routing changes.

"No parent should wonder where their child is or when their child is finally getting home from a school bus ride gone off track. Parents would rest assured knowing when and where their school bus is to pick up or drop off their child using an app on their phone," said Council Member Ben Kallos a new parent. "After trying to work with the Office of Pupil Transportation for years I am disappointed that despite every promise parents still don't know where a school bus is with their child. Thank you to Education Chair Mark Treyger for his leadership, Council Member Chaim Deutsch who has spent 18 years working on this issue starting under then Council Member Michael Nelson."

Illustrating Historical Data for the Digital Age

 Municipal Archives to be Searched for Data that should be on the Open Data Portal an Effort to Make It Accessible and Easy to Understand

 New York, NY – Access to information in New York City’s Open Data Portal to be improved by several pieces of legislation heard today in the Committee on Technology. The improvements will add historical data from municipal Archives including charts and graphs that have largely been missing since the Portal’s creation in 2012. The legislation is part of the City’s ongoing effort to make government data available for all in an easily accessible format.

 Introduction 1098, sponsored by Council Member Ben Kallos, requires the Department of Records and Information Services (DORIS) to conduct a complete survey of its records for “statistical or factual information” contained within lists, tables, graphs, charts, or other “non-narrative forms.” Each will be evaluated for inclusion on the Open Data Portal based on “sufficient public value.” Records will be judged based on historical, research, and cultural value, clarity and completeness, and whether the information each contains has previously been requested for release.

 “The Open Data Portal empowers New Yorkers with valuable information needed in order to learn about city services. It is an invaluable tool for elected officials like myself to analyze and oversee how our city delivers services promised,” said Council Member Ben Kallos. “This legislation will expand and clarify the information and historical data appearing on the portal. It will help policy-makers and the public evaluate programs, better plan for the future.”

 The survey, to be completed by July 2021, will be conducted in consultation with members of the public from historic, research, cultural, and academic institutions.

New York, NY – Today, the City Council will require the SCA to disclose the methodology and formulas they use to decide where and when new schools are built. A majority of New York City public elementary and middle school students attend overcrowded schools, yet the City plans to build fewer school seats than in the past, ignoring current overcrowding and future need.^i] The new measure Introduction 729 is authored by Council Member Kallos as part of a package of bills aimed at making the Department and Education and the School Construction Authority more transparent and accountable to the public.
 
In February of 2017, in response to parents, educators, and students across the City, the Council announced a working group to study ways to improve education in New York City. After a year, the working group returned with a report titled “Planning to Learn: The School Building Challenge,” which highlights the importance of Local Law 72, also authored by Council Member Kallos-and recommends the passage of Introduction 729, which requires all methodologies and underlying data used to determine school need to be shared with the public.

New Universal Pre-K Facility Serving 90 Families Opens on the Upper Side

The new Site located at 1683 3^rd Avenue Street Opens its Doors after years of Advocacy from Council Member Kallos and local Parents for more UPK Seats  

 Upper East Side, NY- The New York City Department of Education and Council Member Ben Kallos opened the doors to 90 Pre-K students today as the newest Pre-K Center opened on the Upper East Side.

The newly built Pre-Kindergarten facility is located at 1683 3^rd Avenue Street. The new site opened last week for the first day of school, and is currently serving 90 new Pre-K for All students. This facility is part of the City’s new push to build and open more Pre-Kindergarten seats on the Upper East Side after years of public advocacy from Council Member Ben Kallos and local parents to the Department of Education to fulfill the area’s need and live up to the promise of Pre-Kindergarten for all children in New York City.

The new 11,492 square foot site was constructed in partnership with Extell Development Company. The facilities will be on the ground floor of an 83-unit, 30-story new residential building in heart of the East 90s.

For the 2017-18 school year, 736 families applied for a total of 550 Pre-Kindergarten spots on the Upper East Side and Roosevelt Island. The unmet demand forced parents to consider enrolling their children in Pre-Kindergarten sites as far away as downtown Manhattan. This push by the City to increase the number of Pre-Kindergarten seats in Council District 5 includes another new center that is currently serving 140 students on East 57^th, and a 180-seat site on East 76^th street that will open in Fall 2019, totaling more than 400 new Pre-K seats.

“It’s up to New Yorkers to vote big money out of politics this November. Democracy in New York City will finally get better if passed by reducing contribution limits and making small dollars more valuable by matching more of them with a greater multiplier. Increasing public money in elections from just over half to 75% will dramatically decrease the amount of big money Mayoral candidates need to raise in unmatchable contributions from $2.6 million down to just over $1 million,” said Council Member Ben Kallos, whose proposals were included in the Commission’s adopted ballot initiative. “The 2018 Charter Revision Commission did extensive outreach in all five boroughs in-person, by phone, and even by Twitter, and today’s vote is evidence that they listened to the people of this great city. Thank you to Mayor de Blasio and the Commission for getting ‘around politics as usual’ to put these necessary campaign finance reforms on the ballot for the people to make real lasting change.”  

 City Hall, NY – Speaker Corey Johnson on Thursday announced he is championing legislation to establish water, milk or 100 percent juice as the default beverage options in children’s meals sold in New York City. This legislation will promote healthier choices for children, which is a priority for the Council, while giving parents the ability to choose what is best for their children.

 “We know that healthy habits begin at an early age, which is why I am proudly advancing this legislation. We want our kids to have access to healthy choices, and the default beverage options under this bill supports that goal,” said Speaker Corey Johnson. “The beverage industry understands how important it is to support parent’s decisions about what their young children eat and drink, and I am pleased to have the support of the American Beverage Association and its members The Coca-Cola Company, Keurig Dr Pepper and PepsiCo, among others, for this legislation. This is an example of how government and industry can work together to have impact.”

"The Upper East Side is thrilled to finally have our very own NYC Ferry stop along the Soundview route," said Council Member Ben Kallos. "NYC Ferry continues to connect New Yorkers to our waterfront while reducing the burden on our City's public transportation system while helping New Yorkers get from A to B quicker, easier and more enjoyably. This ferry stop was a promise I made to this district when I ran for office five years ago, so it is special seeing it ready to launch. Thank you to Mayor Bill de Blasio and Economic Development Corporation President James Patchett for making these ferries a reality."