Int. No. 1473
By Council Members Rosenthal, Rivera, The Speaker (Council Member Johnson), Kallos, Levine, Ayala, Brannan, Levin, Powers and Gibson
A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to requiring the registration of vacant storefront property
Be it enacted by the Council as follows:
Section 1. Chapter 10 of title 22 of the administrative code of the city of New York is amended by adding a new section 22-1003 to read as follows:
§ 22-1003 Vacant storefront property. a. Definitions. For the purposes of this section, the term "storefront property" means any property that may be predominantly used for the sale of goods and/or services directly to the public that is accessible directly from the street.
b. 1. The owner of any storefront property within the city shall register with the department upon such property being unoccupied for 90 consecutive days, and thereafter, update the registration every 90 days until the property is leased or occupied. Such registration shall be in a manner to be determined by the commissioner but shall include, at a minimum, the location of such property, reasons for vacancy, the name of the owner of such property, the date upon which such property became vacant, the electronic mail address and phone number of an individual who shall be the contact person for such property, and any additional information as the department may require.
2. When ownership of a storefront property that has been vacant for more than 90 days is changed, the new owner of such property shall register in accordance with this section within 30 days of taking ownership of such property.
c. The department shall impose a reasonable fee necessary for administering the provisions of this section.
d. An owner who fails to register as required by this section shall be subject to a civil penalty of $1,000 for every week or portion thereof that there is a failure to register. Notice shall be mailed to the owner or owners, at the address to which commercial rent property tax notices are sent or to the vacant property address, at least 30 days prior to the assessment of the civil penalty. Both the department and the New York city department of buildings shall have the power to enforce this provision.
e. The department shall maintain a searchable electronic database of all storefront properties registered pursuant to this section. The department shall update such database not less than 30 days following any new registration, any renewal, or any changes to such registrations. Such database shall be posted on the department’s website, shall have the ability to produce reports by query, and shall be published to the city’s open data portal in a non-proprietary format that permits automated processing and shall include, but not be limited to, the following information:
i. the location of such property including the borough, community board district, and block and lot number;
ii. the date upon which such property became vacant; and
iii. any other information deemed relevant by department.
§ 2. This local law takes effect 90 days after it becomes law, except that the commissioner of small business services may take such actions as are necessary for its implementation, including the promulgation of rules, before such effective date.
LS #3707
2/7/2019 6 pm