Newsletters

Happy New Year!  

Thank you to all those who voted for me for a second term as well as the residents and community leaders who partnered with my office over the past four years to accomplish the many victories we've won. Please join me Sunday at my State of the District address as we review the fights we've won and those to come.

As my first term came to a close we passed some of our most important legislation to: uncover thousands of affordable homes for you, turn down the volume on construction noise, show how many children are being turn away from seats in their neighborhood, and studying how we can provide automatic benefits to New Yorkers who need it most. Taken together, these bills will help make New York City with more affordable housing, improve quality of life, education, and helping those most in need. 

I hope that residents are able to join me this Sunday:

Sunday, January 7, 2018 - 1:00pm - 3:00pm (Volunteer Fair at 12:30pm)
Memorial Sloan Kettering Auditorium
430 East 67th Street
RSVP

On January 17th New York City Mayor will hold a Town Hall for our District:
Wednesday, January 17, 2018 - 7:00 pm
Julia Richman Education Complex
317 East 67th Street
RSVP
 
Regards,

Ben Kallos
Council Member
 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Quieter After Hours Construction Passes Council
2. Find Every Affordable Home Subsidized by the City Passes Council
3. Providing the Government Benefits New Yorkers Need Automatically to Be Studied Passes Council
4. Keeping Track of Every Child Turned Away from A Seat in the Neighborhood Passes Council
5. Online Voter Registration Signed into Law

JANUARY 2018 SPECIAL EVENTS

6. 2018 State of the District, You are invited
7. Mayoral Town Hall (Again), Join Us 

PARKS AND THE ENVIRONMENT

8. 81st Street Pedestrian Bridge Opens 
9. James Cagney Place Recognized as Official Pedestrian Plaza
10. “Tree-Cycling” Your Christmas Tree in NYC

 
EDUCATION

11. Marymount School Negotiations to Benefit East Harlem Residents
    12. Roosevelt Island-Digital Literacy Partnership

LEGISLATIVE VICTORIES 2017

13. Four Years of Governmental Operations Achievements
14. Progressive Caucus, Nearly 50 Laws Enacted
15. Councilmatic Makes City Council More Transparent Than Ever

HELPING THOSE IN NEED

16. ETHOS Members Get Neighborhood Coalition for Shelter Training
17.Hunger in NYC, During the Holidays

COMMUNITY

18. Opening the New Nisi Restaurant on Roosevelt Island
Thank You for Coming to Our Annual Holiday Party
20. Honoring Betty Cooper Wallerstein: President of the E 79th Street Neighborhood Association 
21. Drupal NYC Meetup
22. Sutton Place Rezoning, More Coverage

OFFICE UPDATES

24. Free Legal Clinics
25. Here to Help
26. Mobile District Hours
27. Ben in Your Building

EVENTS

28. CITY COUNCIL OFFICE EVENTS 
29. SPECIAL EVENTS
30. DISTRICT OFFICE EVENTS
31. COMMUNITY BOARD MEETINGS
32. NEW YORK POLICE DEPARTMENT
33. NEIGHBORHOOD and TENANT ASSOCIATIONS
34. EVENTS FOR ADULTS
35. COMMUNITY EVENTS FOR CHILDREN

Dear Neighbor, I hope you had a great Thanksgiving, I remain most thankful for your support. With a new low in voter turnout I was able to pass legislation I authored to provide Online Voter Registration through the City Council to make it easier to register and vote. On the last day of November the City Council voted to rezone the East Fifties and stop the march of super-tall buildings for billionaires from 57th Street into the Sutton Area. Within minutes of the vote and our rezoning becoming law, an order was issued and all work was stopped at one of the potential sites in the district for a super-tall building for billionaires at 58 Sutton.  This was the culmination of a three year first of its kind grass-roots community rezoning. After years of out-of-control out-of-scale over-development I wanted to put residents over real estate, and we did. With construction all around us, we are fighting to keep it safe, passing the Crane Modernization Act and continuing our advocacy to get unnecessary scaffolding down especially following a recent collapse injuring six. We are fighting for more public spaces with the opening of Andrew Haswell Green Park Phase 2A at 60th Street on the Esplanade, passing new laws requiring building owners to open public plazas with signage detailing required amenities with steep fines for non-compliance, and working with Spence to share their new Field House during school hours with public schools that have no regulation physical education space like P.S. 151 and P.S. 527. Our bike safety program has found new partners, brought 10% of all e-bike enforcement to our neighborhood, and continued to deliver results. I hope to see you on Tuesday, December 5 at 5PM, for our annual office holiday party, and again on Thursday, December 7 at 8pm (note the time change), where you can ask Mayor Bill de Blasio questions at his Town Hall for the Upper East Side. Regards, Ben Kallos Council Member P.S. Happy holidays and have a happy New Year! If you’d like to pick up free Menorahs, you can do so at my office (donated by Chabad YP).

SPECIAL EVENTS 12/7, 8PM - 10PM Mayoral Town Hall 1/7, 1PM-3PM State of the District DISTRICT OFFICE EVENTS 12/1, 8AM-10AM First Friday 12/5, 5PM – 7PM Holiday Party 12/12, 6PM-7PM Brainstorming with Ben

HEADLINES

1. Victory on Sutton Area Rezoning at City Council (Without Grandfather Clause)
2. Scaffolding Collapse Renews Outcry for Bill to Get Them Down
3. More Public Spaces to Be Opened to Public Under New Bill Passed by Council
4. Online Voter Registration is Passed By the Council

EDUCATION

5. New Gym Space For Public Schools Students from Spence

PARKS & ENVIRONMENT

6. Andrew Haswell Green Park Ribbon Cutting
7. Banning Pesticides in Parks Gains Support
8. Save the Sound

TRANSPORTATION

9. Bike Safety Program Gets Results
10. Straphangers Campaign Recognized for 40 Years of Service
11. Ben in Your Building Discussing Ed Koch Bridge On-Ramp

JOBS & ECONOMY

12. Crane Safety Legisaltion Passes
13. The Fight Against Hunger With Brian Lehrer
14. API Access Available to the Public on City Council Website
15. Open Camps
16. Kicking Off Anime NYC Inaugural Weekend
17. Protesting the DNAInfo and Gothamist Shutdown
18. Phipps Neighborhood Building Service Worker Protest

COMMUNITY

19. Fourth Annual Turkey Giveaway
20. Roosevelt Island Community Coalition Awards
21. East Side Taskforce on Homeless Outreach and Services Prompts Partnerships

OFFICE UPDATES

22. Legislative Corner
23. Free Legal Clinics
24. Here to Help
25. Ben in Your Building

EVENTS

26. City Council Events
27. Community Board Meetings
28. New York City Police Department
29. Community Events For Adults
30. Community Events For Children

Yesterday, the New York City Council voted to rezone the East Fifties and stop the march of super-tall buildings for billionaires from 57th Street into the Sutton Area. Within minutes of the vote and our rezoning becoming law, an order was issued and all work was stopped at one of the potential sites in the district for a super-tall building for billionaires at 58 Sutton.

This was the culmination of a three year first of its kind grass-roots community rezoning. After years of out-of-control out-of-scale over-development I wanted to put residents over real estate, and we did.

In 2015, we founded the East River Fifties Alliance, which has grown to 45 buildings in the area, and 2,600 individuals from 500 buildings all over the city with support from Friends of the Upper East Side Historic Districts, CIVITAS, and citywide organizations like the Municipal Arts Society. Council Member Dan Garodnick, Senator Liz Krueger, and Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer joined me as co-applicants, and Congress Member Carolyn Maloney joined in support.
 
This happened thanks to the support of residents like you. Heroes like Herndon Werth and Charles Fernandez stood up to buyouts and threats from billionaires. Leaders like Dieter Seelig, former President of the Sutton Area Community got us started and Alan Kersh, Robert Shepler, Jessica Osborn, and Lisa Mercurio put countless volunteer hours into ERFA.
 
We did something no one thought could be done. They kept saying we would never rezone before they finished their foundation. We did just that yesterday and the work stopped just before they could finish their foundation or any other potential site in the neighborhood.
 
The rezoning removed the grandfather clause and will protect the Sutton Area East of First Avenue from 52nd to 59th st from supertall towers by limiting zoning lot mergers, limiting the width of towers, and forcing most of the air rights to be used in the base of a building.
 
The new developer had previously made thinly veiled threats to retaliate with inspiration from “The Count of Monte Cristo” and has promised to appeal, but we will continue to fight for you and to protect our community.
 
If you haven’t already, please share your support on our petition at BenKallos.com/petition/StopSuperScrapers
 
Please also consider financially supporting the East River Fifties Alliance at ERFA.nyc/donate

SUMMER HIGHLIGHTS

1. August
2. September
3. October

OVERDEVELOPMENT

4. Sutton Rezoning at City Planning Commission
5. Scaffolding Bill Gets Hearing
6. Marijuana Smoking at 180 East 88th Street
7. Height Protections for Upper East Side

EDUCATION

8. Ensuring No Child Goes Hungry (Bill Passed)
9. Support GSAs in Public Schools (Bill Passed)
10. Silicon Island: Technion Israel Institute of Technology World Tour
11. Fighting to Fund Hunter Science Campus Construction

PARKS & ENVIRONMENT

12. Breaking Ground on East River Esplanade Construction at HSS
13. It's My Park Day
14. Banning Toxic Pesticides from Parks
15. Climate Works for All Building Retrofits

PUBLIC HEALTH

16. New MSK Center for Laboratory Medicine Ribbon Cutting
17. Senior Health Fair Success
18. American Academy Committee on Nutrition and Obesity
19. Asphalt Green Swim Meet

GOOD GOVERNMENT

20. Open Budget (Bill Passed)
21. Oversight of Mayor's Management
22. Questioning City Technology Costs

TRANSPORTATION

23. Plan to Fight Double Parking and Move Deliveries Off-Hours
24. Bike Safety Helmet Fitting
25. Bernie, Bill and Ben

COMMUNITY

26. Protesting Gun Violence with Congress Member Maloney
27. Know Your Rights for Immigrants at Islamic Cultural Center
28. Eastside Taskforce for Homeless Outreach
29. Youth Action March
30. Building Service Worker Helping Hand Award
31. Honoring former Community Board Chair David Liston
32. Halloween Neighborhood Celebrations

OFFICE UPDATES

33. Legislative Corner
34. Free Legal Clinics
35. Here to Help
36. Ben in Your Building

EVENTS 

37. City Council Events
38. Community Board Meetings
39. New York City Police Department
40. Community Events For Adults
41. Community Events For Children

EDUCATION

1. Free School Lunches
2. More Pre-Kindergarten Seats for UES
3. Roosevelt Island Cornell Tech Opening Ceremony
4. Child Center NY Beacon Celebrates First Day

LEGISLATION HEARD 

5. Free Childcare for Government Meetings
6. P.S 290 Students Lobby to Ban Pesticides in City Parks
7. Gender Sexuality Alliance Legislation Hearing
8. Environmental Committee Hearing on Noise in New York City
9. Hearing on Agencies Not Enforcing Quality of Life Violations
10.Zero Waste Hearing Codifying 1573 into Law

11. East River Greenway Construction on Esplanade Announced
12. $959.00 Trash Cans
13. My Scaffolding Bill Would Help Businesses
14. Labor Day Parade
15. Asphalt Green Gets New Pool Filters
16. Annual Town Hall Recap and Thank You

1. Best City Council Members
2. Annual Town Hall
3. Annual Emergency Prepardness

TRANSPORTATION

4. Launching the Roosevelt Island Ferry Service
5. Improving Your Commute
6. New Bus Countdown Clocks

FIGHTING FOR TENANTS

7. Tenant Safety Law
8. Right to Counsel Signed into Law

INVESTING IN OUR ECONOMY

9. Cornell Tech Roosevelt Island Community Day
10. 7 Open Source Myths Debunked Gov Loop
11. Bridging the Digital Divide Personal Democracy Forum 2017
12. Legislation to Respond to Noise
13. Chasing News on Scaffolding
14. National Night Out Against Crime
15. Protecting the East 91st Street Plaza
16. Protecting and Strengthening the Affordable Care Act with Congress Member Maloney

RESOURCES

17. Here to Help
18. Free Legal Clinics
19. Mobile Office Hours
20. Resource Guide
21. Ben in Your Building

EVENTS

22. City Council Events

In July, the New York Times covered legislation to quiet noise in our city, scaffolding and our communty's efforts to fight overdevelopment.

We also broken ground on the reconstruction of the East River Esplanade with $35 million that I secured as co-chair of the East River Esplanade Taskforce with Congress Member Carolyn Maloney.

When the MTA proposed service cuts of up to 33% to the M31, M57, M66 and M72, over Father's Day Weekend, I authored a letter with fellow elected officials which was followed by maintained service levels on the M57. Join us in fighting for crosstown bus service at BenKallos.com/share/CrosstownBus

Ben Kallos 

Council Member 

1. Groundbreaking on East River Esplanade
2. Stop Work Order on Sutton Superscraper
3. Fighting Cuts to Crosstown Bus Service

QUALITY OF LIFE

4. New Legislation for a Quieter Neighborhood
5. Scaffolding Almost Old Enough to Vote

NATIONAL

6. Resistance: Saving Medicaid and Affordable Care Act and Standing with Transgender Military and Immigrants
7. Fighting for Net Neutrality, Again

JOBS

8. Fighting for Jobs
9. Supporting Our Small Businesses

ENVIRONMENT

10. Launching Weekly Compost Drop Off On Your Morning Commute
11. Fresh Food Box
12. Compost in Your Building

LOCAL

13. New Community Board 8 Members Appointed
14. Bike Safety
15. Helping the Homeless
16. In the Neighborhood

RESOURCES

17. Here to Help
18. Free Legal Clinics
19. Mobile Office Hours
20. Resource Guide
21. Ben in Your Building

EVENTS

22. City Council Events

Table of Contents

Housing

1. Rezoning Victory at CB6, Now on to City Planning
2. Low Increases for Rent Stabilized Apartments and Rent Freeze for Seniors and Disabled

Parks

4. Tennis Bubble Now Open to the Public
5. Theatre in Carl Schurz Park

Health

6. Upper East Side Legionnaires Cluster Update
7. Automatic Benefits Hearing
8. Global Sampling Day
9. Rat Academy
10. Buy Produce from the Farm and Cooking With Kallos

Education

11. Celebrating Pride with Legislation to Encourage Gender Sexuality Alliances
12. Eleanor Roosevelt High School's New Music Room and Retirement of Parent Coordinator
13. Recognizing Parent-Teacher Association Leaders
14. Graduations

Transportation

15. Opposing Cuts to East and West Side Bus Service
16. Bike Safety: Ebikes, Free Helmets, and Inspring Barcelona

Good Government

17. Open Budget Hearing

Community

18. June Events
19. Here to Help
20. Free Legal Clinics
21. Mobile Office Hours
22. Resource Guide
23. Ben In Your Building

Events

24. Council Events
25. Events Supportted with Funding from My Office
26. Community Meetings
27. Community Events for Kids
28. Community Events for Adults

Dear Neighbor,

New York City’s $85.2 billion budget for the coming fiscal year funds the programs and services that we rely on in our neighborhoods and keeps our city running, including public schools, transit, parks, youth and senior centers, quality of life enforcement, and of course the programs my office brings to serve you directly.

Over the years, I am proud to have secured or allocated funding for priorities in our community:

• $100 million in additional funding secured for the East River Esplanade
• $100 million in capital funding for improvements to public library systems
• $50 million for 79 new buses on the M15, M101, M102, and M103 for delivery by end of 2018 and $1.7 million for Select Bus Service on the M79
• $30 million to operate three new ferry stops that will open on Roosevelt Island this summer and East 60th and East 90th Streets in 2018
• $22.9 million to support our seniors
• $16 million to maintain youth afterschool programs
• $12.5 million to expand free lunch from middle schools to include grade schools students
• $200 million for NYCHA maintenance and repairs
• $200,000 from the NYC Clean Up Initiative used for new large trash cans to keep our neighborhood clean

To get involved and active on issues that have a direct impact on your community and make your voice heard in local government, please sign up for our monthly newsletter at BenKallos.com/Subscribe

Sincerely,

Ben Kallos
Council Member, District 5

Over the past 11 days, seven cases of legionnaires disease have been reported in the Lenox Hill area of the Upper East Side, according to the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. Of the seven cases, four patients are recovering and two have already been discharged from the hospital. Sadly, one member of our community has died, and my thoughts and prayers are with their loved ones.

Upper East Side Legionnaires' Disease
Information Session with Department of Health
Monday, June 19 at 6PM
Lenox Hill Neighborhood House, 331 East 70th Street
Event details subject to change so please RSVP

Please be on the lookout for respiratory symptoms, which may be a sign of the disease, including:

• Cough
• Shortness of breath
• Fever
• Muscle aches
• Headaches

If you are experiencing these symptoms, seek medical attention immediately.

Legionnaires’ disease cannot be spread from person to person. Those at high risk include people aged 50 or older, especially cigarette smokers, people with chronic lung disease or with weakened immune systems.

In 2015, following the outbreak in the Bronx I co-sponsored legislation introduced by Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, which was signed into law as Local Law 77 of 2015 to require registration, inspection, cleaning, disinfecting, testing, and annual certification in order to reduce and contain the growth of Legionella in cooling towers, which causes Legionnaire's.

I am in close contact with the Health Department as they identify the source of the cluster and eliminate it as quickly as possible.

Learn more:

• Press Release from the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - Sign and Symptoms
• NYC Health Department Information on Legionnaires' Disease

You can get more timely updates on Twitter at @BenKallos or @nycHealthy.

Sincerely,

Ben Kallos
Council Member