New York Post

Developers who want to do business with the city would be required to publicly disclose previous relationships with government officials under a bill being introduced Wednesday at the City Council.

“Well-connected developers should not be getting sweetheart deals on the taxpayers’ dime,” said Councilman Ben Kallos (D-Manhattan), the bill’s sponsor.

Under the bill, the city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development would be required to give the Council the “compliance package” submitted by prospective developers for mandatory background checks.

Upper East Side Councilman Ben Kallos attended an anti-Amazon rally in Long Island City last week, but told The Post, “You have me dead to rights,” when asked about his own Amazon Wish List.

“I’m a dad. Tech companies make my life easier,” he said, adding that doesn’t mean Amazon should get its own private helipad.

“Even a billionaire like Mike Bloomberg rode the subway,” Kallos said.

Kallos’ bill also requires OPT to provide real-time GPS data via an authorized app to parents and school administrators. An app-based program would eliminate having bus drivers and escorts fielding frantic and angry calls from parents and administrators — when they should be focused on getting the children to and from home safely.

Although all special-ed buses and two-thirds of contracted school buses have “Navman” GPS devices installed, the DOE lags behind other school districts that have deployed pupil-transport tracking technology for parents and administrators.

Meanwhile, like other parents who complained, Susie was told that adjusted routes would be forthcoming soon to make Max’s commute shorter. We’re still waiting.

To encourage smaller donors, the commission also recommended boosting the current 6-to-1 match of public funds to 8-to-1 and to increase the maximum amount matched from $175 to $250 for the citywide candidates.

So a mayoral candidate who got a $250 contribution from a New York City resident would collect an extra $2,000 in public matching funds.

“It’s up to New Yorkers to vote big money out of politics this November,” said Councilman Ben Kallos (D-Manhattan), who helped draft the changes adopted by the commission.

Construction-related deaths have doubled and injuries have surged 17 percent as building booms in the Big Apple.

Eight people have died in construction accidents in the first seven months of the year, compared to four over the same time frame in 2017, according to the city Buildings Department.

Through July of this year, 469 people were injured in 457 accidents on the job, the DOB says.

The latest construction-related death, according to DOB records, happened inside a West Village residential building at 36 Grove St. A live wire electrocuted a hardhat on July 16.

The proposed legislation – sponsored by Councilman Ben Kallos (D-Manhattan) — isn’t an outright ban since it allows parents to request soda or other sugary beverages when placing their order.

“We want our kids to have access to healthy choices, and the default beverage options under this bill supports that goal,” said Johnson.

“While the Upper East Side has among the lowest amount of public park space in the city, Sutton East Tennis sits on City park land but is not accessible to most community members, because it charges rates as high as $225 an hour,” Councilman Ben Kallos, who represents the district encompassing the courts, wrote in a letter to the Parks Department arguing against any private control over the Queensboro Oval Tennis Courts.

The Parks Department is set to award a contract for a new operator of the courts, according to Parks’ request for new operators issued in March.

Sutton East charges up to $225 per hour for doubles on weekends, but prices are as low as $15 an hour during the summer months. Those with a seasonal tennis pass from the Parks Department do not have to pay an added fee during summer months.

“This is by far the most subsidy I’ve seen on any project,” said Councilman Ben Kallos (D-Manhattan), chair of the Subcommittee on Planning, Dispositions and Concessions.

Incomes for the families already in contract on three of the homes are up to $84,510 for a family of three, and up to $122,070 for a family of three on the remaining seven.

Brooklyn real-estate broker Sara Golan said the prices are a steal.

“That is an amazing deal,” Golan, of Nest Seekers International, said of a Grant Avenue home in the program. “I would take that deal any day.”

She said she recently sold a similarly sized house on Throop Street for $1.83 million.

City Councilman Ben Kallos (D – Manhattan), a software developer who previously raised concerns about some of the existing kiosks not working properly, was flabbergasted after learning about the amended contract.

“If [CityBridge] is not going to have to make millions of dollars of its payments for a decade, then they should build all the kiosks now,” he said. “They shouldn’t be getting an extra two years.”

"The city does not limit how long a sidewalk shed can stay in place. Councilman Ben Kallos (D-Manhattan) has proposed legislation that would require such eyesore sheds be removed after seven days if no work takes place, but the bill has stalled."