2010: CALENDER INTRO 48!

In February of 2010, Intro 48 was introduced by Melissa Mark-Viverito. The bill would empower NYC to conduct an annual count of vacant buildings and lots throughout the five boroughs. In less than a month, this common-sense legislation had a majority of the City Council members as co-sponsors.

The bill was referred to the Housing Committee of the City Council, which should have scheduled a hearing for the bill and then send it to the full council for a vote. After two months without a hearing, PTH learned that the Administration was concerned about the cost of the bill.

PTH provided a cost analyses from Boston (who conducts their own annual count), and one from Tom Angotti, PhD, Hunter College Professor of Urban Planning. These estimates ranged from $50,000 to $75,000, compared to the $48,000 to keep one family in a homeless shelter for a year.

David Pristin, the Director of the City Council's Policy Division, informed PTH that “this legislation is not something we're interested in moving forward, and we're setting it to the side.”

PTH organized a direct action, asking Christine Quinn to intervene and override her staff's obstructionism. The day before the action, David Pristin called back to say that he “said some wrong things,” and that “Speaker Quinn wants you to know that this issue is important to her.”

Christine Quinn continued to block the committee from “calendering” Intro 48, so PTH began targeting her district, which had a high number of vacant buildings, by the way.