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June 30, 2015 Liam Mathews

Commissioner Bill Bratton went before the City Council yesterday to plead his case that fuck what y’all say, the NYPD is still gonna choke people and pretty much just keep doing everything it’s been doing. The New York Times reports that while the NYPD is willing and poised to change the language of its chokehold […]

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June 19, 2015 Liam Mathews

Today from 12-1 PM, the offices of the New York City Council will turn out all the lights in order to “raise awareness of energy conversation and the availability of daylight during standard work hours,” according to the Associated Press. Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito said turning the lights off will “make us all a little […]

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May 19, 2015 Liam Mathews

Last week, the City Council passed a bill that will require a hearing before some works of public art are installed. The bill, which was drafted as a response to public outcry over The Sunbather, a sculpture created by artist Ohad Meromi that’s slated to be installed next year on a traffic median on Jackson […]

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January 21, 2015 Rhett Jones

The proceedings didn’t go very well for the room-sharing service Airbnb when it faced the New York City Council on Tuesday. Tempers were high among council members as well as protesters who believe that the service doesn’t do enough to curb illegal hotels being run through the website. In October, New York State Attorney General Eric T. […]

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January 12, 2015 Rhett Jones

With the value of taxi medallions dropping and cries for regulations from leaders in the transit industry, Uber is now going to face more scrutiny from city officials. City Council members will meet with representatives of the private car service on Monday to discuss the legality of its controversial “surge pricing” policy among other issues. […]

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December 31, 2014 Prachi Gupta

City officials announced on Wednesday that they are moving to honor slain Officers Wenjian Liu and Rafael Ramos by naming two Brooklyn streets after them. Mayor Bill de Blasio and City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito announced their support for a bill sponsored by Council Members Mark Treyger and Rafael Espina, who represent the slain detectives’s […]

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December 17, 2014 Rhett Jones

A new bill being introduced to the City Council seeks to require cops to have a warrant if they want to use a drone in the line of duty. It would also entirely ban the use of drones by regular citizens. The measure is being introduced by Council Member Dan Garodnick, who tells the New […]

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December 8, 2014 Rhett Jones

Councilman Donovan Richards is set to propose a limit on the number of lights commercial buildings in NYC are allowed to keep on at night. Richards sees the legislation as an effort to curb carbon emissions. With a citywide goal of reducing the energy footprint by 80% in 2050 already in place, Richards is presenting […]

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December 4, 2014 Prachi Gupta

San Francisco-based taxi app start-up Uber has come under a lot of scrutiny from all sides recently, with accusations of sexism, breaches of privacy with customer data, and allegations of unfair pay. The multiple controversies have worried New York City councilmembers that Uber is not in compliance with city law, and at a hearing on […]

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November 14, 2014 Bucky Turco

What a week for weed. Days after the police commissioner and mayor held a joint press conference to announce sweeping new changes to NYC’s pot polices — ironically bringing them more inline with the existing 1977 law — the speaker of the City Council voiced her support for the full legalization of cannabis. “It’s not […]

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