BRAD LANDER COMMITTEES

COUNCIL MEMBER, 39TH DISTRICT

DISTRICT OFFICE
456 5TH AVE, 3RD FLOOR
BROOKLYN, NY 11215
(718) 499-1090
FAX: (718) 499-1997
CITY HALL OFFICE
TH
250 BROADWAY, 17 FLOOR
NEW YORK, NY 10007
(212) 788-6969
FAX: (212) 788-8967
lander@council.nyc.gov
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
GENERAL WELFARE
LAND USE
THE COUNCIL HOUSING & BUILDINGS
OF WATERFRONTS
THE CITY OF NEW YORK Chair, Subcommittee on Landmarks,
Public Siting, and Maritime Uses
Co-Chair, Progressive Caucus

April 10, 2011

Mayor Michael Bloomberg

City Hall
New York, NY 10007

Dear Mayor Bloomberg,

I am writing to appeal to you to send Administration representatives to the City Council’s “Fair
Share at 20 Years” oversight hearing scheduled for Tuesday, April 12 at 1 pm in the Landmarks,
Public Siting and Maritime Uses Subcommittee.

Your representatives have informed me that the Administration does not plan appear at the hearing
– the only oversight hearing on this Charter-mandated topic in the 20 years since the rules were
adopted – despite substantial advance notice, citing pending litigation (which is not the subject of
our hearing, and on which I am happy to avoid discussion). I believe this is a mistake. With
Administration participation, I am committed to a thoughtful conversation about an important,
complex, challenging, and Charter-mandated responsibility that the Administration and the Council
share. However, if you choose not to participate, we will be forced to question whether the
Administration has a meaningful commitment to the “fair share” rules, to the balanced and equitable
siting of municipal infrastructure and social services in communities across the city, and indeed to a
genuine and transparent partnership with the City Council on these issues.

I respectfully request that you send representatives both from the Department of City Planning
(which have a formal and coordinating responsibility for the “fair share” rules), and from agencies
or deputy mayoral offices that engage in siting public infrastructure and social service facilities to
testify about the challenges they face in this task.

It has been just over 20 years since the “fair share” criteria were first promulgated by the
Department of City Planning, following the 1989 City Charter revision, with a goal “to foster
neighborhood stability and revitalization by furthering the fair distribution among communities of
city facilities.” The purpose of our hearing is to explore how effective these rules have been, to
discuss what is working and what is not, to understand the challenges that City agencies face in
siting essential infrastructure in a way that is efficient and fair, and to identify opportunities for
improvements. The hearing will also provide an opportunity for academics, planners,
environmental justice advocates, and others to discuss whether the City’s “fair share” system has
succeeded in making more equitable the siting of municipally-linked uses that have a
disproportionately negative impact upon their immediate surroundings.
It is my intention to hold a balanced hearing that looks both at the distribution of the local burdens
of municipally-linked facilities and the challenges in siting such facilities despite their citywide
benefits. This is not a pie-in-the-sky academic planning exercise, but a real issue that the City
grapples with every day, about which I believe the Administration has an important story to tell.
However, I am not sure how this balance will be accomplished if all of the agencies responsible for
balancing such concerns are absent from the hearing.

I have discussed with City Council attorneys the litigation cited by the Law Department as the
reason for the Administration’s choice not to participate. They have informed me that these are
minor cases, two Article 78 proceedings on the siting of homeless shelters. The Administration did
not refuse to attend the Council’s hearing on snow removal because there was a pending
investigation on one specific area; instead, the Council agreed not to explore those allegations at the
hearing. We would be glad to do the same here. Surely these two, site-specific Article 78
proceedings cannot prevent us from engaging in broader oversight of a two-decade, comprehensive,
citywide process. Give the subject matter, it is likely that there will always be some litigation in
this area. Are we permanently barred from discussing it?

I sincerely hope you will revisit this decision. Working together, we can have a productive hearing.
I will commit as chair of the subcommittee to provide a thoughtful and respectful environment, and
to reflect on the challenges that the Administration faces in meeting the infrastructure and service
needs of a growing city. However, if you uphold the Administration’s refusal to participate, it will
be far more difficult to provide a balanced consideration of these issues. We will, unfortunately, be
left to question whether your Administration is committed to its Charter-mandated “fair share”
responsibilities, both to communities across the city, and to the City Council.

I look forward to your response, to the attendance of appropriate representatives of your

Administration on April 12th, and to a thoughtful and productive oversight hearing.

Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

Brad Lander
Chair, City Council Land Use Subcommittee on Landmarks, Public Siting, and Maritime Uses

cc: Speaker Christine Quinn

Deputy Mayor Howard Wolfson

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