CM Restler questions on LLC disclosure bill support and new construction quality

Thank you so much, Chair Sanchez.

I make an effort to say it at every hearing because it's so true.

We are enormously fortunate to have you at the helm of this critically important committee.

Commissioner Levy, Director Weaver, it's good to see you both.

Commissioner Tagani.

Less so.

But I will say, Commissioner Tagani, I have been really appreciative of how responsive your team has been when we've raised issues from the

jail in downtown Brooklyn where Deputy Commissioner Kelly has done a superb job, Commissioner Shahada in Brooklyn, Jason Rzezewski.

I mean, across the board, your chief of staff, Sonia, have all been really responsive and helpful, and I really appreciate it.

So thank you.

That's the last nice thing I'm going to say to you for a while.

A handful of things from me.

I'll try to go fast.

I appreciate the testimony that said you support the goals of our LLC disclosure bill.

Do you support the bill?

I think we do generally support the bill.

I think we would like to have some follow-up conversations with you about what enforcement would look like.

Okay.

And then, right, also the challenge of making sure we are piercing the veil so that we are getting the right information posted.

But generally, yes, we support the bill.

Great.

Let's get it passed.

Next up.

All right, two more.

I'll do two or three more quick ones.

Our district, I think, was like the epicenter of 421A construction.

And we are increasingly hearing from tenants that are experiencing brown water, elevators that don't work, just shitty conditions, excuse my French, in what is new construction.

These are not buildings from 50 and 100 years ago.

This is new construction.

And so...

As you're embarking on this bold and ambitious housing plan, do we need to rethink our standards of what we're requiring of developers to ensure that we're not continuing to get crappy conditions and new construction getting built across the city?

Yeah, I don't know if Commissioner Jagani wants to speak to it.

I would say these buildings are no different than any other building in the city where we have high expectations for compliance and maintenance.

So if there are defects in construction, which should not have happened, but if there are defects in construction, we then should take action through our code enforcement offices to require corrections.

But we don't want to be doing things.

I mean, trying to fix these issues after a developer did a shoddy job is really not a great way to try to solve problems.

We don't disagree.

So what can we do on the front end now as you're embarking on an ambitious new housing plan to try to set higher and better expectations so this doesn't continue to happen?

Right.

The challenge here, I think, from my perspective, is that when HPD is financing a project, we have very high design guidelines and design guideline standards.

So we have a lot to say about what gets built and the quality of what gets built.

I would say in the private market, right, there are codes that I should maybe let Commissioner Dugani talk about that dictate what the standards are.

Frankly, we hear more often that the standards are onerous than we hear that they're too lax.

But if there are changes that you've had specifically that you think we should consider, we certainly would.

I'll say quickly, I know we don't have a lot of time.

This is why we continue to update the building code.

This is why the construction sign-off process before a temporary CO or CO is so critical.

And, yes, we hear more often than not that people complain about the rigor than the laxness.

But if there are specific issues that we have to dig into, we'd like to talk to you more about it.

Okay.