Press Room

"The only solution to the affordable housing crisis we face is to build and preserve more deeply affordable, accessible, income-targeted housing. The legislation from Speaker Adams which the Council passed today will help to produce crucial housing in all communities across the city, while ensuring that work is done with the communities themselves.

"Taken in conjunction with my office’s Racial Impact Study legislation, which passed in 2021 and requires that most new projects are assessed for their ability to affirmatively further fair housing, this new law will help alleviate the need for growth without displacing or damaging existing communities. To this end, we must also continue to change affordability targets for new projects, so that current residents can actually afford to live in their neighborhoods.

"I thank the Speaker and Council for making this crisis a priority, and meeting it with legislation that will help our city both meet this moment of need and provide a framework for the future."

New York City Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams today announced the placement of the inaugural Ryan Long Fellowship within the Office of the New York City Public Advocate. The fellowship is named for a former team member in the office who passed away in February of 2021.

The Ryan Long Fellowship is an eight-month paid placement for an undergraduate or graduate student within the office’s Constituent Services team, where Ryan served the city prior to his passing. The Fellowship will offer experience in the kind of selfless public service to which Ryan was dedicated, and is awarded to someone who demonstrates that spirit of service and commitment to doing good for as many people as possible. After an extensive process, this year’s recipient is Luis Villa.

“It was an honor to have Ryan on our team, working every day to serve the people of New York City, and it was a tragedy to lose him so young,” said New York City Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams. “I’m glad that through this fellowship, we will be able to uplift his legacy, a legacy that also extends to each New Yorker he helped with expertise and enthusiasm. I thank his family for collaborating with us to establish this program and select our first Fellow, and I am excited to have Luis join our office.”

Luis Villa is an undergraduate student at Queens College with extensive leadership and volunteer experience, including with the Boy Scouts of America, through student government associations, and with the Queens College LGBTQIA+ Pride Team. He has been recognized with numerous community service awards in the past.

“It’s great to have the opportunity to be in public service and help people in whatever way I can,” said Luis Villa on being selected. “I’m grateful to the Public Advocate office and to Ryan’s family for selecting me, and I look forward to supporting New Yorkers in need, remembering the legacy of Ryan Long.”

Ryan Long was passionate about politics and public service, and played important roles in city, state, and federal offices and campaigns. As a Constituent Services associate with the Office of the Public Advocate, he helped New Yorkers connect to and receive vital services from their city government. He passed away at the age of 30.

“The family of Ryan Long is honored that Public Advocate Williams and his colleagues have established the Ryan Long Fellowship as a unique opportunity for individuals to strengthen their skills for public service,” said Elizabeth Clyne, Ryan’s mother. “Ryan was dedicated to public service and was proud to be part of the team at Constituent Services where they work every day to improve the lives of New Yorkers. Our family would like to congratulate Luis Villa as the first recipient of the fellowship honoring and continuing Ryan's legacy of service. We wish Luis well as he utilizes this new role to pursue positive impacts on the people of New York.”

After Mayor Eric Adams made comments today blaming the recently-enacted Local Law 62 for his assertion that migrant New Yorkers will be forced onto the streets, New York City Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams – prime sponsor of the law – issued the following statement:

"It’s frustrating to hear the mayor scapegoat a law that aggregates, affirms, and publicizes the existing rights of homeless New Yorkers as an excuse for the failure of the government to address the homelessness crisis, a law he did not veto. None of the Mayor's policies would have significantly helped this crisis for the 50,000 homeless individuals in city shelters the day before the first migrant bus arrived at Port Authority.

“The law that the mayor is spreading misinformation about was introduced amid the administration’s dehumanizing sweeps of encampments, to prevent the criminalization of homelessness and ensure protections are upheld in shelters. The mayor has a pattern of saying things with a disregard for the reality behind them or the harm that results, and I hope he will retract his false statements and instead focus on actually implementing the law and addressing the issue.  

“With temperatures dropping, families sleeping on the streets is not an inevitability, no matter what the mayor claims. It is a failure of government on all levels, and must be addressed with resolve, not redirection. Rather than continuing to try and strip away the rights of homeless New Yorkers in policy and in court, the mayor should be redirecting funding used to criminalize homelessness and put it toward the only solution that will address this crisis – permanent, deeply affordable, accessible housing.” 

“Daniel Ohebshalom is the property owner behind the landlord at the top of my office’s 2022 Worst Landlord Watchlist, Johnathan Santana, who holds the most violations in the history of that list. This and other settlements are important measures of accountability to show him and other bad actors the consequences of putting profit over people. Penalties need to be severe enough to be more than the cost of doing business, they have to change behavior – otherwise, despite the settlement, his tenants will continue to suffer.

“I urge the city to invest the funds from this settlement in expanding enforcement to hold the most negligent landlords to account for the dilapidated and dangerous conditions which they subject tenants to, allowing buildings to become unlivable as rents grow ever more unaffordable. I have a list of where to start.”

As the use of e-bikes and other micromobility devices rises rapidly citywide, so too does the need for safety regulations and infrastructure surrounding them. An alarming number of fires have been caused by the lithium ion batteries powering these devices, elevating the urgency of such safety standards. At a City Council hearing of the Committee on Consumer and Worker protection today, New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams highlighted concerns surrounding the risks associated with the use and storage of these devices, and stressed the need for safety measures on and off the road.

"Micromobility device users currently operate in an untenable situation,” said Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams. “Owners have to navigate unclear regulations about their potentially hazardous vehicles. Furthermore, there is little public infrastructure that can accommodate micromobility devices… Through clear standards, the Council can make ownership of micromobility devices as simple as owning a car.”

The increase in the popularity of e-bikes and electric scooters has led to a corresponding increase in fires and hazards due to faulty technology and unsafe storage and charging practices. The Public Advocate encouraged both public information campaigns and specific support to businesses about safety measures and mandates. He pointed to Intro 819,  which would require all businesses that sell e-bikes, e-scooters and other personal mobility devices powered by batteries to post lithium-ion battery safety informational materials and guides, as a means for the city to encourage safety and protect New Yorkers who rely on these devices.

“We must prioritize legal and safe infrastructure around the usage of micromobility devices… E-bike repair shops should be as safe as any auto repair shop,” the Public Advocate argued, including that “I would like to work with the Council to include in this bill language that would explicitly exclude residential areas from becoming e-bike repair shops and have limits on how many devices can be charged in one home.”

Read the Public Advocate’s full comments at today’s hearing below.

STATEMENT OF PUBLIC ADVOCATE JUMAANE D. WILLIAMS TO THE NEW YORK CITY COUNCIL COMMITTEE ON CONSUMER AND WORKER PROTECTION OCTOBER 23RD, 2023

Good morning,

My name is Jumaane D. Williams, and I am the Public Advocate for the City of New York. I would like to thank Chair Velázquez and the Committee members for holding this hearing.

 Because of the proliferation of micromobility devices across the city, lithium ion battery related safety concerns affect all New Yorkers. Micromobility devices, which are human or electric powered small and low speed transportation devices, have the potential to significantly reduce New Yorkers’ reliance on fossil fuels. However, citywide planning has gone so poorly that many are choosing instead to utilize gas powered mopeds for transportation. These mopeds are noisier and pollute as compared to electric powered micromobility devices. It should be the goal of the Council to make micromobility devices powered by lithium ion batteries as attractive as possible to adapt. 

Yet, we cannot allow unsafe practices to spring up to support the micromobility movement. AS has been heard today, there have been many deaths, unfortunately, not to mention the loss of treasured items – I heard from one person yesterday who lost items in the storage unit that burned as well. I recently heard from a landlord who stated his tenant operates a micromobility charging business and repair shop within his apartment. He reported the issue to FDNY. He claimed FDNY told him there are no laws preventing the tenant unless a fire starts. Thus, the tenant is still able to continue charging multiple micromobility devices in a residential building. This is a huge fire risk to the whole building. 

We must prioritize legal and safe infrastructure around the usage of micromobility devices, which is why Intro 1220 is so critical. E-bike repair shops should be as safe as any auto repair shop. Additionally, I would like to work with the Council to include in this bill language that would explicitly exclude residential areas from becoming ebike repair shops and have limits on how many devices can be charged in one home. 

Micromobility device users currently operate in an untenable situation. Owners have to navigate unclear regulations about their potentially hazardous vehicles. Furthermore, there is little public infrastructure that can accommodate micromobility devices. Ultimately, the state and federal government must develop standards and monitoring practices for lithium ion batteries, which both resolutions today recognize. Through clear standards the Council can make ownership of micromobility devices as simple as owning a car. Third-party delivery companies have a unique role to play in facilitating safe practices, and the legislation before us today does a great job at addressing third-party companies’ responsibility to ensure delivery workers’ safety.

Additionally, there must be more public information about best practices for lithium ion battery safety, which is why Intro 0819  is also important. The legislation highlights a larger problem that New York City Council must grapple with. Bills in Council are passed adding new regulations for business owners, but little is done to let business owners know about these new requirements. Bills such as 0819 must also be coupled with new funding for outreach campaigns so that business owners can be informed about what they are required to post.

Lastly, online retailers do not have the same burden placed on them when we just require physical posters to be displayed. This is a mistake, as many e-bike customers in particular buy their e-bikes online. We must protect New Yorkers from future lithium ion battery fires, and we must make sure everyone is aware of potential dangers. Through promoting micromobility device use, we will get more cars off of the streets and reduce both noise and air pollution. We also have to make sure that New Yorkers are safe with speed, which is another question, so I’m happy the Council seems to be trying to find a balance to make these available, particularly for workers who need them, to fit the demand. As New Yorkers want things quicker and quicker, we’ll try to find the service that will provide it - but we have to make sure everyone is safe.

Thank you.

“More than a decade of effort has gone into the Shirley Chisholm Center. After years of planning and community engagement, it is gratifying to see ground broken today on what will be a vital community space. While in the Council, in the wake of Kimani Gray’s death, I was proud to initiate this project to promote youth development, not destruction, and combat the plague of gun violence driven by a lack of resources, opportunity, and investment in communities.

“I thank Council Member Louis for her leadership in continuing to fight for this project, even expanding it, and seeing it through to today’s milestone. The purpose of this project was to create an impact that will last not just beyond a term in office, but through generations of young people to follow. I’m excited for the day, hopefully not too far off, when everyone who worked together on this project can celebrate this center opening its doors and, in the spirit of its namesake, serving as a catalyst for change that brings increased fellowship and opportunity to a neighborhood that I was and am proud to represent.”