THE COUNCIL Minutes of the Proceedings for the STATED MEETING of Wednesday, October 30, 2019, 2:05 p.m. The Majority Leader (Council Member Cumbo) presiding as the Acting President Pro Tempore Council Members Corey D. Johnson, Speaker Adrienne E. Adams Vanessa L. Gibson Keith Powers Alicia Ampry-Samuel Mark Gjonaj Antonio Reynoso Diana Ayala Barry S. Grodenchik Donovan J. Richards Inez D. Barron Robert F. Holden Carlina Rivera Joseph C. Borelli Ben Kallos Ydanis A. Rodriguez Justin L. Brannan Peter A. Koo Helen K. Rosenthal Fernando Cabrera Karen Koslowitz Rafael Salamanca, Jr Margaret S. Chin Rory I. Lancman Ritchie J. Torres Andrew Cohen Bradford S. Lander Mark Treyger Costa G. Constantinides Stephen T. Levin Eric A. Ulrich Robert E. Cornegy, Jr Mark D. Levine Paul A. Vallone Laurie A. Cumbo Farah N. Louis James G. Van Bramer Chaim M. Deutsch Steven Matteo Kalman Yeger Ruben Diaz, Sr. Carlos Menchaca Daniel Dromm I. Daneek Miller Rafael L. Espinal, Jr Francisco P. Moya Mathieu Eugene Bill Perkins Absent: Council Member Rose. Medical Leave: Council Member Maisel. Suspended: Council Member King. The Majority Leader (Council Member Cumbo) assumed the chair as the Acting President Pro Tempore and Presiding Officer for these proceedings. After consulting with the City Clerk and Clerk of the Council (Mr. McSweeney), the presence of a quorum was announced by the Majority Leader and Acting President Pro Tempore (Council Member Cumbo). 3482 October 30, 2019 There were 48 Council Members marked present at this Stated Meeting held in the Council Chambers of City Hall, New York, N.Y. INVOCATION The Invocation was delivered by Pandit Narine, serves as the spiritual leader of the Shri Trimurti Bhavan Temple located at 101-18 97th Avenue, Ozone Park, New York 11416. [speaking in another language] Oh merciful Lord who are benevolent and compassionate, omniscient, omnipresent, and omnipotent. Thy splendor is as fulgent as a thousands of suns put together, with the brilliance of thine illumine our hearts and intellect and guide us a right direction. [speaking in another language] Oh all merciful God, will you protect and inspire us all? Will you nourish us together. May we work together with great energy. We are resolved, be effective, may there be no hostility amongst us. Om, peace, peace, peace. [speaking in another language] May there be well-being in all. May there be peace in all. May there be fulfillment in all. May there be auspiciousness in all. Om, peace, peace, peace. Thank you. Council Member Adams moved to spread the Invocation in full upon the record. During the Communication from the Speaker segment of this Stated Meeting, the Speaker (Council Member Johnson) asked for a Moment of Silence in memory of the following individuals: Retired NYPD Detective Dennis Murphy, 57, died of 9/11 related illnesses on October 22, 2019. Detective Murphy was an advocate for the recently passed 9/11 Victims Compensation Fund. Retired Firefighter and former Uniform Firefighters’ Association President James “Jimmy” Boyle passed away on October 27, 2019 at the age of 80. He had lost a son, Firefighter Michael Boyle, in the 9/11 attacks at the World Trade Center. 3483 October 30, 2019 Two individuals who lost their lives during the course of their employment: Stanislaw Supinski and Eduardo Calle Abril. Mr. Supinski, 52, was a construction worker who lost his life in a Lower East Side construction accident on October 21, 2019. Mr. Abril, 44, was a NYC Department of Transportation worker who was killed during a repaving project on the Upper East Side on October 22, 2019. At this point, a Moment of Silence was observed in the Chambers. * * * ADOPTION OF MINUTES Council Member Lander moved that the Minutes of the Stated Meeting of September 25, 2019 be adopted as printed. LAND USE CALL-UPS M-193 By The Chair of the Land Use Committee Council Member Salamanca: Pursuant to Sections 11.20(b-d) of the Council Rules and Section 197-d(b)(3) of the New York City Charter, the Council hereby resolves that the actions of the City Planning Commission on Application No. C 190421 ZSK (515 Blake Avenue) shall be subject to Council review. This item is related to Application Nos. C 190409 HAK, C 190410 ZMK, and N 190411 ZRK. Coupled on Call-up vote. The Majority Leader and the Acting President Pro Tempore (Council Member Cumbo) put the question whether the Council would agree with and adopt such motion which was decided in the affirmative by the following vote: Affirmative – Adams, Ampry-Samuel, Ayala, Barron, Borelli, Brannan, Cabrera, Chin, Cohen, Constantinides, Cornegy, Deutsch, Diaz, Dromm, Espinal, Eugene, Gibson, Gjonaj, Grodenchik, Holden, Kallos, Koo, Koslowitz, Lancman, Lander, Levin, Levine, Louis, Menchaca, Miller, Moya, Perkins, Powers, Reynoso, Richards, Rivera, Rodriguez, Rosenthal, Salamanca, Torres, Treyger, Ulrich, Vallone, Van Bramer, Yeger, the Minority Leader (Council Member Matteo), the Majority Leader (Council Member Cumbo), and The Speaker (Council Member Johnson) – 48. At this point, the Majority Leader and the Acting President Pro Tempore (Council Member Cumbo) declared the aforementioned item adopted and referred this item to the Committee on Land Use and to the appropriate Land Use subcommittee. 3484 October 30, 2019 REPORTS OF THE STANDING COMMITTEES Report of the Committee on Education Report for Int. No. 1541-B Report of the Committee on Education in favor of approving and adopting, as amended, a Local Law in relation to creating a specialized high school taskforce. The Committee on Education, to which the annexed proposed amended local law was referred on May 8, 2019 (Minutes, page 1720), respectfully REPORTS: Introduction On Tuesday, October 29, 2019, the Committee on Education, chaired by Council Member Mark Treyger, held a vote on Proposed Introduction Number 1541-B, sponsored by The Speaker (Council Member Johnson). The Committee previously heard testimony on this bill on May 1, 2019. At that hearing, the Committee received testimony from the Department of Education (DOE), advocates, and other members of the public. In the prior Legislative Session, the Council held hearings on the issue of diversity in NYC schools in December 2014 and December 2017. On Tuesday, October 29, 2019 the Committee passed Proposed Introduction Number 1541-B by a vote of eleven in the affirmative, one in the negative, with zero abstentions. Specialized High Schools The nine Specialized High Schools1 are New York City’s most prestigious public schools, with students scoring at the 99th percentile of the state SAT distribution and accounting for the majority of NYC students attending Harvard, Princeton, and Yale.2 In 1971, a State law known as the Hecht-Calandra Act was passed with the purpose of blocking the diversification of the elite schools by requiring that admission to the schools “be solely and exclusively” gained by taking a specialized, voluntary admissions test, which is called the Specialized High Schools Admissions Test (SHSAT).3 The sponsors of the legislation, Senator John D. Calandra (R-BX) and Assemblymember Burton G. Hecht (D-BX) asserted at the time of introduction that the bill was motivated by “the most insidious attack thus far upon the finest educational schools in New York City. [The Chancellor’s…] attempt to destroy these schools must be stopped immediately.”4 Early in 1971, only two years after a NYC teachers strike and the new decentralization law, the superintendent of one of the new NYC community school districts, Alfredo O. Mathew, Jr., of District 3 in Manhattan’s Upper West Side, asserted that Bronx High School of Science “…was a privileged educational center for children of the white middle class because ‘culturally’ oriented examinations worked to ‘screen out’ black [sic] and Puerto Rican students who could succeed at the school.”5 1 Stuyvesant High School, Bronx High School of Science, Brooklyn Technical High School, Brooklyn Latin School, Staten Island Technical High School, Queens High School for the Sciences, High School of American Studies, the High School of Mathematics, Science and Engineering, and LaGuardia High School of Music and the Arts. 2 Dynarski, S., “Evidence on New York City and Boston exam schools,” Brookings Evidence Speaks Report Series, July 19, 2017, accessed at: https://www.brookings.edu/research/evidence-on-new-york-city-and-boston-exam-schools/. 3 Laws of New York, Chapter 1212 §12 (1971); codified as Education Law § 2590-h. See also Shapiro, E., “De Blasio has means, if not will, to reform specialized high school admissions,” Politico. March 15, 2018, accessed at: https://www.politico.com/states/new-york/albany/story/2018/03/15/de-blasio-has-means-if-not-will-to-reform-specialized- school-admissions-317675 4 “Paths to Legislation or Litigation for Educational Privilege: New York and San Francisco Compared,” page 16, available at: https://steinhardt.nyu.edu/scmsAdmin/uploads/005/432/The%20Hecht-Calandra%20Bill.AJE3.doc 5 Id. 3485 October 30, 2019 On these grounds of racial discrimination, the Superintendent and his local school board members asked the Chancellor’s office (then Chancellor Harvey Scribner) to change the policy to eliminate the entrance examination and to move to admission based on the recommendation of elementary school personnel.6 At the time, the Chancellor asserted “there is a questions as to the extent any test of academic achievement tends to be culturally biased.”7 He announced he would appoint a committee to examine the admissions procedure.8 These actions precipitated the legislative responses by Calandra and Hecht. The law named three test-in specialized schools (Stuyvesant, Bronx Science, and Brooklyn Tech), and “such further high schools which the Board of Education may designate from time to time.”9 Today, eight schools continue to operate as exam schools; the original three as well as Brooklyn Latin School; Staten Island Technical High School; Queens High School for the Sciences; High School of American Studies; and the High School of Mathematics, Science and Engineering.