It was a good time to be a bill at City Hall this week as Council Members introduced stacks of legislation concerned with how we eat, speak, and party(bike) in the city.
Council Member Rivera introduced his version of the calorie display law passed by the Board of Health that required restaurants to display nutritional information on menus. Rivera’s proposal would require restaurants to list the nutritional content on posters or brochures, not menus. The bill is opposed by Council Speaker Quinn and Mayor Bloomberg.
What’s the best way for the youth in America to learn about Black History Month and to foster a shared dialogue among generations? Council Member Comrie’s answer is to condemn language. Supporters wearing pins with the letter “N” marked with red slash on it, gathered at City Hall to back a symbolic moratorium to ban the N-word. The resolution gained widespread support among other Council Members. Council Member Liu called it “the vilest word in the English language.”
A bill limiting the number of licenses for pedi-cabs and enforcing stricter regulations was passed and will most likely be signed by Mayor Bloomberg. Spurred by complaints from yellow taxi drivers and hotel and theater owners, the bill also requires regular inspections and equipment such as headlights. And more tragically, the new rules would prohibit the party bikes native to Times Square.
After a series of tragic and high-profile nightlife crime, the Council passed three bills regulating the right to party. The legislative package requires tightened security at nightclubs and will crack down on those that sell fake IDs. Part of the security measures, if passed, would require security cameras at entrances and exits. Mayor Bloomberg supports the bills and will mostly likely sign them into law.
Looking ahead, the fate of Mathieu Eugene’s residency status is still undecided, committee hearings on the Fiscal Year 2008 Preliminary Budget and the Mayor's FY '07 Preliminary Management Report will take place next week, and Council Speaker Quinn goes to Ireland to show her gay pride in their St. Patrick’s day parade in protest to New York City parade organizers who prohibit such participation.
