Chapter 47: Public Access To Meetings and Information

Section 1058.

Section 1058. Heads of departments to furnish copies of papers on demand.

The heads of all administrations and departments, except the police and law departments, and the chiefs of each and every division or bureau thereof, and all borough presidents shall, with reasonable promptness, furnish to any taxpayer desiring the same, a true and certified copy of any book, account or paper kept by such administration, department, bureau or office, or such part thereof as may be demanded, upon payment in advance of ten cents for every hundred words thereof by the person demanding the same. The provisions of this section shall not apply to any papers prepared by or for the comptroller for use in any proceeding to adjust or pay a claim against the city or any agency, or by or for counsel for use in actions or proceedings to which the city or any agency is a party, or for use in any investigation authorized by this charter.

Section 1059.

Section 1059. Inspection by taxpayers of books and papers.

All books, accounts and papers in the office of any borough president or any division or bureau thereof, or in any city administration or department or any division or bureau thereof, except the police and law departments, shall at all times be open to the inspection of any taxpayer, subject to such reasonable rules and regulations in regard to the time and manner of such inspection as the borough president, administration, department, office, division or bureau may make; in case such inspection shall be refused, such taxpayer, on his sworn petition, describing the particular book, account or paper that he desires to inspect, may, upon notice of not less than one day, apply to any justice of the supreme court for an order that he be allowed to make such inspection as such justice shall by his order authorize. The provisions of this section shall not apply to any papers prepared by or for the comptroller for use in any proceedings to adjust or pay a claim against the city or any agency, or by or for counsel for use in actions or proceedings to which the city or any agency is a party, or for use in any investigation authorized by this charter.

Section 1060.

Section 1060. Public attendance at executive sessions.

1. Except as otherwise provided pursuant to subdivision b of this section, the public may attend all sessions or meetings of the following agencies whenever items on the calendar of such agency are to be considered and acted upon in a preliminary or final manner; art commission, conciliation and appeals board, environmental control board, board of health, landmarks preservation commission, city planning commission, board of standards and appeals, tax commission, youth board, and the council and its committees.
2. Any agency specified pursuant to subdivision a of this section may convene an executive session closed to the public by a three-fourths vote of all of its members, but shall not take final action at any such meeting.

Section 1061.

Section 1061. Commission on public information and communication.

1. There shall be a commission on public information and communication which shall consist of the public advocate, as chair, the corporation counsel or the delegate of such officer, the director of operations or the delegate of such officer, the commissioner of the department of records and information services or the delegate of such officer, the commissioner of information technology and telecommunications or the delegate of such officer, the president of the WNYC communications group or the delegate of such officer, and one council member elected by the council, all of whom shall serve on the board without compensation. In addition, there shall be four other members, each appointed for a four-year term, who shall not hold or seek public or political party office or be public employees in any jurisdiction, except the representative of the community board as set forth herein, to be appointed as follows: two by the mayor, one of whom is or has been a representative of the news media and one of whom shall be a member of a community board; one by the public advocate; and one by the borough presidents acting as a group. Such members shall receive a per diem compensation for each calendar day they perform the work of the commission. No such members shall serve for more than two consecutive four-year terms. All initial appointments shall be made by the first day of March, nineteen hundred ninety.
2. Members may be removed by the mayor for cause after notice and opportunity to be heard. Members shall serve until their successors have been appointed.
3. The commission shall appoint an executive director, a general counsel and such other officers, employees, and consultants as are necessary to fulfill its duties, within appropriations available therefor.
4. The commission shall:

   (1) undertake, by itself, or in cooperation with other entities, activities to educate the public about the availability and potential usefulness of city produced or maintained information and assist the public in obtaining access to such information;

   (2) review (i) all city information policies, including but not limited to, policies regarding public access to city produced or maintained information, particularly, computerized information; (ii) the quality, structure, and costs to the public of such information; (iii) agency compliance with the various notice, comment, and hearing provisions of the charter and other laws applicable to city agencies; and (iv) the usefulness and availability of city documents, reports, and publications;

   (3) assist city agencies in facilitating public access to their meetings, transcripts, records, and other information, and monitor agency compliance with the provisions of the charter, and other laws which require such public access;

   (4) hold at least one public hearing each year on city information policies and issue at least one report each year with such recommendations as the commission deems advisable;

   (5) on the request of any member of the public, elected official, or city agency, render advisory opinions regarding the application of those provisions of the charter or other laws which require public access to meetings, transcripts, records and other information. Such advisory opinions shall be indexed by subject matter and maintained on a cumulative basis;

   (6) make recommendations regarding: (i) the application of new communications technology to improve public access to city produced or maintained information; (ii) the distribution of information to the public about the purposes and locations of the city’s service delivery facilities; and (iii) programming for the municipal cable channels and broadcasting system.

Section 1062.

Section 1062. Public data directory.

1. The commission shall publish annually a directory of the computerized information produced or maintained by city agencies which is required by law to be publicly accessible. Such directory shall include specific descriptions of the contents, format and methods of accessing such information, and the name, title, office address, and office telephone number of the official in each agency responsible for receiving inquiries about such information.
2. The mayor shall transmit to the commission such information as the commission requires to compile and update the public data directory. The mayor shall also ensure that all agencies provide the commission with such assistance and information as the commission requires.

Section 1063.

Section 1063. Cablecasting and broadcasting the public proceedings of city government.

1. All future cable franchises and franchise renewals shall require (i) that channels be designated for governmental use and (ii) that the franchisee provide the interconnections necessary to allow the cablecasting of the public proceedings of the council and its committees and the city planning commission.
2. The council and its committees and the city planning commission shall make their public meetings and hearings available for cablecasting and broadcasting. The council, on the recommendation of the commission on public information and communication, may by local law require that other agencies of city government be subject to the requirements of this subdivision.
3. On or before the thirtieth day of June, nineteen hundred ninety-one, the commission on public information and communication shall submit to the council a proposal for cablecasting the public proceedings of the council and its committees and the city planning commission. Such proposal shall include the commission’s recommendations regarding (i) the organization or organizations to be responsible for obtaining such cablecasting and (ii) funding the start-up and ongoing costs of such cablecasting.
4. Each city agency, committee, commission and task force and the council shall record or cause to be recorded in digital video format its meetings and hearings, or portions thereof, that are required to be public pursuant to article seven of the public officers law, provided that this section shall not apply to community boards or local school boards. Such recordings shall be webcast live, where practicable, and shall be archived and made available to the public on the city’s website or on the website of such agency, committee, commission, task force, or council, not more than seventy-two hours after adjournment of the meeting or hearing recorded.

Section 1064.

Section 1064. Centralized contract and contractor information.

1. The mayor shall maintain, in a central place which is accessible to the public, standard information regarding each city contract and contractor. Such information shall include: (1) a copy of the contract; (2) information regarding the method by which the contract was let; (3) such standard documents as the contractor is required to submit, which documents shall be updated regularly in accordance with rules of the procurement policy board; (4) information regarding the contractor’s qualifications and performance; (5) any evaluations of the contractor and any contractor responses to such evaluations; (6) any audits of the contract and any contractor responses to such audits; and (7) any decisions regarding the suspension or debarment of the contractor.
2. The procurement policy board shall regularly review the scope and form of all information maintained pursuant to this section and shall promulgate rules regarding its contents, organization and management.
3. The mayor shall ensure adequate public access to the information on contracts and contractors, which shall be maintained in a manner to facilitate public review, with due consideration for the need to protect, where appropriate, the confidentiality of any such information.
4. The information on contracts and contractors shall be computerized to the extent feasible. The computerized information shall be stored in a manner which allows for meaningful read-only access to such information by the agency name, contractor name, contract category, and contract number included in prior notices published in the City Record pursuant to section three hundred twenty-five. At least one computer terminal shall be available for such access in the central place established by the mayor pursuant to subdivision a of this section, and such access shall also be provided to the public through the City’s website.

Section 1065.

Section 1065. Budget documents.

Each budget document required by chapters ten, six, or nine of the charter shall be a public document. The official or agency responsible for preparing each such document shall file a copy in the municipal reference and research center, in the principal branch library of each borough and, for the various geographic based budget documents, in the relevant branch library. Copies of each such required budget document shall also be made available for reasonable public inspection in the office of the official or agency responsible for preparing it.

Section 1066.

Section 1066. City Record.

1. There shall be published daily, except Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays, under contract or by the department of citywide administrative services, a paper to be known as the City Record.
2. There shall be inserted in the City Record nothing aside from such official matters as are expressly authorized.
3. All advertising required to be done for the city, except as otherwise provided by law, shall be inserted at the public expense in the City Record and a publication therein shall be sufficient compliance with any law requiring publication of such matters or notices.
4. Nothing herein contained shall prevent the publication elsewhere of any advertisement required by law to be so published.
5. The commissioner of citywide administrative services shall cause a continuous series of the City Record to be bound as completed quarterly and to be deposited with his or her certificate thereon in the office of the city register, in the county clerk’s office of each county and in the office of the city clerk; and copies of the contents of any part of the same, certified by such register, county clerk or city clerk, shall be received in judicial proceedings as prima facie evidence of the truth of the contents thereof.
6. The commissioner of citywide administrative services shall provide copies of each issue of the City Record to the municipal reference and research center where they shall be available without charge to any member of the public requesting a copy on the publication date or within a reasonable period of time thereafter, to be determined by the commissioner of records and information services. The commissioner shall also provide free subscriptions to the City Record to each borough president, council member, community board, and branch of the public library and to the news media as defined in paragraph three of subdivision b of section one thousand forty-three of the charter. The commissioner of citywide administrative services, each borough president, council member and community board shall, upon receipt, make copies of each issue of the City Record available in their respective offices for reasonable public inspection without charge.
7. All information published in the City Record after the effective date of the local law that created this subdivision shall be available as soon as possible, but no later than 24 hours of publishing, at no charge on a website maintained by or on behalf of the city of New York as well as on a single web portal that is linked to nyc.gov or any successor website maintained by, or on behalf of, the city of New York created pursuant to section 23-502 of the administrative code. Such information shall be available in both a non-proprietary, machine-readable format and a human-readable format and shall be capable of being downloaded in bulk. Such information shall be searchable by, at minimum, date of publication, relevant agency, keyword, and category, such as public hearings, procurement notices, and changes in personnel.

Section 1067.

Section 1067. Organization of the agency; notice.

In January, nineteen hundred ninety and every year thereafter, in accordance with the notice procedures of subdivision b of section one thousand forty-three of this charter, the head of each agency shall cause to be published in the City Record and shall give notice of a written plan or chart describing the organization of the agency.

Section 1068.

Section 1068. [Resolutions amending or extending charter.]

The text of each resolution or similar action provided for by this charter which has the force of law or which amends or extends the charter shall appear as part of the administrative code or of the compilation of city rules required by section one thousand forty-five, as the mayor deems appropriate.

Section 1069.

Section 1069. Access to public insurance coverage information.

1. Pursuant to the provisions of this section, each agency designated as a participating agency under the provisions of this section shall implement and administer a program of distribution of the public health insurance program options pamphlet published by the department of health and mental hygiene pursuant to section 17-183 of the administrative code of the city of New York. The following offices are hereby designated as participating agencies: the administration for children’s services, the board of education, the city clerk, the commission on human rights, the department for the aging, the department of correction, the department of employment, the department of homeless services, the department of housing preservation and development, the department of juvenile justice, the department of health and mental hygiene, the department of probation, the department of social services/human resources administration, the taxi and limousine commission, the department of youth and community development, the office to end domestic and gender-based violence, and the office of immigrant affairs; provided, however, that the department of health and mental hygiene, as it deems appropriate, may designate additional agencies to be participating agencies.
2. Participating agencies shall be required to: (i) distribute such public health insurance program options pamphlet to all persons requesting a written application for services, renewal or recertification of services or request for a change of address relating to the provision of services by such agency; provided, however, that this section shall not apply to services that must be provided to prevent actual or potential danger to the life, health or safety of any individual or to the public (ii) include a public health insurance program options pamphlet with any agency communication sent through the United States mail for the purpose of supplying an individual with a written application for services, renewal or recertification of services or with a request for a change of address form relating to the provision of services by such agency; and (iii) provide an opportunity for an individual requesting a written application for services, renewal or recertification for services or change of address form relating to the provision of services by such agency via the Internet to request a public health insurance program options pamphlet, and provide such pamphlet, by United States mail or an Internet address where such pamphlet may be viewed or downloaded, to any person who indicates via the Internet that they wish to be sent a public health insurance program options pamphlet; provided, however, that the taxi and limousine commission shall only be required to distribute to public health insurance program options pamphlet to those persons applying for or renewing a driver’s license or vehicle license as those terms are defined in section 19-502 of this code; and provided further, that the board of education shall be required only to ensure that the public health insurance program options pamphlet is distributed to those individuals who appear in person to register a child in the public school system.
3. Participating agencies shall ensure that the employees of such agency do not make any statement to an applicant for services or client or take any action the purpose or effect of which is to lead the applicant or client to believe that a decision to request public health insurance or a public health insurance program options pamphlet has any bearing on their eligibility to receive or the availability of services or benefits provided by such agency.
4. Each participating agency shall request that any contractor of such agency operating pursuant to a contract which (i) is in excess of two hundred and fifty thousand dollars and (ii) requires such contractor to supply individuals with a written application for, or written renewal or recertification of services, or request for change of address form in the daily administration of their contractual obligation to such participating agency, fulfill the obligations of participating agencies under this section.
5. Each participating agency may establish procedures as they deem necessary to implement the local law that added this section. The commissioner or head of a participating agency, with the concurrence of the commissioner of the department of health and mental hygiene, may exclude a program in whole or in part from the requirements of this section upon determining that the inclusion of such a program would not substantially further the purpose of the local law that added this section. The commissioner or head of each participating agency that administers programs receiving funds under the workforce investment act of 1998, as codified at 29 U.S.C. § 2801 et seq., shall, with the concurrence of the commissioner of the department of health and mental hygiene, determine which workforce investment act offices providing workforce development services, including core and intensive services or substantive training funded in whole or in part by the city’s share of funds provided under such workforce investment act, shall be required to fulfill the obligations of participating agencies under this section; such determination shall be based upon whether the inclusion of such offices would substantially further the purpose of the local law that added this section. A copy of each determination made pursuant to this subdivision shall be forwarded to the council and the mayor within thirty days of such determination.

Section 1069.

Section 1069. 1. Distribution of pamphlet on public health insurance program options in day care centers.

Each day care center shall be required to distribute the pamphlet on public health insurance program options provided to it by the department of health and mental hygiene pursuant to subdivision b of section 17-183 of the administrative code of the city of New York to those individuals who appear in person to register a child in such day care center. Day care centers shall also be required to ensure that pamphlets on public health insurance program options are made available to parents and/or guardians on the premises of such centers throughout the year. For the purposes of this section, “day care center” shall mean any child day care facility operating in New York city that is required to obtain a license from, or to register with, the department of health and mental hygiene pursuant to section 47.05 of the New York city health code and/or the New York state department of social services pursuant to section 390 of the New York state social services law.