Each City Council session, the Progressive Caucus selects 10 or more legislative packages to collectively prioritize in our work at City Hall. These priorities are guided by our progressive principles, which you can read more about here. Read about our priority legislative packages for the 2024-2025 term below.
The FARE Act
In late 2024, the New York City Council passed the FARE Act, championed by Progressive Caucus Member Chi Ossé. The FARE Act prohibits landlords from passing the fees of brokers they hire onto prospective tenants, which can double or triple the costs for tenants moving to a new apartment. After June 11, 2025, tenants, tenants will no longer be forced to pay expensive broker fees for realtors they didn’t hire!
POST Act Reform
Introduction 0168, Intro. 0233, Intro. 0480
The City Council passed the POST Act in 2020, requiring the NYPD to report the tools it uses to surveil New Yorkers. According to a report published by the Office of the Inspector General, the NYPD has failed to comply with the law’s requirements and to respond to public inquiries about surveillance technology use. These bills will strengthen the POST Act by limiting government use of facial recognition technologies and fortifying disclosure requirements, so that New Yorkers know if and how they are being surveilled.
Public Bathrooms for All
New York City has some of the best parks, shopping centers, and public spaces in the world but it’s low in one of the most important ingredients of a safe and equitable city – clean, free, and abundant public bathrooms. This bill requires City departments to develop a citywide public bathroom network with 1 bathroom per 2,000 residents by 2035.
Universal Childcare
New Yorkers, particularly those in the outer boroughs, pay more for child care than almost anywhere else in the county. This bill would create a New York City Office of Child Care and charge the office with improving and expanding child care across the city. The Office would be tasked with ensuring all city residents can access free and universal child care.
Community Land Act
Introduction 0078, Intro. 0902, Intro. 0782, Resolution 0374, Reso. 0327
The Community Land Act is a package of bills that would give community land trusts (CLTs) and other nonprofits tools to develop and preserve permanently-affordable housing, community and commercial spaces, and other critical needs. The package will give certain mission-driven organizations a first right to purchase multifamily buildings when landlords sell. Additionally, the package will require the City to prioritize CLTs and nonprofits when selling City-owned land.
Abolish the Criminal Group Database
The NYPD’s “gang” database supposedly marks certain New Yorkers as dangerous but in reality people end up on this list for totally arbitrary reasons, like using emojis, living in certain buildings, or being connected on social media to someone else in the database. Children as young as 11 have appeared in the database, with no notification to them or their parents. Further, 99% of the New Yorkers on the list are Black or Latino men and boys. This bill will abolish the database and inform the people who were on it.
Secure Jobs Act
In a lot of jobs in New York City, it is still legal for an employer to fire workers with no reason at all. The Secure Jobs Act would require that employers have “just cause” or a genuine economic reason for firing their employees, in most cases. It would also require two weeks’ notice when someone is fired and limits employer’s electronic monitoring of workers.
Street Vendor Licenses for All
Introduction 0024, Intro. 0047, Intro. 0431
New York City has some of the best and most diverse street vendors in the entire world but city law makes it difficult for vendors to sell food and goods safely. There aren’t nearly enough existing street vending licenses to meet consumer demand, so talented New Yorkers wait for years and years on enormous waitlists. This bill package will increase the number of vending licenses available and includes other measures to make vending safer.
Sex Worker Protection Act
Sex workers face some of the most dangerous working conditions of any occupation. This bill will protect New Yorkers by prohibiting housing discrimination based on employment as a sex worker, providing these workers with information on their rights, and funding organizations that provide health and social services to sex workers.
Stop Illegal Evictions Act
Introduction 0621, Intro. 0622, Intro. 0623, Resolution 0246
New York City has strict laws around evictions but investigations have shown that the NYPD rarely enforces these laws against landlords who illegally evict tenants. This bill package will increase penalties against landlords who illegally evict tenants, define illegal evictions as a form of tenant harassment, and call on the State legislature to pass a law speeding up housing court proceedings.
Back Home Act
Introduction 0607, Intro. 608, Intro. 609, Intro. 749, Intro. 750, Intro. 751, Intro. 817, Resolution 307
In recent years, there have been a number of devastating building fires and floods that have left New Yorkers traumatized and scrambling to find shelter and replace lost items. The Back Home Act includes measures that will increase transparency around emergency preparedness, provide resources to prepare New Yorkers for potential emergencies, require that the City relocate displaced residents within their existing communities while they await building repairs, create a dedicated City office to support those displaced by emergencies, and more.
Stop Shelter Evictions Act
New York City has a judicially mandated right to shelter but the Adams administration has circumvented this requirement at a time of increased homelessness, leaving more and more New Yorkers with nowhere to go but the streets. The Stop Shelter Evictions Act would prevent City agencies from limiting the length of shelter stays so that New Yorkers in need can have more stability while they get back on their feet.
Third Party Transfer Reform
The Third Party Transfer program allows the City to give certain foreclosed, physically distressed properties to third parties for rehabilitation. Historically, these properties have often gone to private developers. This bill will create additional notification requirements to property owners and building residents before a transfer occurs, provide opportunities for building owners to avoid the transfer in some circumstances, and require the city to prioritize community ownership when transferring properties in order to help break the cycle of disinvestment, speculation, and displacement.
