A new rule is going into effect for an old law in New York City.<\/p>\n
By July 1, businesses with solid roll-down gates are required to replace them with gates that are at least 70% transparent.<\/p>\n
The law has been on the books since 2009, with the idea of phasing out older gates in the last 17 years.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a new gate,\u201d said Roberto Beltre, of Sunset Park. \u201cNobody ever said a word. We heard about this law maybe a month ago?\u201d<\/p>\n
Beltre owns Sunset Stoop, a bar and music venue on 5th Avenue.<\/p>\n
He told News 12 that he\u2019s concerned about people looking into his business when it\u2019s closed, and new gates could cost thousands of dollars.<\/p>\n
\u201c[It\u2019s a] huge financial burden onto me at a time when things are hard right now for businesses,\u201d said Beltre.<\/p>\n
But Beltre is not alone.<\/p>\n
David Estrada, executive director of the Sunset Park BID, said that of the 600 businesses along their stretch of 5th Avenue – only 40 are currently in compliance.<\/p>\n
Estrada said the law is not a bad idea, but it should be changed.<\/p>\n
\u201cGrandfather existing roll doors and make a law that says, \u2018When you replace your roll door, in the natural course of doing, then make sure that it\u2019s compliant,\u2019\u201d said Estrada.<\/p>\n
The Department of Buildings [DOB] is responsible for enforcing the law. The agency told News 12 that they have been doing outreach to business owners across the city.<\/p>\n
A DOB spokesperson said, come July 1, enforcement will rely entirely on 311 complaints – and that \u201cbuilding inspectors will not be sent out to proactively look for non-compliant security grilles.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t blame [the] DOB,\u201d said Estrada. \u201cIt is a law. All roads lead to the city council. They need to pass a moratorium, back up, rewrite the law in a thoughtful way, and then progress to what we want to see on storefronts.\u201d<\/p>\n
The DOB says that it cannot change the law \u2013 only the City Council has that authority.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf changes are proposed, we would be ready to collaborate with them, and we stand ready to implement any potential changes to the law that they approve,\u201d a DOB spokesperson wrote.<\/p>\n
Councilmember Althea Stevens, who represents District 16 in the Bronx, says she agrees with changing the law.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt a time when we should be supporting our small business community, enforcing this outdated mandate risks doing the opposite,\u201d she wrote.<\/p>\n
She says she and her fellow council members will soon \u201cintroduce legislation that will provide immediate relief\u201d and will \u201cgrandfather in existing small businesses.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A new rule is going into effect for an old law in New York City. By July 1,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":207779,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[98,100,99,9,24,63],"class_list":["post-207778","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-brooklyn","tag-brooklyn","tag-brooklyn-headlines","tag-brooklyn-news","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207778","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=207778"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207778\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/207779"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=207778"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=207778"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=207778"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}