De Blasio Puts Forward Progressive Vision in State of the City

New York – Mayor de Blasio doesn’t just want to put forward a progressive vision for his seventh State of the City address, he wants to “save our city.”

That was the title of his speech Thursday, his second to the last as mayor of New York. It involves ending all single-use plastic bottles, barring rental brokers from taking fees from renters, and fining landlords who don’t rent out storefronts to low-income people. He’s promising to push graduate rates to heights never seen before and double investments in renewable energy.

“Many New Yorkers have real fears that the city they love is slipping away,” de Blasio told the crowd at Manhattan’s American Museum of Natural History for what he said was a “very different kind” of state of the city address. “…We must make New York City easier to afford, protect the mom-and-pop businesses that make New York, New York, and hand this city back to the people who make it so great.”

One of his most newsy items was his statement that he will sign an executive order for government offices to end the purchase of single-use plastic bottles and restrict the sale of single-use plastic bottles of 21 fluid ounces or less by 2021.

Another order will all vehicles in the city’s fleet converted to electric by 2040 — including garbage trucks, ferries, ambulances, school buses and police cruisers.

De Blasio is calling for state legislators to tax landlords who keep storefronts vacant in hopes of getting a high-paying renter, calls for cutting fines on businesses by over 50 percent by 2021 and help low-income businesses with free legal services for lease negotiation and low-interest loans.
In lieu of a security deposit, the administration is seeking to required landlords to give renters a choice to pay a smaller security deposit up front or to sign up for renter security insurance that allows small monthly payments.

One issue he repeated was his plan legalize basement apartments through updating zoning laws, introducing legislation to cut through red tape and helping homeowners pay for it. The city estimates that this measures will add 10,000 more affordable homes over the next decade.