BILL NUMBER: S8180
SPONSOR: SEPULVEDA
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend chapter 548 of the laws of 2010, amending the New York
city charter relating to authorizing the city of New York to sell to
abutting property owners real property owned by such city, consisting of
tax lots that cannot be independently developed due to the size, shape,
configuration and topography of such lots and the zoning regulations
applicable thereto, in relation to the effectiveness thereof
 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section one of this bill would amend section 2 of chapter 548 of the
Laws of 2010, the unconsolidated law that provides for the expiration of
paragraph 4-a of subdivision (b) of section 384 of the New York City
Charter, by extending the sunset provision to December 31, 2030, thereby
allowing the Mayor of the City to authorize the sale of certain types of
real property owned by the City directly to abutting property owners
without an auction or competitive bidding, which are processes that
would otherwise be required by the provisions of section 384, until such
date.
Direct sales are authorized only in the limited circumstances where the
property cannot be independently developed due to its size, shape,
configuration, topography or applicable zoning or a combination of such
factors. Authorization by the Mayor would be restricted to sales of
parcels that the Mayor determines are in the best interests of the City,
based upon a certification by the Commissioner of the Department of
Citywide Administrative Services (DCAS) that such parcels are econom-
ically impracticable or infeasible to develop independently. Sales of
such real property would remain subject to approval pursuant to the
Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP), section 197-c of the New York
City Charter.
Section two of the bill would provide for an immediate effective date.
 
REASONS FOR SUPPORT:
DCAS has jurisdiction over various limited market properties, which are
properties that are economically impracticable or infeasible to develop
independently due to size, shape, zoning, configuration and topography.
The authorization under paragraph 4-a of subdivision (b) of section 384
of the New York City Charter authorizes DCAS, through its SAIL Away
(Slivers, Accessways and Interior Lots) Program to conduct direct sales
to abutting property owners of this type of property. These properties
are not appropriate for sale through the public auction or competitive
bidding processes that would be required under section 384 of the Char-
ter, as they have no independent utility. Future utilization of these
lots is dependent on and linked to the privately-owned adjacent lots. In
some cases, portions of these lots have been used by adjacent property
owners for years. The amendment to this legislation would continue to
provide authority for DCAS to transfer these limited market properties
directly to private ownership without the necessity of a public auction
or sealed bidding process. Consideration for such sales shall be for
fair market value as determined by appraisal.
Eligibility to purchase such City-owned real property is determined to
be in the best interests of the City, at the discretion of the Mayor,
based on a certification by the Commissioner of Citywide Administrative
Services that independent development is economically impracticable or
infeasible. Sales are limited to abutting property owners or an entity
comprised of such owners. Since the last amendment to the sunset
provision in 2020, DCAS has offered 33 lots for sale through the SAIL
Away Program, and has closed on five, with three currently in the pipe-
line for closing. Additionally, DCAS anticipates offering approximately
30 lots for sale by the end of this calendar year, and will target
offering approximately 30 lots each calendar year moving forward. DCAS
has identified hundreds of lots in all five boroughs that are potential-
ly eligible for this program, and securing ULURP approval, obtaining
appraisals and identifying abutting property owners willing to purchase
these properties takes significant time and effort. years. Addi-
tionally, such sale of said real property is subject to approval pursu-
ant to ULURP. Once legislation is amended and ULURP approval is
obtained, direct sales can continue to be effectuated.
Accordingly, the Mayor urges the earliest possible favorable consider-
ation of this proposal by the Legislature. Respectfully submitted,