On Feb.16, City Councilwoman Margaret Chin introduced two bills to the City

On Feb.16, City Councilwoman Margaret Chin introduced two bills to the City Council that are intricately linked to the welfare of Chinatown residents.

One of the bills proposes to amend city laws and require landlords to pay for costs incurred by tenants who must move out their buildings due to emergency situations. The other proposal urges the Council to work expeditiously with the state government to effectively regulate long- distance buses in the community.

According to Chin, the first bill, Intro 479, would regulate landlords in large buildings and mandate that landlords set up an escrow account with the Housing Protecting Department that would provide funds to take care of tenants in emergency situations. According to Chin, many buildings in lower Manhattan have fire or structural problems, and have forced the evacuation of the tenants.

Associated costs are usually absorbed by the Housing Presevation and Development (HPD), but changes are urgently needed. Intro 479 would require that landlords contribute to the account 10 percent of the rent collected from tenants in the past five years. The funds would be used by HPD to help tenants pay for the cost of moving out, when the building needs to be evacuated. When the tenants are not able to return to their homes, the funds will help them to find a comparable residence in the community, so that the HPD will not have to incur more costs.

The second bill, Resolution 668, proposes that the N.Y. State government pass legislation to regulate long distance buses. If passed, the legislation would allow any town with a population over a million people to provide a permit for long distance buses. For New York City, which has serious competition among long distance bus companies, the bill would be helpful to regulate and monitor these companies. The bill will also address issues regarding bus stops in Chinatown. Both N.Y. State Senator Daniel L. Squadron (D- District 25) and N.Y. State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (D, WF – District 64), who also represent Chinatown, said they will support regulations that clearly monitor bus companies.

By Tao Hsieh, World Journal, 24 February 2011. Translated from Chinese by Connie Yik Kong.