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On July 12, 2004, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg signed Local Law 36 amending the requirements for newsracks (Section 19-128.1 of the Administrative Code of the City of New York). This legislation amends Local Law 23 of 2002, which established a framework to allow the Department of Transportation (DOT) to regulate the maintenance and placement of newsracks throughout the City, while permitting the use of public space for the dissemination of written material.
Local Law 36 reinforces the safety provisions of Local Law 23, while simplifying provisions related to non-safety issues such as aesthetics. In signing the bill, the Mayor reiterated that his Administration’s top priority with regard to newsracks is ensuring the safety and welfare of the people using the City’s sidewalks. The goal is to balance the right to disseminate information with the safe and orderly use of the City sidewalks that we all share.
The new law became effective on September 13, 2004. DOT has revised agency regulations to conform to the new legislation. The amended rule took effect on November 19, 2004. The rules are contained in the Highway Rules (pdf), Title 34, Chapter 2, Section 2-08 of the Rules of the City of New York.
Provisions of Local Law 36
The complete text of Local Law 36 is posted on the City Council's Web site. Here is a summary of some of the changes:
Registration Requirements
- Newsrack owners must register with DOT annually by November 1. Additional notification is required if there are substantial changes in the registration information, including notification of removal of newsracks from City sidewalks. An updated registration form is available to be downloaded under Information for Newsrack Owners, below.
- New newsrack owners must register with DOT before placing newsracks on the sidewalk.
Self-Certification of Newsrack Maintenance
- The requirement that newsracks “be maintained in a clean and neat condition” is deleted. Instead, each newsrack owner must certify to DOT once every four months “that each newsrack under his or her ownership or control has been repainted, or that best efforts have been made to remove graffiti and other unauthorized writing, painting, drawing, or other markings or inscriptions at least once during the immediately preceding four month period.” DOT has established a schedule and forms for this certification and has posted them at this site.
- Newsrack owners are required to keep logs of their efforts to remove graffiti, as well as records of the use of materials, employees, contractors, other resources and expenditures in these efforts. The format for the maintenance logs can be downloaded below under "Information for Newsrack Owners."
Inspections and Notices
- DOT is no longer required to affix a Notice of Correction to a newsrack prior to issuing a violation. DOT must mail Notices of Correction to the newsrack owner, along with a photograph of the condition to be corrected, and may also mail a copy to an additional person designated by the newsrack owner.
- There is a time limit from the issuance of a Notice of Correction until reinspection and the issuance, if necessary, of a Notice of Violation.
- Notices of Correction are not required for violations for: failure to comply with notification (i.e., registration) requirements, failure to maintain adequate insurance, failure to comply with maintenance self-certification requirements and failure to maintain accurate logs and records.
Penalties
- The new law sets different ranges of monetary penalties for some types of violations. For violations that affect all the newsracks owned by a particular company, such as failure to provide adequate insurance, the amount of the penalty is tied to the number of newsracks owned by that company. Specific penalties were set by the Environmental Control Board effective December 23, 2004.
- Newsracks whose owners are unregistered and that don’t display adequate identifying information can be deemed abandoned and removed from the sidewalk.
- Newsrack owners who repeatedly fail to comply with certification requirements may be considered “repeat violators” and their newsracks may be removed from the sidewalk.
Local Law 23 of 2002 (pdf)
Forms
A. Newsrack Owner Registration including Statement of Compliance (pdf)
Revised as of May 1, 2007
B. Location Submission Form (Excel)
C. Instructions for Completing Location Submission Form (pdf)
D. Indemnification of the City of New York (pdf)
Revised as of June 23, 2003
E. Newsrack Maintenance Log (Excel)
F. Certification of Required Maintenance Activities (pdf)
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