Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. and Queens City Council Member Karen Koslowitz have partnered on legislation to increase transparency in the self-storage industry in New York City.
Council Member Koslowitz, who chairs the City Council’s Committee on State and Federal Legislation, has proposed legislation with Borough President Diaz that would require self-storage operators to make data regarding the zip codes of their customers available to the Department of Small Business services on a yearly basis.
In February, Borough President Diaz sent a letter to three City agencies—the Department of City Planning, the Department of Small Business Services and the New York City Economic Development Corporation—asking them to provide this or similar data to his office.
That letter can be read at http://on.nyc.gov/2mbQsX0.
The agencies were unable to produce such data as it is not currently collected. Therefore, Borough President Diaz and Council Member Koslowitz are seeking a legislative solution to make such data public.
“Self-storage facilities are popping up all over The Bronx and the City, taking up valuable real estate in the process. Our legislation would provide a window into the universe of customers these facilities serve, in order to better allow the city to examine the true users of these facilities and plan accordingly for their future siting. I thank Council Member Koslowitz for partnering with me on this important legislation,” said Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr.
“I believe that it is uncontroverted that our city, in its interest to provide increasing engines of economic productivity and opportunity, needs to reign in the proliferation of storage facilities in our Business Industrial Zones. This bill will assist planners of future zoning modifications by offering a window into current storage facility dynamics,” said Council Member Karen Koslowitz.