Section 851.
§ 851. Constitution and appointment. a. There shall be an art
commission the members of which shall be the mayor, who may appoint a
person to represent him and replace such representative at his pleasure,
the president of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the president of the
New York Public Library (Astor, Lenox and Tilden foundations), the
president of the Brooklyn Museum, one painter, one sculptor, one
architect, and one landscape architect, all of whom shall be residents
of the city, and three other residents of the city no one of whom shall
be a painter, sculptor, architect, landscape architect or active member
of any other profession in the fine arts.
b. All the members of the commission shall serve without compensation
for their service on the commission. Those whose service is not ex
officio shall be appointed by the mayor from a list of not less than
three times the number to be appointed, such list to be submitted by the
Fine Arts Federation of New York. In case the Fine Arts Federation shall
fail to present a list of nominees within three months from the time
when a vacancy occurs, the mayor shall appoint without such nomination.
In case the mayor shall fail to appoint within one year from the time
when a vacancy occurs, such vacancy shall be filled by the commission
for any balance of the unexpired term.
c. In all matters which come before the commission pertaining to work
under the special charge of an agency, the head of such agency may act
as a member of the commission. Each president of an institution who is
an ex officio member may, by a writing filed with the executive director
of the commission, appoint a trustee of the institution of which he is
president to serve in his place as member of the commission. Such
appointment shall be revocable at any time by such president and shall
terminate whenever he ceases to be president.
Section 852.
§ 852. Terms of members; vacancies. All appointments of members of the
commission whose service is not ex officio shall be for a term of three
years commencing at the expiration of the terms of the present
incumbents, except that appointments to fill vacancies shall be for the
unexpired term. All vacancies shall be filled in accordance with the
provisions of section eight hundred fifty-one.
Section 853.
§ 853. Officers; procedures; expenses. a. The commission shall elect a
president, vice-president and secretary from its own members, whose
terms of office shall be for one year and until their successors are
elected and have qualified. The commission shall keep minutes of its
proceedings and adopt its own rules of procedure, which shall be public
documents. Six commissioners, excluding any who may be acting
temporarily as representatives of an agency pursuant to subdivision c of
section eight hundred fifty-one, shall constitute a quorum.
b. The offices and staff necessary for the commission to fulfill its
obligations shall be provided for the commission, and the amount of its
necessary expenses shall annually be provided in the budget.
Section 854.
§ 854. Approvals by the commission. a. The term "works of art" as
used in this chapter shall apply to and include all sculptures,
paintings, mural decorations, mosaics, stained glass, statues, carvings
or castings in high or low relief, inscriptions, monuments, and
fountains installed or erected or to be installed or erected upon or
over land belonging to the city whether the works of art be the property
of the city itself or of an institution, corporation or private
individual, and whether intended for ornament, commemoration or actual
use.
b. The term "structure" as used in this chapter shall apply to and
include all buildings, walks, bridges and viaducts and their approaches,
exterior walls, arches, docks, piers, gates, fences, steps, curbing,
distinctive pavings, benches, lamps, posts, traffic signals, and signage
other than signage guiding, directing or otherwise regulating and
controlling traffic erected pursuant to chapter seventy-one of the
charter.
c. On request or on its own initiative, the art commission may consult
with and advise any such agency as to the suitability of preliminary
plans for any work of art under consideration for acquisition or the
design or location of any work of art or any structure under
consideration for installation or erection in, on or over any property
of the city.
d. No work of art shall hereafter become the property of the city by
gift or otherwise, or be purchased, commissioned, contracted for,
accepted, erected or placed in or upon any public building, or allowed
to be placed on or extend into or over any public street, avenue,
highway, square, park, dock or pier or other public place belonging to
the city, unless such work of art or a design of the same, accompanied
by a specification and an estimate of the cost thereof, a plan showing
its proposed location, and, if the commission deems it necessary or
desirable, also a model, and any other pertinent information as may be
required by the commission including a plan in such detail as the
commission may require for the maintenance or conservation thereof,
shall first have been submitted to the commission by the agency having
jurisdiction, and such work of art or the design thereof, its location,
and the plan for its maintenance or conservation, shall have been
approved in writing by the commission. The commission shall have
authority to bar final payment for the purchase or erection of any such
work of art if the president or executive director of the commission
certifies that the work of art has not been completed substantially in
accordance with the approval of the commission.
e. No structure, except as provided in subdivision f or h, shall be
erected or placed upon land belonging to the city, and no arch, bridge,
structure or approach which is the property of any corporation or
private individual shall extend over or upon any street, avenue,
highway, park or public place belonging to the city, and no new lines,
grades or plotting or layout of public ways and grounds shall be
accepted or work in pursuance thereof commenced unless the design
thereof, accompanied by an estimate of cost and a plan showing the
proposed location, shall have been submitted to the commission and the
design, and in the case of a building or other structure its location in
relation to existing or projected developments in the vicinity, shall
have been approved in writing by it. If exterior wall, fences, gates,
steps, curbing, distinctive paving, benches, lamps, posts, signage,
traffic signals or other structures of the same type and design are
considered for installation at various locations, the commission may
approve the type and design with specifications as to the types of
location for which they would be approved as suitable without passing on
each individual installation. In addition, replacements-in-kind need
not be approved by the commission. The commission shall have the
authority to bar final payment for such structure, or for such lines,
grades or plotting or layout of public ways and grounds if the president
or executive director of the commission certifies that the work has not
been erected or placed substantially in accordance with the approval of
the commission.
f. In the case of any building or other structure that is part of a
construction or other project, where the total estimated cost of such
project shall not exceed one million dollars, the approval of the
commission pursuant to this section shall not be required if the mayor
or the council shall in writing request the commission not to act.
Nothing in this section shall be construed as intended to impair the
concurrent power of the commissioner of parks and recreation to refuse
his or her consent to the erection or acceptance of any public monument
or memorial or other work of any sort within any park, square or other
public place under his jurisdiction.
g. Designs for all works of art or structures intended for temporary
use in a fixed location during a period of more than one year, shall be
subject to the same forms of procedure as those adopted for permanent
use; but the approval of such designs shall be for a period to be
determined by the commission, not to exceed three years, after which the
commission shall either extend the period or order the removal of the
work of art or structure.
h. Notwithstanding any inconsistent provision of this chapter, if an
approval of a structure pursuant to subdivision e of this section
primarily concerns a landmark, landmark site, landmark interior, an
existing building within a scenic landmark, or an action within an
historic district, and also requires a report or determination by the
landmarks preservation commission pursuant to chapter three of title
twenty-five of the administrative code of the city of New York, then, in
that event, the powers and duties of the art commission with respect to
such structures pursuant to such subdivision e and subdivisions f and g
of this section shall instead be exercised by the landmarks preservation
commission pursuant to its own rules and procedures. If such commission
shall fail to take action upon any matter legally submitted to it within
sixty days after such submission, its action shall be deemed
unnecessary. Any action taken by such commission pursuant to this
subdivision shall be filed with the art commission.
Section 855.
§ 855. Time for decision limited. If the commission shall fail to take
action upon any matter legally submitted to it within sixty days after
such submission, its action shall be deemed unnecessary.
Section 856.
§ 856. Maintenance, repair, removal, relocation or alteration of works
of art. a. The commission shall periodically examine all works of art
belonging to the city, shall make, request or approve detailed
recommendations for their cleaning, maintenance and repair, and shall
have general and curatorial supervision over such works of art belonging
to the city and their cleaning, maintenance and repair. Except as
provided in subdivision d, no cleaning, restoration, repair, alteration,
removal or relocation of any work of art shall be contracted for,
commenced, or prosecuted, unless approved in writing by the commission.
Except as provided in subdivision d, the commission shall have the
authority to bar final payment for such work if the president or the
executive director of the commission certifies that the work has not
been completed substantially in accordance with the commission's
approval.
b. If a city agency fails to expend funds allocated for the proper
maintenance of works of art, or allows undue deterioration to occur
which threatens the visual and structural integrity of any work of art
under its jurisdiction, the commission shall be authorized to review the
procedures governing the care of said work and may request the agency to
relocate such work to a suitable location approved by the commission.
c. Before any work of art is repaired, altered, demolished, removed,
or relocated, the art commission shall be notified and given an
opportunity, not to exceed sixty days, to pass on the disposition of
such work of art. The commission may, with the consent of the mayor,
order the work of art to be preserved. Except as provided in
subdivision d, no work of art shall be altered, demolished, removed or
relocated without the written approval of the commission.
d. In case the immediate removal, repair or relocation of any existing
work of art shall be deemed necessary by the mayor, he may require the
commission to pass on its disposition within an emergency period, which
shall be not less than three business days after the receipt of written
notice from him. In case of the commission's failure to act within such
period, he may authorize the removal, repair or relocation without such
action.
Section 857.
§ 857. Advisory oversight of works of art. a. The art commission shall
have general advisory oversight over all works of art belonging to the
city. It shall advise the agencies having jurisdiction over them as to
methods and procedures for their proper maintenance.
b. The commission shall maintain and make available for inspection a
register of (i) works of art in the city's collection which have been
preserved and (ii) works of art in the city's collection which are
available, as determined by either the agency or the commission, for a
new use or relocation. Every agency shall maintain a list of works of
art installed in or erected upon city property assigned for use by the
agency and shall notify the commission whenever a work of art becomes
available, in its judgment, for a new use or relocation.
Section 858.
§ 858. Notice of agenda. A printed calendar of items to be heard,
which may be subject to later amendment, shall be made available to the
public and forwarded to members of the council at least three days in
advance of the meeting.
To the extent possible under law, Friends of Devin Balkind for Public Advocate has waived all copyright and related or neighboring rights to New York City Administrative Code. This work is published from: United States.
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