NYC Council Passes Landmark Public Records Bill Overhauling How City Agencies Handle Freedom of Information Law Requests
Transparency advocates applaud New York City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, Sponsor Gale Brewer, and Technology Committee Chair Jennifer Gutiérrez for unanimously passing a bill that greatly strengthens the Freedom of Information process in New York City.
The Council’s Intro 1235-A of 2025 is cosponsored by a supermajority of City Councilmembers (36 of 50 in office), and supported by more than a dozen watchdog and media organizations. We urge Mayor Eric Adams to sign it.
The legislation has been years in the making and was crafted in consultation with stakeholders who submit records requests, and those in government who respond to them. The bill seeks to get the most benefit from the City’s OpenRecords tool, which launched in 2016 and has been underused.
Highlights of Council FOIL Bill
- All agencies must use the OpenRecords portal to track and respond to requests.
- The public will know much more about the status of requests and any appeals, including specific reasons why requests are denied, and with automatic alerts.
- Once a public record is released to the requestor, it will be published on the portal after 14 days (“release to one, release to all”).
- Better searchability and filtering of requests and records published on the portal, and aggregate data about the volume and status of requests at each agency.
- A directory of agency records access and appeals officers will be published for the first time.
- Access to portal data through web automated programming interface (API).
- Development of new performance indicators related to agency FOIL request responses for the Mayor’s Management Report (MMR).
The Council bill is a response to numerous reports and examples showing that NYC agencies routinely violate the Freedom of Information Law by taking months, sometimes years, to respond to public records requests. Reinvent Albany’s recent report, “NYC Government Flouting Freedom of Information Law,” found that 16% of FOIL requests were still open a year later. Many agencies have huge backlogs of requests that remain open for years, such as the NYPD, Department of Education, and Mayor’s Office.
Passing this legislation will help the City and the public determine which agencies are falling behind and what can be done to help them catch up.
“Transparency and responsiveness are not optional in government,” said Council Member Gale A. Brewer. “The public can wait months – or even years – for City agencies to provide records requested through the Freedom of Information Law. This legislation makes the FOIL process faster and fairer. Access to information holds public officials accountable for their actions and helps educate and inform the public. By obtaining information through FOIL requests, journalists can expose corruption, misconduct, and inefficiency in public institutions.”
“Overall, Intro 1235-A will vastly improve the public’s access to government records by spotlighting problem agencies and ensuring that government officials cannot ignore the Freedom of Information Law,” said Rachael Fauss, Senior Policy Advisor for Reinvent Albany. “We thank Speaker Adams, Councilmember Brewer, and Chair Gutiérrez for getting this bill across the finish line in the Council, and we urge Mayor Adams to sign it into law.”
“For far too long, city agencies have stonewalled public records, forcing New Yorkers to wait months on end to access information they deserve to know,” said Surveillance Technology Oversight Project Legal Director David Siffert. “This is a huge win for transparency in New York City, precisely when we need to hold our government accountable. We want to thank Speaker Adams, Councilmember Brewer, and Chair Gutiérrez for understanding the urgency of FOIL reform. Mayor Adams now must sign Intro 1235-A into law—our city’s democracy depends on it.”
“Intro 1235-A is a necessary step towards government transparency and accountability in New York City,” said Laura Moraff, Digital Forensics Staff Attorney at The Legal Aid Society. “The bill will allow the public to easily access and search through records that were previously released in response to a FOIL request, and it will allow us to see how agencies are or aren’t complying with their obligations under the law. We thank Speaker Adams, Councilmember Brewer, and Chair Gutiérrez for passing this important legislation.”
“Access, transparency, and accountability are the cornerstones of democracy,” said Noel Hidalgo, Executive Director of BetaNYC, a non-profit dedicated to public interest technology in New York City. “We appreciate Speaker Adams, Councilmember Brewer, and Chair Gutiérrez for taking the time to listen to our testimony, review our reports, and collaborate with a diverse range of stakeholders to modernize NYC’s Freedom of Information Law. Now, we urge Mayor Adams to sign the bill and recognize this significant achievement in his record.”
“Citizens Union applauds the City Council for moving New York City toward a more modern and accountable system to comply with the Freedom of Information Law – also known as FOIL,” said Grace Rauh, Executive Director of Citizens Union. “Too many New Yorkers have experienced the frustration of long delays and opaque processes when trying to access public records. Requiring every agency to use the centralized FOIL portal will make the system easier to navigate and ensure that records released to one person can help inform the broader public. This legislation brings us closer to a city government that shares information more readily and treats transparency as a fundamental responsibility. We commend Council Member Gale Brewer for moving this important reform forward.”
Press Contacts:
Rachael Fauss, Senior Policy Advisor, Reinvent Albany
518-859-5307
rachael@reinventalbany.org
David Siffert, Legal Director
Surveillance Technology Oversight Project (S.T.O.P.)
646-645-5337
david@stopspying.org
Redmond Haskins, Director of Media Relations, The Legal Aid Society
929-441-2384
press@legal-aid.org