Webcasts & Broadcasts Of Events
City Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn joined other City Council members and the Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment to announce that live coverage of City Council hearings are now available on New York City’s government television station, the NYC gov channel, and online at www.council.nyc.gov as of Tuesday, May 1.
This will make New York City the largest municipality to carry live legislative hearings.
As part of an effort to make NYC government more accessible, the first phase, now underway, includes live coverage from the Council’s 250 Broadway committee rooms. The City Council chambers will be equipped for live broadcasts over the next three to four months.
The hearings will repeat and alternate at night on television, and within 48 hours, each hearing will be archived and viewable on the Council’s Legislative Calendar at https://legistar.council.nyc.gov/Calena dar.aspx. Stated hearings will also be available on the Council website.
This collaboration by the City Council and NYC.gov, which is part of NYC Media, the official network of the City of New York, provides constituents a window into city government by presenting press conferences and hearings with public officials.
These capital technical upgrades were paid for by MOME out of allocated grant funding and come at no cost to the taxpayer. The City Council is paying an additional nominal fee to host the hearings on the web.
Last year, MOME expanded the NYC gov channel to an over the air channel on Channel 25.2, making it available to an additional one million New Yorkers who do not have cable as well as to other residents in the metropolitan area. The channel continues to transmit on local cable systems. With over 2,000 hours of New York City Council coverage in 2011, NYC Media will become the largest distributor of live municipal coverage in the country.
Additionally, NYC Media has worked to rebrand and redesign many of the aspects of NYC gov to now include City factoids, City Council maps, and committee profiles on each of the members. MOME has been working closely with the Mayor’s Office and and the New York City Council on making these changes.
“Live coverage of City Council hearings is a step in the right direction towards increasing government transparency,” said Quinn. “By bringing government directly to the people, we are encouraging greater participation by New Yorkers in city government. I look forward to continuing to work with the Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment (MOME) and the Council’s tech staff to increase access to all public meetings.”
“Mayor [Michael] Bloomberg has always believed in making government as open and accessible to New Yorkers as possible,” said Katherine Oliver, Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment commissioner. “These upgrades and live capabilities will help strengthen NYC gov as a viable and strong example of good government, allowing New Yorkers a front row seat to the workings of their government.”
Part of the Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment, NYC Media is the official TV, radio and online network of the City of New York, informing, educating and entertaining New Yorkers about the City’s diverse people and neighborhoods, government, services, attractions and activities.
NYC Media oversees several television channels, a radio station and other online assets. The NYC life channel-Channel 25 on most systems and Channel 22 on Cablevision- explores arts and culture, entertainment and lifestyle, and history and education, and features the people and places that make the city unique.
The NYC gov channel provides a window into city government by presenting press conferences and hearings with public officials; the NYC world offers international programming for diverse ethnic communities; and NYC drive features live feeds from a network of city cameras providing local travelers with coverage of the city’s main roadways.
Visit www.nyc.gov/media to learn more.
