Donations and Gifts to the City
Rule status: Proposed
Agency: COIB
Comment by date: September 16, 2025
Rule Full Text
COIB-Proposed-Amendment-of-Rules-Relating-to-Acceptance-and-Reporting-of-Donations-as-submitted-to-City-Record.pdf
The Conflicts of Interest Board is proposing to amend its rule concerning the reporting of donations and gifts to the City, including travel-related expenses.
Send comments by
- Email: [email protected]
- Mail: Conflicts of Interest Board, 2 Lafayette Street Room/Floor: Suite 1010 ; New York, New York 10007
Public Hearings
Attendees who need reasonable accommodation for a disability such as a sign language translation should contact the agency by calling 1 (212) 437-0721 or emailing [email protected] by September 12, 2025
Date
September 16, 2025
3:00pm - 3:30pm EST
Location
Spector Hall
22 Reade Street
New York City New York 10007
Disability Accommodation
- Wheelchair Accessible
Comments are now closed.
Online comments: 2
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Lily Scarabino
Comment added August 20, 2025 10:19amI support the change in minimum reporting amount to $1000.00.
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Soraya Abellard
Comment added September 5, 2025 11:37amThe amount threshold to report needs to be even lower. Where is the figure of $1,000 estimated from? This number should be matched to the travel expectations of your average constituents. Public servants don’t need extravagant travel for work purposes, and any amount that is over what the average New Yorker would spend on their own travel has high potential for circumventing bribery, favoritism, and unspoken alliances with corporations. The average working New Yorker can rarely afford the MTA or to leave the city for the weekend, much less spend $1,000 per short trip. For example, at the current price of the MTA, a person taking 2 trips per day at $2.90 would spend $162 per month. If the gifted amount for travel is in excess of what the average person would spend for the trip on their own wallet, it needs to be transparent, preferably with a detailed and itemized report of what was contributed. A more realistic figure that reflects the travel budgets of common New Yorkers would be closer to the $500 range. In 2022, the Office of the New York State Comptroller detailed in a report that “domestic business visitors spend an average of $860 per person, more than twice the spending of domestic leisure tourists”. Additionally, it details that the average spending for a domestic leisure traveler is $492 per person per trip. Per these numbers, $1,000 is an excessive limit. Bad actors seeking political favors could easily manage to disguise perks as travel expenses under the $1,000 mark. A realistic minimum reporting amount would be $500, making it clear which travel expenses are beyond the spending habits and expectations of what a constituent could provide or afford.
Comment attachment
report-2-2022.pdf