Technology has made public meetings accessible to the entire public, but New York State's Open Meetings Law doesn't allow it.
When the current COVID-related State of Emergency expires on April 15th, public meetings will go back to being in-person only.
You won't have a choice of attending remotely or in person. You won't be able to attend by computer, tablet, cell phone, or home phone. Meetings of community boards, the City Council, and all other state
and city government departments, agencies, and public bodies will be in-person only.
Many people who are able to attend remotely aren't able to attend in person or have difficulty doing it, such as
- the sick,
- the immunocompromised,
- the disabled,
- the hospitalized,
- parents and guardians who can't leave a child at home alone,
- people who can't or don't want to take public transportation but also can't afford to take a taxi,
- people who are at work,
- people who are out-of-town for work or pleasure,
- and so on
- and so on
- and so on.
The petition "Bring New York’s Open Meetings Law Into the 21st Century" asks for remote attendance to still be allowed when the State of Emergency ends. https://www.change.org/p/bring-new-york-s-open-meetings-law-into-the-21st-century
A bill in the State Senate and State Assembly would allow meetings to be either remote-only or a combination of in-person and remote:
"Relates to videoconferencing at public meetings and requiring that the minutes of a public meeting at which videoconferencing is used reflect such fact and the extent of such participation."
Senate Bill S7261 is posted at https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2021/s7261, and Assembly Bill A8155 is at https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2021/a8155. They were introduced in June 2021 and July 2021, respectively.
