A new procedure from City Hall to submit freedom of information law requests promises to streamline the process, but it's raising some concerns from reporters who cover the de Blasio administration. NY1's Courtney Gross explains.
City government produces plenty of documents that leave a long paper trail.
And for years before he became mayor, Bill de Blasio has said he wanted to make that government more transparent.
"They know the difference between candidates who want to continue the status quo and candidates who are ready to make change," de Blasio said during his mayoral campaign.
So City Hall is now floating a new procedure to "streamline" how the public submits and receives Freedom of Information Law requests.
In a memo sent to reporters Thursday, the mayor's press secretary described a new online portal that the city is about to launch.
On the website, members of the public and the media will submit what is commonly referred to as FOIL requests. They will be able to track the progress of their own requests and all of the other ones that come in.
Ten business days after the requestor receives the documents, all of those materials will be posted online.
"It's about holding government accountable to the public when they make a FOIL request, and giving us a new tool to track government's action or inaction on these FOIL requests," said Citizens Union's Executive Director Dick Dadey.
In the extremely competitive media market of New York City, the proposal is raising some concerns from reporters.
Some worry competing journalists would be able to see what investigative projects they are working on.
Others said the ten-day limit means they would be rushed to write something before the information in the documents they requested came into focus.
"A reporter might want to keep his or her request, let's say, somewhat close to the vest," said Robert Freeman, the executive director of the New York Committee on Open Government
The new portal does not address how long it takes a city agency to respond to these requests.
The de Blasio administration has been criticized for dragging its feet in complying with FOIL.
A look at some of the requests filed with the mayor's office shows they can languish for months, and even more than a year.
City Hall officials emphasize the new proposal is a draft and they are welcoming feedback.