About Tal Rappleyea
As a municipal lawyer, Tal Rappleyea gets asked this question all the time: What is a municipality?
A municipality is actually just a technical term for a county or city. Although municipalities are mainly responsible for creating their laws, they hire municipal lawyers that are responsible for enforcing those laws. Tal Rappleyea covers the following municipal law issues to reflect the needs of area residents:
- Education policies, which governs the safety and standards of education in public schools, accommodating students with disabilities, and job security for teachers.
- Property taxes, which outlines how taxed income from residents can be used to benefit the community.
- Police power, which oversees how police officers monitor resident behavior.
- Zoning, which determines how land in the municipality is used.
Some municipal lawyers work internally for one municipality, while others practice law individually for multiple municipalities. Tal practices law individually in his own private practice and serves several counties in the Albany metro area in New York state.
Tal Rappleyea was admitted to the New York State Bar Association in January 1989. This chapter of the bar association is actually the largest voluntary state bar organization in the nation with a membership of more than 74,000 lawyers. Tal is proud to be a member, considering former presidents Grover Cleveland and Chester A. Arthur were members of the New York State chapter as well.
With nearly three decades of experience and a Juris Doctorate from Hamline State University, Tal Rappleyea has explored municipal law in several roles as an attorney, ranging from positions as Attorney for the Town and Attorney for the Village of several municipalities. Currently, Tal is a solo practitioner in his own Law Offices of Tal G. Rappleyea in Valatie, New York and lists municipal law as one of his main concentrations.
Tal is a supporter the New York State Conference of Mayors and Municipal Officials (NYCOM), which is an organization that trains municipal officials and operates as a general support group for municipal officials in each state. He is also very active in his community, as he is a member of the Capital District Trial Lawyers Association and holds a position in the County Bar Association of New York State.
Although Tal Rappleyea maintains an active lifestyle by volunteering in his community and maintaining memberships in his field of practice, he still makes time for one of his pastimes, golf, by on the range.
- “Deal of the Year” Award from the Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY)
- Named one of the three new inductees to the Ethics Committee of REBNY
- Named to the Executive Board of New York Residential Specialists (NYRS).
Municipal Art Society of New York Releases City-Owned and Leased Property Database
The Municipal Art Society of New York is constantly working to maintain the beauty of New York City’s past while implementing the best ideas for the city’s future. The Municipal Art Society (MAS) is largely responsible for keeping New York afloat as the cultural hub that many people know and love. In fact, MAS was founded in 1893, five years before the consolidated City of New York was officially established.
One of the most recent actions taken by the Municipal Art Society of New York is creating a database for searching city-owned and leased property. The Municipal Art Society (MAS) issued a report on November 21, 2016 which aggregated information about city-owned and leased properties and how they relate to the infrastructure, environment, population, landmarks and local rezonings. Alongside the report was the first-ever interactive city map, a compilation of information for over 14,000 city-owned and leased properties. With the help of the interactive tool, properties are categorized into four groups. These groups are properties with a residential use, properties with a current use that is not residential, properties with no current use and property used for parks and open space. According to MAS, the report and the interactive map represent the first step toward MAS’s goals to improve their public assets and make New York City healthier and more dynamic.
The Municipal Art Society found that the 14,000 city-owned and leased properties in New York City took up a total of 43,000 acres. For reference, this is an area the size of Brooklyn. In light of this number, Gina Pollara, the President of MAS, spoke about the significance of the report and the interactive map. She said that the report provides a detailed view of land owned by the city, which allows MAS to understand the city and to help it reach its potential. This is especially important now that New York is facing challenges such as infrastructure development, rising population and density, climate change and social equity.
There were a number of other significant findings that were revealed through the report. For example, a total of 1,832 acres of city-owned land are classified as underutilized. That makes up twenty-two percent of city-owned land. The term “underutilized” refers to property that has no current use. Included in this category are 78 properties that contain nonresidential structures that are not in use. One of these properties is the former Rockaway Court House. This former court house, located in Queens, is managed by the Department of Citywide Administrative Services.
Also provided by the interactive map is information about population and income for the city, median household income from the U.S. Census Bureau and census tract income for total population. The data showed that the average population density per census tract in New York City is 84.3 people per acre. According to the report, seventy-one percent of city-owned properties are located in census tracts that are below the average density. Also significant is the fact about half of city-owned properties are located in census tracts below the median income. The median annual income of New York City is $52,737.
The report also found that sixty-four percent of city-owned properties are in areas that are at a high risk for floods now and in the future. There are 247 city-owned properties that are fully or partially designated as New York State environmental remediation sites.
This report and the interactive map will be instrumental in the way that MAS and New Yorkers at large will understand city-owned land. This could play a large role in the steps that MAS takes in the future to make sure the city can reach its full potential.