Press Room

NEW YORK: New York City Public Advocate joined Council Members to question top NYPD officials today on a range of issues at a hearing of the Committee on Public Safety today, one of the Council’s hearings on the mayor's executive budget. In addition to speaking broadly about the overall budget of the NYPD, the Public Advocate focused on mental health response – especially the shooting of Win Rozario – accountability measures the like Civilian Complaint Review Board, and policing of protests, specifically around the recent pro-Palestinian campus encampments.

“The NYPD is by far the biggest and most expensive police department in the country, and often is called for social service functions that are not appropriate,” said Public Advocate Williams in his opening. “We know that dispatching police to remove people perceived as being homeless or experiencing symptoms of mental health and acute mental illness hasn’t worked long-term in the past, and that we must invest in non-police responses to people in mental health crisis to address those in crisis and to help address substance abuse. The fatal consequences of what happens when police respond to a person in a mental health crisis was exemplified in March, again, when 19-year-old Win Rozario called 911 while in emotional distress.”

Public Advocate Williams also addressed the recent mass arrests of protesters on college campuses, which have been widely criticized for their tactics, saying “Many students, faculty, members of the media, legal observers, and bystanders have described witnessing unnecessary aggression by the NYPD against individuals who are not resisting arrest. It does seem that the scale and quickness of the police response to the encampments are not proportional to what was going on there… I’d be remiss if I did not say that I believe some of the aggression is because the mayor and others do not like the voices of Pro-Palestinian being risen up and I’m hoping that we’d take that into consideration, so we can lower the temperature when these protests are happening.”

The Public Advocate questioned officials about social media practices amid controversy stemming from several posts by top officials denigrating both protesters and elected officials. The department declined to answer any questions about their past or future social media usage, citing a Department of Investigation inquiry into the topic.

Read the Public Advocate’s full opening statement as delivered below.  

STATEMENT OF PUBLIC ADVOCATE JUMAANE D. WILLIAMS TO THE NEW YORK CITY COUNCIL COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY MAY 9, 2024

Good morning,

My name is Jumaane D. Williams, and I am the Public Advocate for the City of New York. I’m happy to speak at this important hearing.

The NYPD is by far the biggest and most expensive police department in the country, and often is called for social service functions that are not appropriate. The NYPD is often called to address issues of homelessness and mental health crisis. We know that dispatching police to remove people perceived as being homeless or experiencing symptoms of mental health and acute mental illness hasn’t worked long-term in the past, and that we must invest in non-police responses to people in mental health crisis to address those in crisis and to help address substance abuse. The fatal consequences of what happens when police respond to a person in a mental health crisis was exemplified in March, again, when 19-year-old Win Rozario called 911 while in emotional distress. As revealed in recently released police body cam footage, the responding officers tasered and then shot Rozario five times within three minutes of their arrival, offering no help or attempting de-escalation—killing him.

Most recently the PD has been called quickly to forcefully respond to protests on campuses. In the past few weeks, we have seen aggressive policing, quickly called on college campuses in the city in response to student encampments calling attention to the ongoing violence against Palestinians in Gaza. Many students, faculty, members of the media, legal observers, and bystanders have described witnessing unnecessary aggression by the NYPD against individuals who are not resisting arrest. It does seem that the scale and quickness of the police response to the encampments are not proportional to what was going on there. I am concerned that interactions between pro-Palestinian protestors and the NYPD will continue to escalate. Further, yesterday, the CCRB announced that nearly 40 NYPD officers are facing allegations of misconduct connected to protests surrounding the war in Gaza. I’d be remiss if I did not say that I believe some of the aggression is because the mayor and others do not like the voices of Pro-Palestinian being risen up and I’m hoping that we’d take that into consideration so we can lower the temperature when these protests are happening. I’d also be remiss if I didn’t say the mayor has yet to mention Palestine or Gaza or ceasefire since October. and I think it’s troubling not to lift up the pain of everybody in this city.  

The CCRB has been continuously underfunded by the city, making it more difficult—and in some cases impossible—for the agency to provide oversight of the NYPD. Starting in January of this year, the CCRB has stopped investigating several categories of allegations due to budget cuts. An increasing number of complaints—a 50 percent increase from 2022 to 2023—has outpaced the number of CCRB staff, resulting in backlogs and delayed investigations. At the preliminary budget hearing, the CCRB said they require 73 additional investigators and 376 total personnel to manage the current workload, with a total $37.7 million budget. With the current CCRB budget and its inability to impose its disciplinary recommendations and its lack of direct access to body camera footage, the NYPD operates almost entirely without oversight— I do know that NYPD has entered an MOU to hopefully get the CCRB that footage a little bit quicker. This is not only unacceptable but also could be dangerous. I also want to point out it has a chilling, effect that it seems the mayor now wants to replace the Chair Arva Rice for lifting up the issues and concerns about the money needed for CCRB, and for the pushback on the response of Kawaski Trawick.  

The mayor’s Subway Safety Plan has exacerbated a police overtime surge. There are millions of dollars on overtime for police officers to remove people, many times perceived as homeless or mentally ill from public spaces, or standing around in subway stations. According to the City Comptroller, for FY 2024, the City has spent $461 million through December on NYPD’s uniformed overtime, $109 million more than spent for the same period in FY 2023, and is on target to spend $925 million for the year. From 2022 to 2023, police overtime spending increased from $4 million to $155 million. There was an article that showed the number of subway crimes stayed about the same, and actually decreased in areas outside of the subway. I do know that the decrease that’s happening now and some additional money has been put in. I would say it seems that the services of the police department is the only thing that we are able to continue to say ‘The only thing we need to do is add more money and add more of it to solve the problem. I always try to point out how it might look if we had the same approach to other agencies and other programs and relieve the NYPD of some of the social services that it is doing.

It is also vital to adequately and robustly fund our public defender services. While free legal defender services for anyone who needs them are mandated by federal and local law, these organizations are consistently underfunded. It is low-income New Yorkers who ultimately face the consequences of a budget that favors district attorneys’ offices too often, deprived of the robust legal representation that they need and deserve. In June of last year, the City Council sent a letter to the mayor asking for at least $195 million for legal service providers to be added to the FY24 budget, and at the preliminary budget hearing in March, legal defense providers asked for $133.5 million in funding for FY25—however, the proposed budget for FY25 only increases funding for city-supported lawyers by $46 million. The city budget must ensure a high standard of quality legal representation for low-income New Yorkers.

Thank you very much, and I hope that we all can agree, we have to support our law enforcement to do the work that they are supposed to be doing. And the most helpful thing to do that is to stop asking them to do everything, and hopefully join together, getting funds to agencies and programs that can support. Thank you very much.   

"The body camera footage released today by Attorney General James is incredibly disturbing and confirms what we knew— the NYPD responded to a call for mental health help from Win Rozario with immediate escalation and deadly force, shooting him despite the pleas of his mother and the lack of any real justification. The video also confirms that the NYPD made patently false statements about the shooting. "It’s clear these officers involved should not be on the force if we are at all serious about safety, and NYPD should not be the first responders to those dealing with mental health crises. Now the question remains--will the administration provide any real consequences or accountability? "Ask Kawasaki Trawick’s family."

"Neither the Rent Guidelines Board nor the mayor who appointed it seems to understand the reality of the housing crisis our city is confronting and the dire circumstances New Yorkers face in trying to find and stay in their homes. Their definition of reasonable seems written by the real estate industry. Under this administration, which professes to care about affordability, we continue to see the largest proposed rent increases in decades. "With Albany’s housing deal and so many tenants left unprotected, and providing new tools available for landlords to raise rents, tenants simply cannot afford these proposed increases – and owners can’t squeeze more money from people who just don’t have it. Instead, government and banks should crack down on lending to bad landlords and on insurance companies harming responsible ones. "I’m sure the Board will hear the stories of struggle from people across the five boroughs in the coming weeks, and I implore them to actually listen."

"I’m glad that many of the administration’s previous, misguided cuts have been removed in this budget, though this seems to be less a result of good management now than of bad budgeting in the past. And still, many cuts remain, seemingly without fiscal justification, given the still-too-low projections from an administration which has already been mistaken.

“The administration’s conservative approach to budgeting seems more ideological than financial. Putting the first available money into additional NYPD officers shows a misunderstanding of true public safety – without commensurate, adequate increase for non-police response such as mental health– and a prioritization of headcount over accountability.  The reported removal of CCRB Chair Arva Rice, if true, is further proof of this troubling trend: The administration would rather reduce accountability and remove dissent than focus on properly funding oversight agencies like the CCRB or the Board of Correction. I urge the City Council to fight for funding where it will best serve our communities. Increasing enforcement at the expense of accountability will have a real and lasting cost to the safety of New Yorkers.”

As the state budget nears final language and votes, New York City Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams issued the following statement about the housing provisions in the reported deal, criticizing the weakened tenant protections and enhanced giveaways to landlords and developers.

"The details that have been publicly reported about the housing deal are concerning, and appear to show it is not the grand bargain or triumph that the governor is trying to present. It is not what tenants have spent years struggling for and suffering without. It isn’t Good Cause, or even ‘Just Okay’ Cause, it’s ‘Just ‘Cause I want to say I did something on housing.’

"Carving out massive exemptions and requiring municipalities to “opt-in” to receive the protections – maybe the governor just doesn’t want them in Buffalo – will leave tenants across the state with no protections at all. This is policy paid for by the real estate industry and promoted by allies like the governor. I appreciate the ongoing fight by tenants, legislators, and the leaders of each chamber to get the deal we deserve, and urge them to keep going. If the goal of the policy was to stop tenants and advocates from fighting for true housing justice, it has already failed – we will continue to push for better bills up to and after the budget vote until all New Yorkers are able to find and stay in their homes."

NEW YORK: As New York continues to see a large number of migrants arriving in the city, Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams today highlighted the unique challenges faced by Black migrants. At a City Council joint hearing of the Committees on Immigration and Hospitals, he emphasized that the stories of Black immigrants from Africa and the Caribbean often fall on deaf ears, and that this lack of prioritization leads to disparate harm.  “Black migrants have shared their experiences facing racism and anti-Blackness within a system that historically deports, detains, and confines Black migrants at a higher rate than any other racial or ethnic group,” said Public Advocate Jumaane Williams. “These are realities the city has to grapple with, and in order to make any progress, we must hear directly from those living these realities. From the local to the federal level, my office and I have been calling for greater resource allocation for Black migrants, and this hearing is a great starting point.” Public Advocate Williams, who is the son of Grenadian immigrants, pointed to language barriers as a key component of undeserving Black immigrant communities, and urged equity in housing and other city services, saying “Language accessibility is a lifeline for immigrants and opens doors to legal services, housing, economic empowerment, and other opportunities…Many of these migrants are navigating an entirely new city, culture, language, and systems after what may have been a long and harrowing journey just to get here. On top of all that, they may face increased scrutiny, xenophobia, and racism just by nature of being a Black immigrant. The city, among the existing and future resources it provides and distributes, must ensure that at minimum, there is equity of resources above all else.” At a press conference prior to the hearing, over 1,000 people were estimated to be outside City Hall, an unprecedented turnout for a hearing. There, the Public Advocate called the sight “one of the most beautiful things” he had seen in his time in elected office, declared it a “proud moment” and pledged that “today, they will hear you.”

Read the Public Advocate’s statement as delivered below.  

STATEMENT OF PUBLIC ADVOCATE JUMAANE D. WILLIAMS TO THE NEW YORK CITY COUNCIL COMMITTEES ON IMMIGRATION AND HOSPITALS APRIL 16, 2024

Good morning,

My name is Jumaane D. Williams and I am the Public Advocate for the City of New York. Thank you to Chair Avilés, Chair Narcisse, and members of the Committees on Immigration and Hospitals for holding this important hearing and for allowing me to share my statement. Speaking as the son of Black immigrants in particular, Chair Avilés, thank you for seeing the importance and prioritizing Black immigrants in this community - you really have, and thank you so much for that. And I just wanted to shout out - you spoke a lot about the advocates, so shout out to all of them, but I just wanted to shout out someone who for decades has been doing this work and has been a godmother to many of us on Black issues, and that’s Bertha Lewis of the Black Institute, thank you for all the work you do. 

New York City has been responding to an influx of migrants to the city since 2022. Migrants are arriving from all over the world; they come from different cultures, practice various traditions, and speak a multitude of languages. This is nothing new for a city like New York. The city has done a great deal in responding to this influx, yet resource allocation could be more equitable than it is now, particularly for Black migrants coming from Caribbean and African countries, I want to make sure we lift up Sudan, Congo, and Haiti in particular, who are often left out of the news, as well as some of the other nations in Africa and the Caribbean. Black migrants have shared their experiences facing racism and anti-Blackness within a system that historically deports, detains, and confines Black migrants at a higher rate than any other racial or ethnic group. These are realities the city has to grapple with, and in order to make any progress, we must hear directly from those living these realities. From the local to the federal level, my office and I have been calling for greater resource allocation for Black migrants, and this hearing is a great starting point.

At this juncture, the city should be well aware that with migrants coming from all over the world, they also speak a wide variety of languages – as was mentioned, this is not a monolith. As a result, city resources should also be in-language as much as possible. Black migrants particularly feel the impacts of language barriers, especially if they do not speak English or Spanish. They are more likely to speak languages like Arabic, French, Haitian Creole, Wolof, Mandinka, or Fula, and city resources and information in these languages are more difficult to come by.  Just now at the press conference, myself and Council Member Hudson were telling folks they could get medical assistance in emergency rooms, particularly in city hospitals – something that they did not know, mostly likely because of language access.  Language accessibility is a lifeline for immigrants and opens doors to legal services, housing, economic empowerment, and other opportunities. With a preliminary survey of languages that Black migrants speak–which many CBOs already have data on–the city should increase its language capacity accordingly.

Another crucial point of discussion I wish to uplift is the impact of housing and shelter on Black migrants. With the city’s ongoing 30- and 60-day notices to evict migrant shelter residents–which disproportionately affects African migrants–we may see and hear of more instances of migrants sheltering in storefronts and in extreme congregate settings because they have nowhere else to go. We are also witnessing unaccompanied youth at the whims of the shelter system, some of whom are categorized as adults if they are over the age of 18, despite attending NYCDOE high schools. With these shelter notices, some have to decide between attending school or reapplying for a shelter placement, which is not a same-day guarantee. These experiences reflect a number of oversights in the city’s response, and my hope is that the administration is made aware of the situation and commits to ramping up case management for these unaccompanied migrant youths.

Many of these migrants are navigating an entirely new city, culture, language, and systems after what may have been a long and harrowing journey just to get here. On top of all that, they may face increased scrutiny, xenophobia, and racism just by nature of being a Black immigrant. The city, among the existing and future resources it provides and distributes, must ensure that at minimum, there is equity of resources above all else.

I want to remind folks that applying for asylum is a legal way to be in this city — and also push the White House to do more, and Governor Hochul to do more, they are not. New York City cannot do this by itself, I do know there is a gargantuan effort, and with some of those efforts I just want to thank the city for trying, but we do know that even has we await more resources, we have to make sure those resources are applied equitably and humanely and we have some work to do in those two categories.

Thank you.