Press Room

On Monday, New York City Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams appeared before the 'NYC Commission to Strengthen Local Democracy' Charter Revision Commission at a public hearing to discuss his proposed amendments to the charter in this cycle. At the hearing, he testified in favor of proposals which would help create transparency and accountability, including through strengthening the investigative powers of the Office of the Public Advocate. 

“While the Charter is a living document that has grown and changed, just as our city has grown and changed, the language governing the Public Advocate’s abilities has not kept pace,” Public Advocate Williams noted, and proposed two recommendations related to the Public Advocate’s office – first, to grant the role full subpoena power, thus better allowing it to fulfill its duties as mandated and helping to avoid lengthy and expensive lawsuits to receive information which the city should readily share between governing partners. The Public Advocate also petitioned for Charter clarification that would codify greater standing to sue on behalf of the residents of New York City.

He pointed to recent controversies as evidence of the need for Charter clarification, that “The Governor recently acknowledged that in the current climate of corruption and the appearance of corruption that the citywide elected officials in NYC should have the ability to hire independent counsel and have standing to sue.”

These changes are essential, he argued, given the failures of administrations to comply with requests, noting the history of this issue “The Charter states that the Office of the Public Advocate 'shall have timely access to those records and documents of city agencies which the public advocate deems necessary to complete the investigations, inquiries and reviews.'” However, city agencies currently fail to comply with these requests to no consequence in the absence of a subpoena.”

As an official charged with ensuring government provides transparency and accountability, he also urged changes to strengthen other city oversight bodies. These include establishing that “The NYC Board of Corrections (BOC) should receive a minimum budget tied to 1% of the expense budget of the Department of Corrections.” Similarly, he called for the Civilian Complaint Review Board to receive 1% of the NYPD’s budget, as well as direct access to body-worn camera footage and allowing final approval of disciplinary authority decisions to rest with the CCRB, not just the NYPD Commissioner.

The Public Advocate's full statement as delivered is below and the hearing can be viewed here. STATEMENT OF PUBLIC ADVOCATE JUMAANE D. WILLIAMS TO THE NEW YORK CITY NYC COMMISSION TO STRENGTHEN LOCAL DEMOCRACY MAY 19, 2025

Peace and blessings, love and light to everyone. As mentioned, my name is Jumaane D. Williams, and I have the pleasure of serving as Public Advocate for the City of New York. Before I jump in, I want to thank all of you in this room – the Chair, Commission Members, and fellow New Yorkers – for your participation in this open, transparent, publicly noticed process to make government better and fairer.

The Office of the Public Advocate acts as a watchdog to ensure that City agencies are as efficient and effective as demanded by the people of New York as set forth in section 24 of the New York City Charter. The office also investigates and resolves constituent complaints relating to the services provided by these agencies. 

As the second highest-ranking elected official in the City, however, my ability to fully serve New Yorkers can be undermined by the existing language in the Charter. While the Charter is a living document that has grown and changed, just as our city has grown and changed, the language governing the Public Advocate’s abilities has not kept pace. I ask the Commission to consider and solicit feedback concerning a mechanism through which the Public Advocate can require officials and agencies to answer questions posed by the Public Advocate, whether that mechanism be some form of subpoena power or otherwise.

To that end I make two recommendations respective to the Office of the Public Advocate. First is regarding subpoena power. As I raised in my statement to the 2019 Charter Commission, the Charter states that the Office of the Public Advocate “shall have timely access to those records and documents of city agencies which the public advocate deems necessary to complete the investigations, inquiries and reviews.” However, city agencies could fail to comply with these requests to no consequence in the absence of a subpoena, which would delay investigations that the Office of the Public Advocate are required to conduct. Giving the office full subpoena power would better allow the office to fulfill its duties as mandated by the existing Charter. This would avoid lengthy and expensive lawsuits to receive information the city should be sharing between agencies, the only current remedy. The Charter also allows that the Public Advocate may hold public hearings but is silent as to whether the Public Advocate may require witnesses to attend and testify at these hearings, a noticeable gap subpoena power would fill.

Additionally I’d like to call attention to the need regarding standing to sue. In 2019 I also gave testimony on an essential power for independence and to best represent the people of New York City not afforded to the Office of the Public Advocate- Standing to Sue. The Charter does not make clear Public Advocate’s standing to sue on behalf of the residents of New York City. Because the Law Department has determination over which officials with the Office of the Public Advocate independent from mayoral agencies. Clarifying the clear standing to sue would improve transparency and accountability in New York City. The Governor recently acknowledged that in the current climate of corruption and the appearance of corruption that the citywide elected officials in NYC should have the ability to hire independent counsel and have standing to sue.

I would also like to address ways the Charter can support external and independent review of our law enforcement bodies. Right now we are in the earliest stages of remediation tasked with addressing the administration’s inability to effectively manage ongoing violence in NYC Jails, but like Rikers, the court-led oversight will not last forever. We must look to the future. The NYC Board of Corrections (BOC) should receive a minimum budget tied to 1% of the expense budget of the Department of Corrections. This would allow for fulfillment of their charter mandated duty to perform oversight of the Department of Corrections and is consistent with recommendations from numerous entities including the American Bar Association. An investment into the BOC has serious benefits to the city that include averting financial risk from lawsuits whose causes can be identified and addressed earlier, independently identifying and substantiating DOC needs for funding, and allowing for better informed decisions relative to sentencing and facility policies. 

Changing the composition of the Board of Corrections from majority mayoral appointments would also allow for independence between agencies.

The city’s other law enforcement oversight body, the Civilian Complaint Review Board (CCRB) is similarly understaffed. Setting a minimum budget for the Civilian Complaint Review Board tied to 1% of the expense budget of the New York City Police Department would correct this. As a workforce responsible for performing oversight for the largest police force in the nation it makes sense that their budget be tied proportionally as it is in other major cities like Chicago and Miami. Allowing for direct access to the CCRB for body-worn camera footage and other relevant materials would avoid delays and allow for timely decisions increasing public confidence in the process. Finally, allowing final approval of disciplinary authority decisions to rest with the CCRB and not just the NYPD Commissioner is crucial to ensure accountability for police misconduct, and should be considered as well. Thank you very much.

"Today marks the 100th Birthday of Malcolm X, a revolutionary leader who shaped our history, the ongoing movement for civil rights, and many of the people who look to him as an inspiration, including myself.

"Malcolm X warned us that ‘If you’re not careful, the newspapers will have you hating the people who are being oppressed, and loving the people who are doing the oppressing.’ Unfortunately, today, it is not one source but many, including our highest elected officials, aiming anger at the oppressed, mistreated, and exploited. Even some Black leaders are contributing to harmful narratives of blame and demonization that he would have rejected.

"His mother and mine are Grenadian immigrants – I was honored to travel with Dr. Betty Shabazz to the island many years ago – I wonder what he would have said about the demonization of immigrants in our nation today, and the capitulation by many to feed harm.

"Both truth and time are on the side of the oppressed, mistreated, and exploited, and on this centennial milestone, we recommit to the years ahead in the fight for justice.

"The conditions at Rikers have grown more dire and deadly for years. While the issues pre-date the current mayor, he has shown seemingly no ability, interest, or meaningful plan for addressing the crisis that threatens both detainees and staff there while nearly 40 people have lost their lives. As I highlighted in my inspection last week, he has steadfastly ignored laws meant to improve conditions, refused to move toward legally-mandated closure, and invited ICE onto the island. Now, it will be out of his control and under outside management.

“The most clear truth on Rikers is that what we have been doing has not worked. The amount of detainees has swelled and recruitment of staff has stalled in recognition of a crisis on both sides of the bars. It is past time to do something different.

“This is a critical moment, but a cautious one. Outside management will only be successful if it is informed by people with real experience within the system and in oversight of it. The goals must simultaneously be to reverse the decades of unnecessary harm and suffering on Rikers Island and to move toward finally closing this monument to pain and failure. I would also be remiss if I did not express concern about any influence by a federal government whose biggest focus seems to be increasing criminalization, incarceration, and detention. I look forward to the appointment of this official, and toward working with them to improve our city’s public safety and pursuit of justice.”

On Monday morning, New York City Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams joined a coalition of immigration and legal defense groups to file a joint amicus brief in support of the New York City Council’s efforts to prevent the Adams administration from allowing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement  to operate on Rikers Island. 

The City Council is currently in court challenging Executive Order 50, which would allow ICE to operate on Rikers, undermining city sanctuary laws preventing such coordination between local authorities and federal immigration enforcement. A long history of abuses by immigration officials both on Rikers and off, as well as the current Trump administration’s actions to undermine due process, support the brief’s claim that allowing Executive Order 50 to proceed would cause immediate, irreparable harm.

“The mayor has long looked for every opportunity to expand collaboration with ICE, attempting to make it more acceptable to chip away at protections and deport more immigrants, regardless of criminality or illegality,” said Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams. “Rikers is in a constant state of crisis and human rights violations, and inviting ICE in only compounds that harm. This mayor has already demonstrated a willingness to ignore laws he doesn’t like, especially on Rikers, and this latest example is nothing more than an attempt to aid the Trump deportation machine. Our city cannot become complicit in Trump’s harmful tactics, and I’m proud to stand firmly with our partners in this legal fight.”

The full coalition joining this legal effort includes The Legal Aid Society, Office of the New York City Public Advocate, The Bronx Defenders, Brooklyn Defender Services, Immigrant Children Advocates’ Relief Effort, Immigrant Defense Project, LatinoJustice PRLDEF, Make the Road New York, New York Civil Liberties Union Foundation, Neighborhood Defender Service Of Harlem, New York County Defender Services, New York Legal Assistance Group, New York Immigration Coalition, Queens Defenders, And UnLocal.

A Temporary Restraining Order is currently in place to prevent the Executive Order from being enacted through to the next court date – the brief argues for a preliminary injunction against implementation of the order.  

The Public Advocate, together with the City Council, has previously sued to prevent the Adams administration from blocking portions of Local Law 42, the solitary confinement ban, from taking effect.

Read today’s filing here. 

"I offer congratulations and wish good luck to Pope Leo XIV, the first pope coming from America, as he leads the global Catholic community into a new era. I pray that he assumes this responsibility with humility, and that his stewardship is marked by charity, inclusion, and service in the model of both his predecessor and of Jesus Christ, peace be unto His name. 

"Billions derive their mission from their faith. May the mission that moves forward from St. Peter’s Square today be one of progress and purpose, and may faith inspire works of mercy and justice in New York City, in our country, and our world."

At a hearing of the Committee on Consumer & Worker Protection today, New York City Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams highlighted the important need for assisting street vendors throughout the city, and pushed to pass his legislation creating a division within the Department of Small Business Services (SBS) to assist these smallest businesses.

With over 20,000 street vendors in the city, change needs to be made to ensure NYC’s smallest businesses can thrive rather than face an unsafe system that too often criminalizes this economic engine of our city rather than advance the opportunity and diversity it presents.

Under Intro 408, a bill from the Public Advocate, a newly created division under SBS would provide resources for street vendors, and facilitate important educational and training programs on safe vending.

“Notably, there is still nothing to support vendor compliance and education,” Public Advocate Williams said of the coming budget. “Ending the criminalization of street vendors, many of whom have been vending for years, must include more licenses, more services, and more training—not just more enforcement.” 

In 2024 alone, the NYPD and Department of Sanitation issued nearly double the amount of vending-related tickets issued in 2023, and five times higher than the number of tickets issued in 2019. Public Advocate Williams emphasized the injustice of the current structure, stating “you can’t rain down enforcement on an unfair system.” 

He also noted that Intro 408, together with the package of bills meant to assist vendors, would create a regulatory framework for these small business owners that would be safer for both vendors and consumers. The Street Vendor Reform Package includes a series of modifications that would ensure business licensing of all mobile food and general vendors, supervisory licensing to mobile food vendors, and tracking street vending enforcement.

In closing, the Public Advocate emphasized that this hearing comes at a critical time, when both the mayor and the Trump administration are leading communities into turmoil and hardship. For many throughout the city, street vendors provide a way for individuals to support themselves and their families, and that provides for generations to come. The Public Advocate’s legislation would allow for the industry potentially to grow, thrive and not face prosecution when they are trying to provide for their neighborhoods and families. 

The Public Advocate’s full comments as delivered are below. Video of the hearing is available here.  

STATEMENT OF PUBLIC ADVOCATE JUMAANE D. WILLIAMS

TO THE NEW YORK CITY COUNCIL COMMITTEE ON CONSUMER AND WORKER PROTECTION

MAY 6, 2025

Good Morning,

First of all, Let’s Go Knicks. Great game, I said Knicks in four – I said what I said. 

My name is Jumaane D. Williams, the Public Advocate for the City of New York. Thank you to Chair Menin and committee members for holding this hearing. 

This day has been fought for a long time. This hearing is essential at a moment when the federal government is actively seeking to criminalize our communities and prosecute our small businesses. New York’s street vendors are our smallest businesses, many of which are Minority and Women-Owned Businesses. They are frequently the targets of excessive enforcement by law enforcement and city agencies. Today, we are one important step closer to changing this dangerous dynamic of criminalization. 

In 2024, the NYPD and Department of Sanitation issued nearly double the amount of vending-related tickets issued in 2023, and five times higher than the number of tickets issued in 2019. The enforcement costs related to issuing these tickets vastly outweighs the revenue generated by penalties. In addition, the Independent Budget Office found that the license proposal made by Intro 431 would boost the city’s GDP by $17 million. Frankly, this legislation is commonsense and long overdue. As of October 2023, there were almost 11,000 individuals on the waitlist for general vendors licenses and nearly 10,000 individuals waiting to receive a food vendor permit.

As part of the Street Vendor Reform Package, I introduced Intro 408 which would create a division within the Department of Small Business Services (SBS) to assist street vendors. This division would provide much needed services and resources for street vendors, alongside important educational and training programs on safe vending. These bills are part of a package for a reason—each piece is essential. There is a budget proposal this year that would allocate an additional $7.7 million dollars to the Department of Sanitation for vendor enforcement. Notably, there is still nothing to support vendor compliance and education. We have to try our best to end the criminalization of street vendors, many of whom have been vending for years, which must include more licenses, more services, and more training—not just more enforcement. I’ve said this before and will say it again, “you can’t rain down enforcement on an unfair system.” The goals of Intro 431 and Intro 408 benefit vendors AND consumers.

As I come too close, I cannot overstate how crucial these bills are in our current moment. The President in particular, and too often, unfortunately, with the support of our Mayor, are quickly leading our communities and our economy into extreme hardship and undue criminalization. We must provide our communities with ways to support themselves and their loved ones. This commonsense legislation being heard today is a major step in a direction that chooses opportunity over criminalization, and love over fear for our smallest businesses. 

This is an amazing intersection of immigration, of economic empowerment, and of small businesses. We have to find a way to help the folks that our fabric is based on– I don’t think any New Yorker could think of a city that is without our street vendors, who are out there in the rain today providing the services that they always do. We can find a way to regular this that is actually fair, and make sure everybody has what they need, so I look forward to hearing what the department and agencies have to say today. 

Thank you.