"After last year's State of the City address, I was encouraged by the plans and promises that the speech presented, and the new direction from the Mayor that it signaled. Then in March, the state of the city fundamentally changed, and the pandemic slowed or stopped progress in many areas as new wounds were created and old ones exposed.
"Public safety, and the racial inequities in how it is enacted and protected, has been among the most prevalent challenges since before the pandemic, but the work to redefine it was more present on our screens and streets this year than in decades.
"Tonight, I was glad to hear many of the Mayor's proposals in this area, including further empowering the CCRB, increasing investment in the Crisis Management System, and giving communities a voice in the leadership of their local precincts. Making permanent the Task Force on Racial Inclusion and Equity also has the potential to help ensure these issues, ever present in public safety, do not recede from public consciousness or public policy.
"Reimagining public safety, like all of the compounding crises our city faces, are ones that must be confronted head on by not only this Mayor but the next-- with a push to ensure true transparency and meaningful accountability. There is one year left for the Mayor to take some of the bold steps he should have years ago, and I am ready to move forward with him now if he does. In this last year of the de Blasio administration, we have an opportunity to set the city on the right path to recovery, if we pursue bold, courageous policy proposals and shape, not bend to, political winds."