Press Room

"It was refreshing to hear from a leader who is focused on service rather than self, and effectiveness rather than ego. I am heartened by the agenda that the Speaker put forward for the Council — strengthening public health and safety, expanding housing access and affordability, and protecting all New Yorkers, regardless of status. 

"Like my office, the Speaker emphasized ways to make our city’s systems work, closing gaps left by the mayor’s administration. This address laid out what good we can do when government is focused on the good of the people, not a person."

NEW YORK: New York City Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams released the following statement after Mayor Adams said today at a media availability that there was a "lynch mob mentality" driving criticism of him and his administration. 

"Mayor Adams has for many years used his identity as both a shield against any criticism and a sword to harm New Yorkers, especially ones who look like him. Racial double standards are real, yet the mayor is well aware and should acknowledge that words have different meanings depending on context. Those of us with good conscience have tried to tread lightly on this subject, a position the mayor knowingly abuses. It’s now clear that while it’s uncomfortable to say, it has to be made explicit.

"The second Black mayor in our history is actively undoing the decades of progress it took to elect even the first. It’s deeply disrespectful to both the leaders who worked to get us here and people who hope to carry us forward.

"As a Black man, it continues to be painful to watch this mayor in crisis. At the same time, Mayor Adams’ many failings are not of a community or an identity, but of one person and his administration. The sooner we can move forward from both, the better for our city, and for the moment this mayor has misused."

"In addition to the one she led for so many years, Dr. Hazel N. Dukes was an institution unto herself. ‘Mama Dukes’ earned that title as godmother to so many Black leaders in our city, state and country, working to lead generations of people who cared about a just world down the path she trail-blazed.

"As President of the NAACP New York State Conference, and long before, Dr. Dukes was on the front lines of the fight for civil rights. She was a force for racial equity and against racial injustice for decades, and her impact on our city and her Harlem home cannot be overstated. The void left by her passing cannot truly be filled, but those who follow must work to regain the ground she worked tirelessly to win, to advance her legacy and the movement she championed."

"Ramadan Mubarak to Muslims across our city and the world as they begin a month-long journey of reflection and prayer. 

"I know for many in the Muslim community, this is also a time of apprehension and fear as the future is uncertain, and the pain is present. We are all called, then, to solidarity in the spirit of peace, to combating hatred and Islamophobia, to human justice. Amid denigration from many sides and sources, we cannot allow the simple expression of identity to be villainized.

"Instead, we should take the periodic calls to prayer as calls to embrace our shared humanity, regardless of creed, and to practice zakat – giving what we have, doing what we can – in solidarity with suffering seen and unseen.

"May Ramadan lead to individual and community fulfillment, lasting peace, and growing solidarity of spirit. We pray in thanks to the Muslim community for all of its contributions to our city, and in hope for the advancement of generations to come."

Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams today joined the New York City Council Committee on Public Safety to call for an end to the NYPD's Criminal Group Database (CGD), also known as the gang database. In his remarks before the committee, the Public Advocate underscored the disproportionate impact of the database on Black and Hispanic youth, the lack of transparency around its criteria for inclusion, and the harm it causes to individuals and communities.

“It is unclear how or why an individual gets added to the CGD, and it is even less clear how someone can get themselves removed from it,” said Public Advocate Williams. “Wishing a gang member a happy birthday on social media, being outside late and wearing a certain color, and living in the same public housing complex as accused gang members are all potential reasons for a person to be added to the database.”

The database currently contains approximately 16,000 names, with 99 percent of individuals identified as Black or Hispanic and 98 percent as male. It includes minors as young as 13 years old. The Office of the Inspector General for the NYPD has reported that the department has violated its own database entry and renewal processes, failing to provide sufficient guidance for inclusion and review.

Today’s hearing included testimony on Intro 798, legislation sponsored by Council Member Althea Stevens and co-sponsored by the Public Advocate, which seeks to abolish the database, prohibit the establishment of a similar system, and ensure individuals are notified if they have been listed in the database. The bill would also provide a process for individuals to request and review records before the database is dismantled.

“Being labeled as a gang member by the police, wrongfully or otherwise, often results in increased police harassment, stops, and arrests. This interrupts schooling and employment, and can even result in incarceration. It is also a waste of police resources that could otherwise be used to respond to or solve crimes,” the Public Advocate continued.  “We should be focusing our resources on strengthening communities and supporting young people who are at risk for violence, many of whom have been victims of violence themselves. I agree; we should be using the time and money spent on criminalizing youth and young adults of color on investing in education, different violence models, employment programs, affordable housing, and health services.”

The Public Advocate reiterated that the issue is not necessarily police presence but rather the misuse of law enforcement resources and the failure to invest in community-driven solutions. He urged the Council and the administration to shift focus from punitive measures to meaningful investments in the well-being of vulnerable communities.

The Public Advocate’s full opening comments as delivered are below. He also questioned the administration’s representatives multiple times – see those discussions here.

STATEMENT OF PUBLIC ADVOCATE JUMAANE D. WILLIAMS TO THE NEW YORK CITY COUNCIL COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY FEBRUARY 24, 2025 Thank you Mr. Chair, I appreciate it, and I also want to note, it is also before noon and I am present. Good morning,

My name is Jumaane D. Williams, and I am the Public Advocate for the City of New York. I would like to thank Chair Salaam and the members of the Committee on Public Safety for holding this important hearing.

Since 2013, the NYPD has maintained a database of what they characterize as intelligence regarding criminal groups and street gangs. This Criminal Group Database (CGD)—or, as it is colloquially called, the “gang database”—according to the NYPD, contains about 16,000 entries and allows them to discern trends, relationships and patterns to enhance public safety and criminal investigations. However, advocates, lawyers, and individuals in the database themselves report that it is largely full of men and boys of more color, many of whom have no gang affiliation at all. 

It is unclear how or why an individual gets added to the CGD, and it is even less clear how someone can get themselves removed from it. Wishing a gang member a happy birthday on social media, being outside late and wearing a certain color, and living in the same public housing complex as accused gang members are all potential reasons for a person to be added to the database. In the last few years, the NYPD has expanded “self-admission” criteria to include social media postings—which can include emojis or hashtags, or other unclear and undisclosed criteria. This raises questions not only about the interpretation of these posts as admittance of gang membership, but also of whether the NYPD can definitively attribute a post to an individual. I think anyone who uses social media can relate to posting something without thinking or something that was misconstrued—it does not mean that they are admitting to being in a gang.

A report from the OIG-NYPD found that 99 percent of those in the CGD are Black or Hispanic, 98 percent male, and contains kids as young as 13 years old. These demographics are reminiscent of the abuses of stop, question and frisk; in 2023, 59 percent of Terry stops were of Black people, and 30 percent were Hispanic. In a city that is 36 percent white, this looks like a disproportionate targeting of certain communities. 

Being labeled as a gang member by the police, wrongfully or otherwise, often results in increased police harassment, stops, and arrests. This interrupts schooling and employment, and can even result in incarceration. It is also a waste of police resources that could otherwise be used to respond to or solve crimes. Individuals labeled as gang members face obstacles in court, as prosecutors can raise alleged “dangerousness” when judges set bail, and claiming gang affiliation can easily color a jury’s perception of a defendant. It is a damaging allegation that is almost impossible for someone to refute. Contact with the criminal legal system can cost a NYCHA resident their housing, which is especially troubling given gang takeovers  appear to target public housing and the surrounding communities. And while we don’t know if gang takedowns in NYC have led to deportations, the gang label presents serious and unique legal problems for noncitizens. With President Trump in office and Mayor Adams collaborating with immigration enforcement at the behest of the administration, it is especially urgent to ensure that we are not mislabeling people as gang members.

Today, we are hearing some bills including Intro 798, sponsored by Councilmember Stevens and of which I am a co-sponsor, which would abolish the Criminal Group Database and would prohibit a similar database from being established. It would also require notification to those in the database, as well as instruction for how they could request records contained in the database before it is destroyed. It is important to abolish the CGD for a number of reasons, including the fact that the NYPD has violated its database entry and renewal processes, including renewing inclusion of minors in the database without qualifying police contact, and it does not provide sufficient guidance for gang database entry and lacks enforcement in its review processes. The NYPD has also historically been resistant to these types of changes. 

We should instead try to focus our resources on strengthening communities and supporting young people who are at risk for violence, many of whom have been victims of violence themselves. At a hearing of this committee this past December, former Chief of Department Maddrey acknowledged that the NYPD has an increased presence in under-resourced communities, and that he wishes the city would bring more resources to those neighborhoods. 

I agree; we should be using the time and money spent on criminalizing youth and young adults of color on investing in education, different violence models, employment programs, affordable housing, and health services. We know what works to prevent crime and violence. We also know that simply trying to arrest the children of the people arrested twenty years ago will not get there. I just want to also be clear: the issue for me is not necessarily police involvement. It is the consistent over-policing. Some of the takedowns that are happening, we have to come back several years later to do the same takedowns, because we haven't done any changes in those communities.

Oftentimes I see in the news, these type of bills that are problems and they present violence from gangs themselves, even those these bills, so what it looks like some of the things we are doing aren’t working generationally, and it doesn't seem like a database like this stops the violence that we want to stop, but can cause additional harm to people who are not part of the legal system, that now may fall into further more problems in the legal system, because they were put there in the first place. So that is the issue that we are trying to fix. 

I don’t want the media to think that people up here are trying to promote violence, want violence in their communities, quite the opposite, we want it to stop. We also, in my opinion, want to stop asking the police to do everything and try to solve everything. It’s unfair to them and it’s unfair to the communities that they’re asked to solve these problems in. 

"The mayor’s notion that I and many others did not criticize the Biden administration or petition for funding and policy change in response to the surge of migrants is not only verifiably false, it’s absurd. We were in the streets, and we were in DC – just not for the Trump inauguration.”

"Unlike this mayor, none of us have pledged not to criticize the president, or ordered agencies to do the same. Also unlike him, we chose not to pit longtime New Yorkers with little against new arrivals with less, after first inviting the early waves of buses. If he is intentionally misleading the public in his own defense, that is deeply troubling, but does track with past governing choices. 

"I understand that the mayor is in crisis, and I try to remain focused on the work amid the noise. At the same time, my priority at this moment is providing New Yorkers with stability and the truth – unfortunately, at present, the mayor is providing New Yorkers with neither."