Press Room

"I am glad to see the Governor begin to treat gun violence as the emergency that it has long been, and today's announcements are as welcome as they are overdue. People doing the work of violence prevention on the ground, within communities, have long asked for the kind of funding, resources, and attention they may now receive.

"Both the proposed Office of Gun Violence Prevention and the Council on Gun Violence Reduction have the potential to be critical in coordinating strategies that address both the supply and demand sides of this crisis. They will only be truly effective, though, if they are an integral part of public safety conversations and solutions, rather than an afterthought. I would also like to thank the Governor for signing anti-gun violence measures into law this afternoon, in particular a bill by Senator Zellnor Myrie which aims to prevent the gun industry's immunity from civil lawsuits stemming from the dangers posed by its products.

"Addressing the root causes of violence requires a holistic reimagining of public safety, with input from a number of areas of government - sharing data across agencies and across localities will be key. As we have seen, as I hear in the conversations I'm having today, the gun violence epidemic is plaguing not only New York City, but Syracuse, Buffalo, and places across our state and nation. This has been a public health crisis that predated and was exacerbated by the pandemic - those of us who have been in the streets know that the state of emergency is not new even if this declaration is.

"Whether these new initiatives are successful will ultimately depend on whether today's announcements are about a headline, or whether they signal the kind of structural changes and leadership support that New York needs toward reimagining public safety. I look forward to seeing these initiatives implemented, and being a part of the ongoing work to save lives."

"The Fourth of July is a reminder of our centuries of working toward a better nation, one framed in the principles of America's founding. For my family, it is the day that my mother arrived in this country over five decades ago.

"This holiday is commemorated as Independence Day - but in its origins did not assert independence for all, as Juneteenth reminded us just weeks ago.

"It is true that we as a nation have not fully attained many of the values espoused in our founding declaration, but among those values is a pursuit - an acknowledgement that independence doesn't come solely from a declaration, that work is required to make America's practice live up to its promise. It is the pursuit that brought my mother here over fifty years ago, one that continues today. As our city and state are in the process of reopening and recovering, I urge New Yorkers to safely celebrate that spirit and continue that pursuit."

"As last year's budget was developed in the early days of the pandemic, this year's was crafted as our city is undergoing the long work of recovery from the public health and economic crisis. Federal aid has been critical to sustaining our city's finances, and the long-term state of those finances depends on foresight, and on what we prioritize.

"Throughout this and past budgets, and on public safety in particular, there was an opportunity to invest in new systems and structures, rather than prop up old ones. Adding funding to the NYPD instead of other, more suited agencies, one year after we appeared on the precipice of transformational change, is an inexplicable example. Additional funding should be going to programs in non-police agencies, such as DYCD or DOHMH. With a $6 billion budget and a headcount of 35,000, the NYPD should be focusing on reallocating and optimizing current resources where they are most helpful, not monopolizing funding which could go to non-police alternatives. And while critics blame the current increase in some crimes on activists' call to defund the police, it is unfortunately necessary to remind them that New York City did not in reality ever defund the police, and that crimes were not caused by a hashtag.

"To be clear, there are many positives in this budget. But we should be doubling down on those positives, rather than retreating to what is easiest when the external pressure of a protest or a primary is over.

Improving healthcare, investing in affordable housing, providing jobs and encouraging economic growth in underserved communities, as well as investing in evidenced based models to address gun violence and mental health crisis, will all help to secure and advance public safety. These investments have a long tail effect, and we can't shy away from them just because their results aren't always immediate, and won't make the papers tomorrow - just as critics of reform don't shy away when their strategy of adding police isn't immediately effective. We cannot repeat and perpetuate the mistakes and patterns of the last decades.

"At a time when we should be re-defining public safety, too much time and money has gone into the systems as previously defined. And while there have been notable changes and programs funded, the biggest disappointment is that this administration's final budget continues eight years of failing to figuratively and literally buy into true structural changes to redefine public safety - a stain which many hoped the last budget would help diminish. When so many millions are allotted in overtime for the NYPD, but none for agencies like the Dept. of Health and Mental Hygiene, that stain persists. 

"Recovery from this pandemic will be long, and our investments should match. A budget for the future cannot and should not reflect the mindsets of the past."

"Like many New Yorkers, I was and am extremely frustrated by the tabulation and reporting errors that the Board of Elections made in announcing their preliminary results yesterday. It is the latest in a long-running series of issues and inadequacies with the Board, which is why my office has previous proposed reforms which I hope will now gain traction.

"At the same time, I want to be clear that this is an issue of the BOE, not RCV. New Yorkers reported being glad to use the new power that ranked choice voting afforded them for the first time in this election, and the Board of Elections' errors in tabulation and judgement by releasing inaccurate preliminary results should not dampen that enthusiasm or diminish that power.

"While the wait is long and misreporting frustrating, I am - and all New Yorkers should be - confident that this election is secure, that the final results will be accurate. Attempts to sow further doubt or distrust are cynical at best in a moment when we need to be united. We can be at once aggravated by the process and assured that it will ultimately deliver the results in this critical election."

"Last night's unprecedented decision by the Rent Guidelines Board attempted to have it both ways, acknowledging the ongoing economic impact of the pandemic while still pushing an increase six months into leases. But it ignores the reality that rents were already unaffordable prior to the pandemic, and that while the city is reopening, that doesn't prevent struggling tenants from being shut out. The most affordable plan within the board's preliminary vote included a freeze on one year leases and a one percent increase on two year leases - I called for those levels to be reflected in the final vote.

"It's true that this economic crisis has hit almost everyone in our city, and that property owners - especially of smaller buildings - need to recover as well. At the same time, we have asked for creative solutions in the past that meet the needs of smaller, struggling and responsible landlords without allowing large corporations and bad actors to drive up profits at the expense of struggling tenants, and the board has rejected us - even as they approved this new and unusual six month strategy. I understand that this recovery, and the housing crisis that preceded it, require creative solutions, but as tenants face the end of the eviction moratorium, we need that creativity to extend to help them and all who are fighting to afford a city that is rapidly becoming unaffordable."

"For the first time since its origins, Juneteenth has been declared a federal holiday. And the importance of that recognition is real, it's validating. It's an important, undeniable acknowledgement of American history. A permanent and recurring recognition of the impact of the institution of slavery on all Americans. 

"At the same time - when we marched, when we fought, when we raised our voices, raised our fists shouting Black Lives Matter - it wasn't just for a day off. It was to stop the killing of Black Americans at the hands of law enforcement specifically, and broadly for true justice and equity, an end to the systems that are designed to prevent it. Once again, so many - especially Black Americans - are positioned to have to simultaneously celebrate the recognition of Juneteenth and what it represents, acknowledging those who fought for years so that this day would be honored, while at the same time understanding that it pales in the context of what was asked and demanded.

"It took two years after the Emancipation Proclamation was signed for the last of those enslaved to learn of their freedom. It's taken over 150 since then for our government to recognize that while that institution of slavery may have been officially abolished in 1863, the systems rooted in the same oppression persist. 

"As a nation seems to be waking up to the importance of this holiday,  we will continue to push in an effort to create the transformational changes, the freedoms, promised so many years ago but not yet received. And today, even amid the ongoing struggle, we will celebrate."