Press Room

"I applaud the legislators who voted to pass the American Rescue Plan today, and look forward to President Biden quickly signing this bill that will provide urgent relief to a nation grieving and grievously wounded by the pandemic. While it is disappointing that some key provisions were removed, this remains one of the most consequential progressive pieces of legislation in recent history, and the fight for other progressive goals remains ahead of us.

"In addition to allocating critical funding for testing and vaccinations, expanding unemployment benefits and issuing direct payments to Americans, funding schools and small businesses, giving tenants support, drastically reducing poverty, and many more progressive federal initiatives, this legislation will allocate about $100 billion in state and local aid to New York at a time when it is desperately needed. I want to thank our Congressional representatives who helped secure this funding. Disturbingly and unsurprisingly, every Republican voted against this bill, but it is especially frustrating that even some intraparty negotiations weakened the benefits that some New Yorkers could have received.

"I want to be clear that the passage of the American Rescue Plan represents the beginning of New York's recovery efforts, not the end. To facilitate and sustain growth rooted in equity, state and local governments need to enact revenue raising measures on the wealthiest New Yorkers and drive a just economy. For a just recovery, we need our city and state budgets to reflect the scope of the crisis faced by New Yorkers and the scale of the solutions needed in a Renewed Deal. The federal investments in the bill passed today recall Roosevelt's New Deal, and it is those principles of investment, not austerity, that we must model in New York."

"We all want to be able to reopen schools safely. What we do not want, and cannot have, is the existence of a vaccine creating a false sense of safety. I am apprehensive, but if re-opening schools is to move forward, it must be paired with increased vaccination for educators and strict adherence to safety standards, with a commitment to following science to protect students and parents, teachers and school staff.

It is also critical that the move to reopen schools to some students does not detract from the effort or resources needed to support and improve remote learning for the vast majority of students learning from home - throughout this past year, a focus on in-person learning for a third of students has impeded work to enhance remote education for all students. Reopening buildings will require intentional, collaborative community engagement by the city in order to renovate old systems, innovate new strategies, and rebuild confidence in our ability to enact them.

"Positivity rates are still high, new variants are emerging and vaccination rates remain relatively low, especially in communities of more color - while many high schools are currently serving as vaccination sites. We need adequate assurances from the de Blasio administration that the city will be able to reopen in a way that preserves safety and advances equity- which they have been so far unable to achieve in minimizing infection or maximizing injection. The learning loss from closing schools is real, but so too would be the loss of life if their reopening is similarly mismanaged or mistimed."

Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams today released A Renewed Deal for New York City, an extensive plan for New York's revitalization and recovery in the immediate and long-term aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. The report, which draws inspiration from the principles of President Roosevelt's New Deal, comes a day before the Public Advocate is set to deliver his annual State of the People address at a Thursday virtual conference, and one year after the first case of COVID-19 was reported in New York City.

A Renewed Deal for New York City is based on the principle that investment and progressivism, rather than austerity and conservatism, are the path forward to recover from the devastation of the coronavirus, the resulting economic disaster, and the systemic inequities exposed and exacerbated by these compounding crises.

"In a moment of national crisis, the New Deal was an acknowledgement that investment, that bold leadership and bold policies, would lift us from the depths of the Depression- but in the decades since, we have too often retreated from that principle." said Public Advocate Williams about the report. "As we face compounding crises today, we need a Renewed Deal to not only recover from the pandemic, but address many of the underlying failures and inequities that existed long before it. The Renewed Deal is ambitious, but not hypothetical- stewardship of the city, the state, and its people in this moment demands action, and action now."

Over 120 pages, the report outlines recommended policy and budget priorities on both a city and state level, spanning a wide range of topics. Many of the proposals included are aligned with legislative initiatives or platforms advanced by dedicated grassroots advocacy organizations, leaders in their respective areas.

While the Renewed Deal comes in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the report notes, many of the issues it addresses are systemic, and predate the current crisis. The Renewed Deal is not an effort to get "back to normal," but to advance, with a more just, equitable, and thriving New York than existed one year and one week ago.

Specifically, the Renewed Deal centers immediate and long term recovery efforts in the areas of:

Housing Equity The Renewed Deal calls for deep investment in NYCHA and the development and maintenance of income-targeted deeply affordable housing in collaboration with the communities being impacted, as well as targeted action to provide pandemic relief, combat discrimination, inequity, and the longstanding impact of redlining.

Education and Opportunity The Renewed Deal centers equity in education and opportunity in employment- it proposes increased public school funding and expansion of youth employment programs,  while further recognizing that justice for working people means restructuring the economy to raise revenue from and limit influence of giant corporations and billionaires.

Infrastructure and the Environment The Renewed Deal proposes the vast revitalization of the city's transportation infrastructure and a reduction in cost to those using it, paired with prioritization of street safety measures - it further declares that infrastructural growth and economic growth must be economically just to be sustainable.

Civic and Community Empowerment The Renewed Deal is set in the principle that government must represent and respond to the people, and proposes government accountability and transparency reforms together with voting rights expansions - it also centers opportunity and protections for all New Yorkers, regardless of immigration status.

Justice, Health Equity, and Safety The Renewed Deal recognizes the intersection of public health and public safety, the need to confront the health disparities that have been so prevalent amid the pandemic, and to re-define public safety beyond simply law enforcement while driving transformational change in existing systems of injustice. 

In the coming months, Public Advocate Williams and his office will work through legislative and community engagement strategies to advance the principles and policies detailed in the Renewed Deal, combatting the notion that cuts or conservative approaches will suffice.

On Thursday, the Public Advocate will host the 2021 State of the People Conference, virtually, to explore and discuss the report in a series of public workshops and events. Thursday evening, it will be the focus of his State of the People Address.

A Renewed Deal for New York City can be downloaded here.

Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams released a report today detailing his proposals for reforming school safety and protecting students and school staff with a model centered on restorative justice, rather than over-policing and over-penalization. The plan comes just days after NYC Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza announced his imminent resignation and replacement by Meisha Porter, currently the executive superintendent of the Bronx.

In the report, On Reimagining School Safety, the Public Advocate's office argues that New York City must work towards the goal of removing police infrastructure from its schools, including metal detectors and other invasive surveillance technology and the presence of law enforcement, except in the most extreme circumstances. This model would include the hiring of up to 3,500 social workers and guidance counselors over the next three years. Additionally, students must have access to a cost-free process to request that their schools expunge their disciplinary records once they have graduated from or left a school, as well as to petition the courts to expunge their juvenile criminal records. Discipline in school should be restorative, with a suspension moratorium in place, and education must be trauma-informed.

"The work to reimagine public safety in New York City extends from our streets to our schools. As we move forward with a new Chancellor, we need a new approach to reject overpolicing and the overly punitive, and centers restorative justice," said Public Advocate Williams. "Right now, school safety is largely centered on PPE, ventilation, and remote learning. As we recover from the pandemic, this report provides a roadmap for justice, equity, and safety in our schools."

While the implementation of this strategy will take time, the report argues, Mayor de Blasio and the Department of Education should identify schools that are ready to replace their policing infrastructure and police presence with restorative justice and healing-centered frameworks to serve as pilot programs.

The report comes amid a contentious debate on the use of School Safety Agents in schools. Last year, the de Blasio administration committed to shifting school safety agents away from the NYPD over a period of years, but despite that promise, the administration is now reportedly considering hiring 475 new agents while continuing a hiring freeze on social workers.

Any plan to remove police infrastructure from schools must codify community involvement, including students, teachers, principals, other district staff, and community members. The recommendations highlight a number of community driven education initiatives which the city should invest in, including student success centers, community schools, culturally responsive education, arts programming, and college readiness. It also highlights the need for universal youth jobs. The full report is available here.

Of course, the current top threat to school safety is the COVID-19 pandemic. The reopening of New York City schools must be safe, equitable, and just for all students, families, and school staff. The Office of the Public Advocate has previously published a report outlining recommendations for reopening schools, and believes that stringent health standards must be met in order to more fully reopen school buildings.

"I want to thank the Chancellor for his service and collaboration, and recognize his dedication and drive. Chancellor Carranza assumed his position three years ago amid a difficult time for education in our city, with large challenges looming, but the final year of his tenure would become the most difficult and turbulent time for education in memory as the Department of Education, along with the rest of the city and nation, struggled to respond to the pandemic that took a terrible, personal toll on the Chancellor and his family.

"As a frequent critic of decisions of the Department of Education, it was often difficult to discern where that criticism should go. I have often said that as the only constant amid the pandemic has been change, the Chancellor was given the near-impossible task of building the plane while flying it. However, it became clear to me that too often, the administration was focused on the wrong parts of that plane- and that much of the blame was on City Hall. Through a focus on rushing to reopen in-person education rather than improving the remote learning that would be at the heart of this year's strategy no matter what, the administration ultimately created even more chaos and lost the confidence of parents, students, administrators and educators. Rebuilding that confidence will be a key priority as we move forward in the work for safe, just, and equitable education. 

"The Chancellor has long professed his dedication to a progressive vision for equity in education. While some significant strides have been made toward that goal, many of the Mayor's strategies have run counter to it. This is seen clearly in the administration finally making progress in ending the segregation of the gifted and talented program in future years, but embracing an even worse strategy for 2021.

"There is immense work to be done, and to that end I want to congratulate Meisha Porter as she assumes this new role and becomes the first Black woman to hold it.  As a product of the public schools system, hearing her speak of her own history as first a student, then staff in that very system gave me great pride. To hear her say with intention "to all the little girls out there, I'm saving a seat for you" was incredibly impactful - especially to Black women like my fiancée and Black girls like my step-daughter, who often feel left out of reform discussions. I look forward to working with her to ensure that every young person in our city has a just and safe place to learn and grow, in recovery from the pandemic and beyond."

Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams called for passage of his bill to create a three-digit hotline used for mental health emergencies, as an alternative to 911, at a hearing of the Committee on Mental Health, Disabilities, and Addiction today. The new number - 988 - would help ensure that mental health crises are met by health professionals, rather than law enforcement. Watch the hearing online.

The bill, Intro 2222, would require the Office of Community Mental Health - which would be separately established under legislation from Council Member Diana Ayala - to institute the hotline staffed by mental health call operators. The Office would train call operators in the mental health emergency response protocol and conduct public outreach and education publicizing the 988 number.

"Mental health should not be seen or responded to as an untreated public threat," said Public Advocate Williams of the bill. "I hope through our legislative process, we can collectively create a crisis response where persons living with mental health diagnosis feel safe in their communities and know they'll receive the proper care that they need. I also hope that we can bring healing to families that have experienced a loss or any trauma as a result of the system we now have in place now."

In the past six years, at least sixteen people undergoing a mental health crisis were killed by NYPD  officers - notably, fourteen were people of more color. Prominent cases in recent years have included Deborah Danner, Mohamed Bah, Saheed Vassell, Dwayne Jeune, and Kawaski Trawick, among others.

In his 2019 report, Improving New York City's Responses to Individuals in Mental Health Crisis, Public Advocate Williams led calls for mental health crises to be met with a public health response rather than law enforcement. A separate emergency phone line was among the recommendations in that report.

The Public Advocate noted today that the movement to a non-police response in mental health crisis is as complex as it is necessary, saying, "I know this is a difficult conversation. It is one that elicits fear. It is one that changes the dynamic. For too long, our equating of public safety and police has brought us a system that we know needs to be changed. We have to find a system that allows people to bring the tools and expertise they have to the situations at hand."

Read the full statement from the Public Advocate for today's hearing below.

TESTIMONY OF PUBLIC ADVOCATE JUMAANE D. WILLIAMS TO THE COMMITTEE ON MENTAL HEALTH, DISABILITIES, AND ADDICTION - HEARING FEBRUARY 22, 2021

Good morning, Thank you so much, Madam Chair. As mentioned, My name is Jumaane D. Williams, and I am the Public Advocate for the City of New York. I want to thank Chair Farah Louis for holding today's hearing on a vital topic and give a huge congratulations to the first hearing that you're chairing. I look forward to the excellent leadership I know you're going to provide on this issue and many others in this Committee.

A few years ago, when I was a Council Member, I will never forget, I was doing, I believe it was a gun violence press conference with Borough President Eric Adams. In the middle of it, a woman ran up, got on her knees, and was begging us for help for her son who was in a mental health crisis. It was a very emotional time, but I remember her specifically saying how terrifying she was to call 911. She didn't want to call 911 because they would "kill him." Those were the words she used. That has been seared into my brain, remembering that. At that point, understanding intersecting issues brought up there. The need for her to get some real care for her son. And also the things we were doing to police officers. Places we were sending them without the tools or training and asking them to solve a problem they simply don't have the capacity to solve. On all sides, we are setting up people for failing.

For far too long, our City's response to mental health calls has been a failure. Police officers are dispatched as first responders for people struggling with mental illness. In addition, access to a continuum of care is in effect non-existent for a large part of the population. In some cases, this can be fatal. In the past six years, at least 16 people undergoing a mental health crisis were killed by officers. Notably, 14 were people of more color. That is both devastating and a significant reason as to why the New York Police Department cannot respond to mental health calls as first responders. My first report, in September of 2019, we put out a report on how badly we were doing in handling mental health crises. I just want to congratulate the City Council for putting this hearing and actually going headstrong into dealing with this and beginning to reframe what public safety is.

After many years of waiting, we have the opportunity to change our response. Intro 2210, prime sponsored by Council Member Ayala, shifts mental health responses from the NYPD into a new office within the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. Units of mental health clinicians and peers will respond to mental health emergencies within 30 minutes of a call. These teams will follow up with calls among other things mentioned.

In addition to that, my legislation, Intro 2222, creates a three-digit hotline as an alternative to 911. Right now, we only have a criminal response to whatever has known to be a mental health crisis. The newly-created office would hire operators to respond to calls. Any mental health-related calls going through 311 or 911 are redirected through the new three-digit hotline. Calls will not be directed to 911 unless an operator determines there is a public safety emergency. Finally, the hotline becomes available no later than December 31, 2021.

Currently, the NYC Well system is used for mental health calls. In 2019, there were around 170,000 mental health-related calls. Yet, those calls went through 911. There must be a convenient and easy-to-remember number rather than the City's long 11-digit NYC Well system. That is why the bill will create a three-digit number, 988, that will redefine our response system.

These bills offer a chance for us to rectify the failure of our mental health response. Cities such as Eugene, Oregon, Olympia, Washington, and others, have already implemented non-police or limited police responses. We must follow these examples and go bold with any idea presented. New Yorkers deserve a plan that addresses mental health as a public health issue, not a policing issue.

However, we have to be more intentional. These bills must do more to explain the role of when and if the police department would get involved. The definition of "public safety emergency" - a "crime in progress, violence, or a situation likely to result in imminent harm or danger to the public, as defined by" the newly-created Office of Community Mental Health, in its vagueness may cause unintended confusion. How will a person interpret violence or a situation that may result in harm? Interpretation is left up to the office or, realistically, the operator. What happens if police are mistakenly told of a person likely to create harm? This is not a hypothetical. As was mentioned here, police responded to a call that Saheed Vassell, a 34-year-old Black man living with bipolar disorder, held a gun. Police arrived and fatally shot Vassell, who actually held a pipe not a gun. Also mentioned was the tragic case of Dwayne Jeune that happened in the district I represented several years ago. That tragic event, and many others, highlights the potential danger that can result from one wrong decision or a misinterpretation. If this is not delved into more intentionally, I fear more lives may be lost.

We have seen far too many incidents where the inclusion of officers in unpredicted situations wrongfully escalate. Mental health should not be seen or responded to as an untreated public threat. I understand that many of the advocates & providers we'll hear from today are concerned with the codification of co-response teams and many other features in both of these bills. What we should ensure is the codification that police are no longer the first responders when New Yorkers are in acute Mental Health Crisis. I believe Council Member Ayala, Council Member Cornegy, and the Chair and I are deeply committed to getting this right, and I'm sure we welcome any feedback on how we best improve the bills.

Today's hearing is the first step in the right direction as we're identifying the City's existing problem: an ineffective mental health response. We know there are other professionals and peers in our communities that are better equipped to address mental health crises than the police. I hope through our legislative process, we can collectively create a crisis response where persons living with mental health diagnosis feel safe in their communities and know they'll receive the proper care that they need.

I also hope that we can bring healing to families that have experienced a loss or any trauma as a result of the system we now have in place now. I know this is a difficult conversation. It is one that elicits fear. It is one that changes dynamics. For too long, our equation of public safety to police has brought us a system that we know needs to be changed. We have to also remember that when something goes wrong, if something went wrong, everyone will say, 'Where were the police'? We have to change that dynamic and reliance on police. Because we know even when police are there, things go wrong and people are killed. We have to find a system that allows people to bring the tools and expertise they have to the situations at hand. Right now, we're not doing that. I thank the Chair for allowing me to speak. I look forward to today's testimony.