Press Room

Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams released the following statement on Governor Cuomo's decision to expand the Tenant Safe Harbor Act rather than extend a true eviction moratorium in New York State, with an executive order which will not adequately protect tenants struggling amid a pandemic and economic crisis from being evicted.

"On the first of the month, rent checks across the city are due, and the eviction moratorium has been allowed to expire. The Governor's half-measure of expanding the Tenant Safe Harbor Act is not a true moratorium on the eviction process, a process that will now begin to target tenants left with inadequate legal protection. Without a true moratorium, eviction cases can still be filed and advanced, and the burden will fall to tenants to prove they are eligible to stay in their homes, a burden which may prove too much for some of the vulnerable populations in our city and state which have already felt immense pain in this pandemic. 

"The Governor's executive order seems to demonstrate a greater interest in securing headlines than housing security - I hope that's not the case. With COVID-19 cases once again rising, it's imperative that he reinstate a true moratorium to keep New Yorkers in their homes - renters and homeowners alike - and cancel rent to keep New Yorkers from greater hardship."

Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams released the following statement in response to reports of voters receiving erroneous absentee ballots containing incorrect voter information. The NYC Board of Elections has said that the contracted vendor is responsible for the errors.

"There are already far too many malevolent actions that have made it harder for people to vote - from suppressive laws to a President actively and intentionally undermining confidence in our elections - to add systemic incompetence to the barriers preventing New Yorkers from casting their ballot. It is imperative that we rapidly re-issue ballots to every affected New Yorker. Beyond that, the vendor responsible must be investigated, and possibly terminated and replaced.

"This is far from the first time that the Board of Elections has failed to meet its mandate of facilitating a smooth, stable, secure election. As in many areas, this was an issue exacerbated by the pandemic, not created by it - and while the logistical and funding challenges around this election are real, they do not excuse clear mismanagement in a system overly reliant on political appointees and badly in need of reform. While the President makes every effort to prevent votes and voters from being counted, it could not be more critical that the Board demonstrate basic competence to instill basic confidence that our fundamental right and responsibility to vote will be protected."

NEW YORK: Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams called on the Governor and State Legislature to re-define public safety by using his new platform as a framework for envisioning and expanding non-police alternatives to ensuring safety. He first unveiled the platform for the city in mid-September, and sent a letter to state leaders urging them to pursue the measures after Governor Cuomo reiterated his call for city leadership to present a plan for better policing or lose state funding.

"Simple reforms or discussions around policing is not the answer...While policing has an important role and improving it is imperative, the prevention of violence for example - a primary focus - can only be done through an all-encompassing approach that prioritizes public health and social well-being as alternatives to policing," the Public Advocate says in the letter to Governor Cuomo, as well as Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie.

It would be a failure, he notes, to address policing in isolation rather than recognize the broader need to redefine public safety itself. He also acknowledges the Governor's recent policing reform workbook, saying he has presented his own platform "not as a response to those reforms, but as a blueprint for effectively effectively reimagining what creates public safety."

The Public Advocate's platform is part of a campaign that aims to highlight the intersection of public safety in other aspects of city life and governance, outlining a new framework and empowering with effective tools to be the change agents in defining public safety. It addresses ten key areas of gun violence, schools, housing and homelessness, mental health, transportation, technology, domestic violence, immigration, families, and public health. More information on each of these areas is available here.

The full letter to state leaders is below and can be downloaded here.

Dear Governor Cuomo, Majority Leader Stewart-Cousins, and Assembly Speaker Heastie:

I'm writing to share with you a recently assembled platform, curated by both experts and grassroots organizations, to redefine public safety. With this platform, my office seeks to help lead New York City into an era of enhanced safety and amplify the concerns New Yorkers flagged in Governor Cuomo's recent Police Reform Workbook. 

I offer the attached platform not as a response to those reforms, but as a blueprint for effectively reimagining what creates Public Safety. That begins by acknowledging that Public Safety cannot be synonymous with law enforcement. Simple reforms or discussions around policing is not the answer. 

While law enforcement has a part to play, for too long so many integral roles have not been sufficiently embraced. My platform addresses ten key areas where intersectional solutions can be discovered for inadequate services. While policing has an important role and improving it is imperative, the prevention of violence for example, a primary focus, can only be done through an all-encompassing approach that prioritizes public health and social well-being as alternatives to policing. 

The attached platform is only the beginning of a conversation on how we can transform public safety in New York. Over the next view months our plan is to expound on each one of the 10 points and engage in robust community discussions. Your consideration and support of these policy proposals could be instrumental in bettering the lives of countless New Yorkers and inspiring similar transformations across the nation. I hope to engage in further collaboration with all of you on moving forward with these critical issues.

For further discussion, please contact First Deputy Public Advocate Nick E. Smith at nsmith@advocate.nyc.gov and Rama Issa-Ibrahim, Deputy Public Advocate for Justice, Health Equity & Safety at rissa-ibrahim@advocate.nyc.gov. 

Thank you very much for your time and consideration. 

Sincerely, 

Jumaane D. Williams

Public Advocate for the City of New York

"I would like to wish an easy and meaningful fast to all observing in the Jewish community as they prepare for the start of Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the year on the Jewish calendar.

"Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, centers on seeking forgiveness and reconciliation - not only to ask such forgiveness for ourselves, but to grant it to others. Particularly in this time, having compassion, understanding, and empathy for one another's experiences, struggles, and even failings is critical as we work to lift each other up, not tear each other down. While we cannot mark the holy day with large gatherings this year, the meaning of the occasion and call to atone resonates in our homes and hearts. It  is a message each of us can take up in our lives, in the year 5781 and beyond. 

"May G-d bestow mercy and absolution on those seeking redemption, and may we all be sealed in the Book of Life. G'mar Chatima Tova."

Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams released the following statement after Industry City withdrew their rezoning application, which was before the City Council and has faced significant opposition from community and elected leaders.

"The Industry City rezoning was the wrong plan for the needs of the community and the wrong solution for the needs of the city. It was not a short term fix, and would have had long term consequences. The plan lacked adequate climate adaptation or mitigation and threatened to exacerbate issues of gentrification and loss of social cohesion. Its withdrawal is a recognition of those facts and the efforts of bold community voices and elected leaders. 

"I urge Industry City and our city leaders to view this not as an obstacle to doing what the community does not want, but as an opportunity to do what the neighborhood needs - practical, community-driven development. We can have economic development and environmental protection, commercial progression and community preservation. But the renewed and reformed proposal must be developed by the community itself to ensure transparency while addressing the environmental, racial and economic impact. My office will continue to work with Council Member Menchaca, community members and all stakeholders to reach that goal.

"It's crucial that government and industry do things with communities, not to them, and by honestly listening to them and meaningfully collaborating, we can see the kind of growth we need without the harm to conservation and community we cannot afford."

Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams has submitted a public comment to the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), strongly opposing the proposed rule which would remove HUD's existing gender identity protections around admission to homeless shelters that receive federal funding. This change would permit discrimination against transgender individuals in need of shelter.

The Public Advocate calls HUD's position "inherently transphobic" and argues that "If the proposed rule takes effect, it will result in a direct and indirect increase in the unsheltered homeless population. Directly, removal of anti-discrimination protections for trans persons will restore the shelter system's harassment and violence of the days before the Equal Access Rule, pushing trans persons to risk sleeping in the open rather than subject themselves to those conditions.'" He says that implementing the rule would increase homelessness, defy recent Supreme Court opinion, and that it is not evidence based.

Public Advocate Williams further notes that "Rooting the proposed rule in the transphobic language once deployed to oppose gender-neutral bathrooms fails to serve or advance HUD's mission of ensuring decent housing for all and a suitable living environment for all."

In the midst of a pandemic which has increased homelessness, the Public Advocate demonstrates that "Removing protections for equal access will retrench patterns of trans persons leaving their communities for places with more supportive practices, adding to already-strained networks and challenging provision of shelter services overall, or avoiding housing services entirely for fear of their personal safety."

The full comment can be downloaded  here.