Press Room

Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams released the following statement today calling on the city and state to suspend broken windows arrests and similar criminal penalty enforcement policies to prevent the spread of COVID-19 to vulnerable populations.

"Over-incarceration and the approach to broken windows policing have long been a disastrous approach devastating lives and communities. Now, amid the rapid spread of COVID-19, the public health danger is even greater and more acute. I'm calling on the NYPD to suspend non-violent, so-called victimless quality of life arrests which could increase exposure rates among at-risk individuals, and calling on the Department of Correction to release those who are most at risk from incarceration, where the close-quarters contact of our jails represents an immediate danger. "New York State, right now, is showing itself willing to use incarcerated labor to respond to COVID-19, but not to adequately protect incarcerated people from it. The city must do better. If we value safety in this city, we value safety. If we value health, we value health. If we value each other, we value each other. If we continue to knowingly expose the most vulnerable New Yorkers to this disease through over policing of broken-windows offenses, those values are laid bare."

This follows a virtual press conference on the issue with Council Member Brad Lander, Communities United for Police Reform, and a coalition of criminal justice advocates. More information is available here.

Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams released the following statement today calling for the creation of a defined 'shelter in place' policy for New York City.

"As the spread of COVID-19 continues, our city and state have had to make a number of difficult decisions to impose restrictions for the good of the public's health. While I know that these decisions take much consideration, the truth is that we have been behind when it comes to these restrictive citywide policies. "It's time for decisive executive leadership. I'm calling on Governor Cuomo and Mayor de Blasio to create a defined "shelter-in-place" policy-not a quarantine- immediately, one that is reassessed on a weekly or biweekly basis. Under such a system, New Yorkers who are asymptomatic/non-vulnerable and non-essential employees would be able to leave their home for food, medicine, and light exercise, but the message would be clear: stay home unless absolutely necessary. For the 80-90% of New Yorkers who will not experience the most serious symptoms, the 10-20% who will are depending on our good judgement in adhering to a shelter-in-place strategy. We shouldn't have to relearn lessons from other cities, localities and countries. This moment demands that the city and state act now, and adjust and evolve as needed, to curb a pandemic that is growing by the day."

Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams released the following statement today calling for the closure of New York City schools, among other measures, in order to help mitigate the spread of COVID-19.

"It has become clear that in order to mitigate the dangers posed by the spread of COVID-19, strategies must shift when it comes to our educational system. For the safety of students, of faculty and staff, and of the most vulnerable New Yorkers who they may come in contact with, it is time to close New York City's public schools, while implementing a summer school-style model like the one proposed by my colleague in government, Council Member Mark Treyger- one that ensures critical services still reach students, that no one falls through the cracks. Under this model, we must also allow schools that close to be used for needed resources, such as testing sites, to relieve pressure from hospitals. Parents and students should be able to go to schools near them to receive these resources. "I believe we also have to go further, and have more restrictive measures in place today to slow the spread of the virus. All non-essential operations and business must be temporarily closed if they can not put substantial telecommuting policies in place, re-evaluated on a weekly basis. I know that this will put strain on many, and the city and state need to prepare to provide financial relief to all affected. We in the city have an obligation to take all needed action, both individual and systemic, to protect the 10-20% of people at greatest risk from the virus. Responsible leadership means we also have an additional obligation to provide aid to people such as small business owners who are hurt not by the virus itself but by the economic impact of this outbreak. "No solution is perfect or all-encompassing, and no action will please or protect everyone. I know that as we confront this outbreak, we will all have to make sacrifices. But I also know that inaction and inadequate action are not options. New Yorkers can and will adapt, uplift, and aid each other through this time of crisis. Through it all, our goal must remain the same - harm reduction, particularly for the most vulnerable among us. "Personal and policy decisions cannot be made from a position of privilege, or from fear, but from a fact-driven approach that centers on protecting the people who are at greatest risk. My office will continue to work with city leaders to make sure that our most vulnerable populations are receiving the care and resources they need."

Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams released the following statement today announcing new workforce safety measures being implemented in the office of the Public Advocate to limit congestion and prevent the spread of COVID-19.

"As our city adapts to the spread of the coronavirus, it is important for us to put facts over fear. We should not panic, but rather adapt, and act preventatively. In an effort to limit congestion and exposure among our city's workforce, the vast majority of employees at the Office of the Public Advocate will be telecommuting effective immediately, and we will be re-assessing on a continual basis over subsequent weeks. When possible, both the public and private sector should adopt similar telecommuting policies and employ staggered schedules to mitigate contact by employees with New Yorkers at the greatest risk. The city must also support businesses and nonprofits directly impacted by the outbreak with additional aid to help them adapt to the evolving economic and workforce implications. "It is incumbent on our office to protect the most vulnerable, often marginalized people in our city. We know that in the days and weeks ahead, we will see an increase of positive tests, but 80-90% of individuals who contract the virus will not experience the most serious symptoms. The city must work to ensure the safety of the 10-20% of individuals who may experience more severe symptoms.  Our office is committed to uplifting and protecting the most vulnerable people around our city in the coming weeks and months, addressing the needs of New Yorkers while putting into practice our own strategies to mitigate the spread of this virus."

Due to the office's new workplace policies, the Public Advocate's Department of Constituent Services has temporarily restricted in-person access. New Yorkers seeking help can continue to contact the office through its website, advocate.nyc.gov, email at gethelp@advocate.nyc.gov, or by calling our Constituent Services hotline at (212) 669-7250.

New legislation would expand communication between childcare services and parents

Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams introduced legislation today aimed at protecting the safety of young children by preventing them from falling through potential gaps between parents or guardians and childcare centers through improved communication. Under this bill, childcare centers would not only be required to quickly contact the primary caretaker such as a parent or legal guardian if a child is absent without advance notice. Rather, if they are unable to reach that primary caretaker, they would need to reach out to two additional emergency contacts.

"Right now, there is an information and safety gap between childcare providers and parents in confirming that young children are unaccounted for," said Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams. "While this is thankfully usually harmless, we have also seen tragedy in these accidents and oversights. By simply expanding outreach to include two additional contacts, we increase the opportunity for a child's whereabouts to be confirmed and their safety protected. This is a measure that would provide peace of mind and prevent tragedy for parents and childcare providers alike."

This bill, Intro 1880, would help reduce incidents where a child's whereabouts are unaccounted for and any potential tragedy resulting from such errors. In July of 2019, a Rockland County father was charged with manslaughter after inadvertently leaving his one-year old twins in the car for eight hours. This was not an isolated incident - in the last two decades, over 400 children have been killed in similar situations. When a child is unaccounted for, it increases the possibility of these and similar dangers, but current law only requires that a childcare center make a single attempt to reach a primary caretaker.

The New York City Health Code mandates childcare providers reach out to their primary contact within an hour of the child's unanticipated absence by call, text, or email. This bill, which is co-sponsored by Council Members Farah N. Louis and Fernando Cabrera, would expand upon that requirement, providing that there must be confirmation of receipt through one of the approved methods within 30 minutes of the first attempt to reach out. If there is no confirmation of receipt within the designated time window, the childcare provider would have to reach out to two other emergency contacts listed at least three more times.

"Last July an unthinkable tragedy occurred in my district, in which a father mistakenly left his year-old twins in a car while he went to work," said Council Member Fernando Cabrera. "The extreme heat that built up in the vehicle led to the children's deaths leaving a family and a community heartbroken. We learned that a number of factors contributed to this devastating event.  One of these was the daycare provider's inability to obtain a response from emergency contacts regarding the children's unexplained absence. I'm joining Public Advocate Jumaane Williams in strengthening the City's health code by requiring parents or guardians to provide two additional emergency contacts, and child care providers to reach out at least three more times after the initial call.  Nothing is more precious than our children and we are taking all necessary steps to prevent any more such tragedies."

"As adults - parents, guardians, and childcare providers - we are the first line of defense when it comes to the well-being of our children, said Council Member Farah N. Louis. "Raising a child is a wonderful responsibility that we share collectively and therefore the onus is on us to do all that we can to account for their whereabouts around-the-clock. Intro 1880 is a critical step forward in expanding the lines of communication to save lives and prevent tragedies that no family should ever have to experience."

Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams delivered a live response to Mayor Bill de Blasio's State of the City address today, where he discussed several areas in which he feels the city is not adequately responding to the needs of New Yorkers.

Full text of the address as prepared is below, and a video stream is available here.

I just finished watching Mayor de Blasio's State of the City Address, and first, I want to thank the Mayor for taking a real, direct approach to the real, pressing issues that New Yorkers are confronting every day and concerned about each night.  In his address, he announced a number of strong actions that are deserving of commendation and aligned with the progressive vision promised for New York City-- like the expansion of 3K and other early childhood efforts, and supporting those same youth as they grow up, with a community-driven approach. I want to reiterate something he said - that our children should not be over policed, they should be reached, and to emphasize that from the top down, our policies need to align with that mission statement.  I also want to commend the efforts announced to support small businesses, including through subsidies, free legal services, and investing city pensions in the people who drive our economic growth.  As we continue to uplift working people and expand rights like paid time off, it's critical that we make these kinds of investments in the small businesses which should be the backbone of our city.  I hope to work with the administration on a number of these initiatives - and to ensure that the reality of change meets the promise of progress. The Mayor spoke of the need to save our city, and he may be right - but in many cases, at critical points, past opportunities to take on issues have been met with policies that were either insufficient to address the scale of need, or further deepening it.  So I want to take a moment to talk about a few things I think deserve greater discussion and bolder solutions. As I said in my own address a few weeks ago, the state of our city is found in its people and in the real, personal impact they feel every day, what they're facing and bringing to government leaders, asking what we can do. The number one thing I'm asked about continues to be housing. I'm glad that today, the Mayor announced several important steps to expand housing affordability, both in availability and in cost, setting new goals and supporting vital tenant protections. But these new targets come after years of lost time- and in this case, time is units, both built and preserved. Those units are desperately needed, because the state of our city's housing and homelessness is a crisis. It's one that has been exacerbated over the last several years, and one that the plans of the past couldn't meet. That's unsurprising, given that the city is the worst landlord in New York, through its mismanagement and underfunding of NYCHA. In the last year, NYCHA has earned a new chair, a federal monitor, but not its tenants trust.  Fixing NYCHA will require real investment. The current city budget proposal cannot keep up with the trend of disrepair, much less reverse it, especially as the state continues to deny critical funding. There is a moral responsibility to meet the same basic standards we would expect of any private landlord - but when I have visited the homes of NYCHA tenants, the standard has been an excess of mold and an absence of heat. Dangerous conditions include lead contaminations, rodent infestations and long-delayed repairs as trash and work orders build up. And that responsibility, or irresponsibility, falls to issues of management. In public housing and among private landlords, the city needs to renew a focus on repairing declining and dangerous conditions - that means funding NYCHA, but it also means expanding the city's inspection capability to hold the worst landlords accountable. It's critical that we build and preserve affordable housing with a focus on the people who most need it - when city vouchers are required, and even then aren't enough to cover rent, it's not affordable. When we focus on acute solutions and not sustainable, supportive housing, it's not affordable. And when rezonings lead to displacement of families, to acutely rising rents and falling neighborhoods, it's not affordable to those who need it most. That's why we need a new and aggressive approach to income-targeted affordability, and it's why we need to mandate  a racial impact study ahead of each new rezoning to prevent communities of more color from disappearing. I invite the Mayor to support my bill that would do just that.   But housing is just one area where we need to realign our priorities to long-term solutions. The state of our city's mental health crisis response is one of misplaced money and priorities. For New Yorkers experiencing a mental health crisis, this administration has continued to resist a full transition away from a law enforcement response and toward a public health response.  Law enforcement should not be responding to mental health crises- that approach has led to tragedy, and it's neither appropriate for those in need who are making the call, nor fair to the officers answering it. We can't expect police to do everything, and I don't expect nine-one-one dispatchers to make the decisions trained mental and behavioral health professionals should be. Whether encounters are fatal- as they were for Dwayne Jeune and Deborah Danner, whose families needed aid and were met with force, - or otherwise traumatic and damaging, as for the sons of Peggy Herrera, Tanya Thompson, or all those whose names and stories we don't know. That's why I've proposed legislation to create an emergency number specifically for mental health crises, for emergency response aimed at de-escalation, intervention, prevention, and post-crisis management. We need to support that plan through substantive funding, both to respond to crises and to prevent them. We have been a part of shifting the conversation - and now we need to shift the money, toward mobile crisis teams with more rapid response times, toward respite centers for people experiencing imminent crisis, and diversion centers as an alternative to incarceration. Again, complex problems can rarely be met with acute solutions, and our office has put forth a plan to address mental health crises on multiple fronts. Unfortunately, the administration has not supported our comprehensive plan, but I know that the longer we wait to implement it, the worse the state of this crisis will become. And I know that those with power and privilege need to use it to help those without.  The state of our city's utilities is one of power in the wrong hands. In the last year New Yorkers have seen widespread blackouts and limited accountability, with affected neighborhoods being left in the dark. With no electricity and no warning, communities like Central Brooklyn and people like my uncle were cut off from critical resources in a moment of need, confusion, and fear. For months following,  New Yorkers were held hostage, used as a bargaining chip in a political debate over pipelines while seeing their homes lose heat and their businesses lose money.  And through it all, there have been rate hikes - major corporations demanding more money but not providing adequate power - so it's time to take it back. That means providing oversight, and accountability, for the major corporations where we've misplaced trust for too long.  It also means the creation of newly democratized energy sources, expanding the public's role on both a city and state level. We need to rethink how we power New York, and empower New Yorkers through a system that is more directly and clearly accountable and transparent. I want to commend the Mayor for setting new targets and making new commitments to support green construction, green energy production and transmission, but we need to be more bold. Democratizing energy will help to bring down costs, consolidate billing, and move forward a just transition away from fossil fuels. In our city, we cannot let the scope of the problems outweigh the urgency of the solutions. Nor can we be confined by what's been done before, or by small adjustments to systemic failings. We need the courage to push back against political winds, not to go with them just because it's easier. And we need the people of New York City to stand united in the effort to move all of us forward together.  I implore the administration to be a partner in this progress, to take the words from today's speech, many of which I've waited a long time to hear, and to deliver with action. I haven't seen this Mayor in many years, but I'm glad he's here, and I hope to work with him on behalf of the people to deliver the transformational change that this moment demands. Thank you