Press Releases

This weekend Mayor Eric Adams and Governor Kathy Hochul, alongside NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell, announced dramatically increased police and surveillance presence in the New York City subway system. The following response is from Communities United for Police Reform (CPR) spokesperson Sala Cyril (she/her): 

This week the NYPD released a video touting its increased presence in the New York subway system, mere days after it was announced that all subway cars would be fitted with surveillance cameras by 2025. The following response from Communities United for Police Reform (CPR) spokesperson Darian X (he/him), Lead Campaign Organizer with Brooklyn Movement Center:  "While this Mayoral administration is convinced that using decades-old failed Broken Windows policing strategies like increased surveillance and stops will provide safety, New Yorkers of color - particularly Black & Latinx New Yorkers - know all too well that these tactics only lead to police abuse and harassment, and increase the potential for encounters to escalate to brutality and even killing of New Yorkers they claim to be protecting.

On Friday, June 11, New York City Mayor Eric Adams and Speaker Adrienne Adams announced a handshake deal on the city’s FY23 budget, which included an NYPD budget of more than $11 billion, the largest in the city’s history. Communities United for Police Reform (CPR) released the following statement from spokesperson Keli Young (she/her):  “The crises that our communities are facing today require bold action from our city leaders and a budget that creates a clear path to a true recovery that would help not only keep us safe, but help us thrive. The budget announced by the mayor and speaker today falls short of meeting this need.  "We expected this new City Council to prioritize significant community investments over the continued expansion of the NYPD budget; instead the proposed FY23 budget reflects the largest NYPD spending in history. The projected $11.2B for the NYPD enables the mayor to continue to push regressive and failed policing tactics that harm Black, Latinx and communities of color and have been heavily criticized and condemned by New Yorkers. This does not make our city safer."

Today, Communities United for Police Reform (CPR) members and partners, including Audre Lorde Project, Jews for Racial and Economic Justice, Make the Road NY, the Urban Youth Collaborative, New York City Anti-Violence Project and more delivered testimony to the NYC City Council public hearing on the FY23 budget. Community leaders, advocates and experts called for cuts to the NYPD budget and increased investments in non-police health and safety solutions.