"Not only should the administration strive to make New York City a place where all people can meet their basic needs, but Mamdani's team must also work to bring alternatives to incarceration to scale, so they are the new default while jail becomes a last resort. As Mayor Zohran Mamdani takes office, New York City stands at a crossroads. For decades, "public safety" in this city has been synonymous with policing, punishment, and incarceration."
"Mamdani's campaign centered on affordability, rightly arguing that when people can meet their basic needs, the entire city becomes safer. But the incoming mayor cannot avoid inheriting a public safety infrastructure that, for several years now, has doubled down on punitive responses that have devastated Black, Latine, and other working class neighborhoods across the city. The number of people incarcerated on Rikers Island still hovers over 7,000 while NYPD arrests continue to climb under current NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch."
New York City enters a pivotal moment as Mayor Zohran Mamdani assumes office. Public safety has long equated to policing, punishment, and incarceration rather than addressing root needs. Real safety arises from stable access to affordable housing, food, health care, transportation, and other essentials. The city still confines over 7,000 people on Rikers Island while arrests and criminalization of poverty, mental illness, and addiction have increased. A Department of Community Safety aims to shift policy toward prevention and support and to scale alternatives to incarceration so jail becomes a last resort.
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