Op-Ed | It’s time for State Legislators to meet the moment on public safety and mental health

A recent poll revealed that 80% of respondents in New York City register serious concerns about the level of crime, with 75% believing that the city is in crisis. The most surprising detail: These respondents are not Trump supporters with an agenda to portray New York City as a hellscape, but true blue Democrats with a rising concern about safety.

The reality is two things are true at once. Crime remains a stubborn problem for New Yorkers, while at the same time New York City is not sliding back to the “bad old days” of the 1970’s and 1980’s (the strength of our economy, improving crime numbers, and soaring tourism suggest much different.) But the post-COVID years have driven real concerns from New Yorkers about the effectiveness of our criminal justice and mental health systems.

It’s time for New York leaders – and frankly, our fellow Democrats – to step up and take action now to address New Yorkers’ legitimate concerns about crime and mental health.

We have all recently witnessed events across the city that should sound the alarm. In the past few months, our subway system endured two stabbings within 17 minutes in Manhattan, a man shoved onto the tracks in Queens, another pushed onto the tracks in the Bronx, and a heinous arson in Brooklyn that burned a woman to death.

Pointing out these examples is not to fearmonger, but to demonstrate the reality people all across this city are experiencing in their daily lives and in the information they consume.

So what can we do about it?

At the city level, we can start by increasing enforcement and expanding mental health services. That means hiring more officers, stepping up foot patrols, and making police presence known on our streets and subways. It also means expanding proven interventions to compassionately transfer mentally ill populations off the subways and streets and into programs they need.

But to really tackle the most bedeviling public safety issues facing our city, we need a legislative agenda in Albany that responds to our greatest concerns without resorting to half measures. The big question before New Yorkers right now: Will Albany deliver on public safety in 2025?

At the top of the list, the State Legislature needs to adopt amendments to update our State’s discovery laws, a proposal supported by both progressive and moderate District Attorneys, victim advocacy groups, Attorney General James, Reverend Al Sharpton, and other faith leaders.

The 2019 actions taken by the legislature to change outdated discovery laws, while well-intentioned reforms aimed at reducing pre-trial detention times have led to a sharp increase in case dismissals due to a largely inflexible law.

The impact has been significant. Since 2020, we’ve seen massive increases in misdemeanor dismissals (51%) and felony dismissals (57%), including several serious crimes like sexual abuse, assault, and domestic violence where victims will fail to see justice–while also losing their orders of protection.

Nevertheless, we do not want to return to where we started, where tragic stories like Kalief Browder’s provide a devastating reminder of the need to fight for a fair and equitable justice system.

The good news is that we can fix the law while preserving the underlying intent and important reforms to the process. The proposed amendments would still require early and robust disclosures to the accused, while maintaining New York’s status as the most open and transparent discovery law in the nation. Unfortunately, the State Senate budget resolution failed to include this broadly supported proposal. We hope this changes in the final budget.

Additionally, Albany must take a strategic and surgical approach to continue improving our justice system, particularly when it comes to individuals who continuously commit crimes without increased attention. While the city has experienced double-digit declines in many major crime categories, felony assaults are on the rise, with recidivists being a major contributing factor. Action from the legislature is needed here to stop repeat offenders, particularly violent ones.

We also need to address the mental health crisis that’s leaving New Yorkers in fear of riding the subway and walking in their neighborhoods. Albany must act to adjust New York’s involuntary commitment standards, adopting compassionate best practices to keep everyone safe. The most caring way to solve this problem is to get this population the treatment they need rather than being resigned to our streets or subway system without any intervention.

On the issues of public safety and mental health, we have to avoid false narratives by those looking to score political points, while also making it clear that the status quo is not normal and needs to be addressed. New Yorkers deserve to feel safe in their communities and on public transit, plain and simple.

With these actions, Albany can be a true partner and meet the moment this crisis demands. City government can’t solve this alone. Albany lawmakers must act with urgency.

Time to get to work.