 Testing testing one two one two. You guys can hear me a fine up there Judge you can hear me no problem. Okay, very good. Thank you. I'm just doing a quick test test test Good afternoon everyone and thank you for joining us for today's public safety briefing led by deputy mayor for public safety fill banks Following our last speaker. We will take a few questions from the media Followed by some more questions that have been submitted by the public ahead of today's briefing I would now like to turn it over to deputy mayor fill banks. Thank you So welcome everyone happy st. Patrick's Day Let's hope that we have a very festive but safe st. Patrick's Day And I hope that it's March madness So I hope that Someone of you picked Princeton in your bracket if you didn't your bracket is going to be a little bit a little bit messed up So happy March madness everyone here. So today we are joined by three senior of every senior senior level members of the administration We're gonna be here from the NYPD chief of department the four-star chief of the NYPD and he is going to be Giving a briefing on some crom stats, but more importantly, he's going to be talking about community comp stat It's a lot of people who understand comps that have heard that term But they just develop community comp stat and chief manager is going to be speaking about that And then we're gonna hear from our corp council judge Sylvia Heinz Radix who is the top judge, right? She's the top judge in New York City, and she's going to be talking about the administration's efforts What we take against these retailers who are illegally selling license plate covers and she's going to go into detail about that And the last but certainly not least we're going to hear from the Department of Transportation Commissioner Edanus Rodriguez He oversees DOT and he's going to be giving us an overview on safety on our roadways and public updates on some of the Projects that they've been working on so we've had these meetings now three or four weeks now And we're gonna be fine tuning them and as you see each week We have different guests that come forth and you know We're trying to provide as much information as we possibly can on what we're doing But more importantly what we need to hear from you so that we can continue to do our jobs a lot better So a lot of this is communication But certainly we want to inform and be able to do our job a lot better So we certainly think for you who tuning in so tell a friend send a link if you have a link to different people because we need To hear from as much people as possible Now how do you get involved as a start go to NYC gov NYC gov and click on office of the mayor Once you do that you will receive an email and an email will inform you of what we're going to discuss For this upcoming weekly briefing and then it will give you the opportunity to submit your questions So that we can now answer your questions and kind of hear Which you've seen what you're feeling and the things that you need answers to or the things that you need us to know So that we can revamp our plans and our strategies accordingly So for the those who do we certainly thank you Please tell a friend and certainly for those who have not done it thus far who are listening for the first time You know, please feel free to go into their website. We certainly encourage you So kicking it off today. We're gonna have the four star chief in the NYPD So it's for those who don't know in the NYPD the uniform side of it You know, we have one star chiefs two star chiefs three star chiefs But there's only one four star chief chief of the department Everything funnels into the chief of the department and he is going to let us know about something that he's kicking off Call community comps that Jeff kicking it to you Good afternoon, sir. Thank you. I deputy mayor banks and good afternoon to all of viewers I bring greetings from the NYPD commissioner Sewell and I like to say a happy st. Patrick State everybody Before this forum, I was out on the parade route. I inspected everything in YPD. It's out there in full force We're monitoring all kinds of streams and at this time, there's no credible threats So I expect everybody to have a good day Enjoy themselves and to get home safely Just really quick touching on crime overall. We're definitely trending in the right direction, but it's going to be tough We're down in shootings about 20 percent homicides about 20 percent And we're pushing down most of the other crime categories that we monitor with down in robbery citywide We're down in burglary citywide. We're down at Grand Lawson in citywide We're still having some struggles with our car theft and our felony assaults But I assure our viewers our listeners that the NYPD is monitoring all the crimes With the point where we need to and we're going to keep pushing this fight. I'm confident. We're gonna have a good year What I really want to talk about is Our community comm stat that will be kicking off our first one on Tuesday March 21st So what what is the community comm stat? It's a forum It's an opportunity for the people of New York City to be able to join us discuss crime and quality of life challenges in their neighborhoods On the 21st, we will be starting with the Bronx So when you turn on to the forum, which is a virtual stream, you'll have a dais of myself You'll have a chief of crime control strategies our community affairs Bureau our housing Bureau our patrol services Bureau our transit Bureau transportation Bureau and Our city detective Bureau We'll also we have participation from other city agencies. Of course, we'll have a city hall rep We'll have a DHS Department of homeless services Sanitation the housing authority the parks department Department of Transportation our sheriff the health of mental hygiene and of course the DOE Department of Education and Our patrol borough commanders our housing borough commanders and our transit borough commanders will be providing an overview of crime and quality of life in their particular Command in their particular borough and then we'll discuss some of the community resources through community affairs It will spotlight particular precincts the precinct commands will stand up at the podium And they will discuss what's going on in their command and then of course we'll open it up for people to Ask questions and we will provide answers only thing I would ask is if you have something that's very sensitive Something that you know possibly could reveal who you are you just save that question and I promise we'll answer it offline We always have to keep people safe when we do these forums and then one other thing. I like to touch on as well Besides the community comes that the summer will be here soon today's a great day It's we're already through the midway point of March before we know it'll be spring and then summer will be here besides working very diligently to Put forth strategies that will reduce crime and improve quality of life We have to think about our youth and we're gonna have a strong youth strategy. We're gonna work close closely with dycd We're going to work closely with some of youth employment We'll open our doors to bring as many young people as possible Show them the opportunities that are available to them within the NYPD Our youth coordination officer program is expanded in every precinct. So our youth coordination officers will be working within their own precincts Doing doing a variety of programs that will focus on enrichment of the youth Academic skills sport skills and whatever else our young people bring to us if they want it We'll find a way to provide it for them And we'll use it as a way to bring value to them and have a positive impact on them and their families So these are the things I just wanted to discuss this morning, and it's really an honor to be here. Thank you Deputy mayor, you know, I had the privilege of working with Jeff for many many years In my opinion Jeff commanded two of the toughest precincts in New York City 73rd Precinct and 75th Precinct He commanded community affairs chief of patrol housing ball Brooklyn And I just want to tell you cheap that every place that you have gone to was better off that you were there And and this is not the first time I'm telling him this in terms of many many years ago so certainly I think the city is actually privileged to have you as the chief of the department and As the Adams administration is attempting to do this is actually relates to a question I was asked maybe one or two weeks ago about who's coming up here Is that constat is was a very revolutionary concept that was instituted years ago? And you know commissioner Bill Bratton has to get overwhelming majority of credit for implementing that and it was a great accountability system and Depending on what side of the day as you were on right? It was you had a different perspective in it But it actually changed a lot for the better and now the Adams administration is now saying bring other agencies involved into The process bring the community involved Let's let's open up this particular door. So I congratulate Commissioner Sewell for actually Originating this idea and moving it forward. So just had to offer. I actually think that's going to be very interesting chief So thank you for the kind words sir So next we're going to hear from our top judge in the city, right? We call up Council Head Sylvia Heinz Radix as we call her the judge That's what we call her around City Hall and she's going to speak about some legal action that they're taking And I just want to start off by stating is that early on in Adams administration We reached out to Amazon and we reached a deal with Amazon so that Amazon would not be able to they agree to not sell These license plate covers if you are ordering them from the state of New York So that was our first step and reached now So I just want to have a shout out to Amazon thank them very much And that's what that public private partnership is all about but we did not stop there We continued that particular fight and we're gonna hear now from the judge And I'm the city's lawyer see Thank You deputy mayor banks for this kind invitation to address you today And to talk about some sensitive issues that the law department has undertaken Of course, I am the corporation counsel and I had the law department that has a group of very Dedicated people who work tirelessly to protect the interest of New Yorkers One of our 16 legal divisions is tasked with filing legal lawsuits against individuals and companies That violate the law and undermine the interest of the people of this city For instance, we file lawsuits to protect tenants and members of the public who where we sue landlords Who are violating the housing laws and allow their buildings to become unsafe To get deadly ghost guns off the street we sued online retailers Illegally selling ghost gun parts into the city and today I'd like to provide you with an update of the effort that we've just started to prevent the sale of Licensed plates covers this merchandise in dangers New Yorkers And it has resulted in significant dollars of loss of revenue to the city of New York for several years And as you know License plate covers are used obscure vehicle license plates to evade law enforcement cameras and tolls These covers have no legitimate purpose, but to allow people to break the law No family should endure the loss of a loved one at the hands of a reckless driver These products promote that irresponsible Conduct the NYPD has since March of 2022 Associated unreasonable unreadable license plates with instances of traffic violence and crime Enabling reckless drivers to evade 1.5 million speed and red light cameras is is the estimated number traffic deaths during this period I have surged and and traffic fatalities Are at the highest since 2014 in addition? License plate covers cost a direct loss of revenue to the city The sale and distribution of material intended to cover a license plate is unlawful Pursuant to NYC local law 22 as well as section 402 of New York State vehicle and traffic law This past summer as was said by deputy mayor Amazon complied with the city's demand to immediately stop selling these license plate covers to New York City residents and Our efforts at this interest has not stopped several weeks ago It came to the city's attention that two of the nation's largest auto apart retailers With 33 locations in New York City were illegally selling license plate covers Through a cease and desist cis letters from the law department on behalf of the city Two of these companies were put on notice that they're unlawful sales Should stop or they would face legal action today I report that both companies has have agreed to follow the law One of the companies advanced auto parts, Inc. has confirmed in writing that license plate covers Were removed from their city stores and would no longer be available and To on sale online sale in the city We await written confirmation from the second company auto zone We've made it clear to their legal office that the city is prepared to see them in court If this promise is not kept other retailers engaged in this behavior should take notice The city is intent on enforcing its laws The city of New York will not tolerate Companies that float the law and put New Yorkers at risk. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. And those are the things that make a lot of difference, you know, those are the ears that make a lot I mean you just think about it for a second. What is the as the judge says? What is the reason or the rationale for you having? Something that's going to upscrew or cover your license plate. You're evading a toll Evading a camera or you're engaging in some other illegal activity. So I just want to applaud you and thank you very very much for that for that effort Okay, so now next up we have our DOT Commissioner, Donis Rodriguez and Though there are a lot of different agencies such as the Corp Council the police department the sheriff's office that do a lot of work When it comes to our highways the lead agency and the lead person is Commissioner Rodriguez and he's now going to take it from here shoot. Thank you the premier banks and We know that under the leadership of Mayor Eric Adams as we have seen from the premier and the judge and the chief and myself There's only one Responsibility that related that we all hiring things kept from DOT is to see a traffic a Violence as something that we are committed to eradicating and and even the data is showing Updated data showing the fatality It is also dropping, you know in different way that we're going to be showing through this slide And this is the result or partnership between you know NYPD DOT and all the agency Under our Mayor Eric Adam It is my pleasure to join you on behalf of New York City Department transportation And again, whatever I'm doing as a commission in the results of having a great leadership that I have Together with my further pre Margaret for Johnny Polo Chor Julie Berger and the great team of almost six thousand men and women that were very hard to be sure that safety industry Is a top priority? a Through our vision zero we've been able to see improving safety on our street throughout engineering Education and of course enforcement The loss of one life is too many for this administration And and we are committed to reduce it to zero the numbers of petitions and cyclists that lost the light because of crashes And we have seen reduction for the first time on traffic fatality in York City a Declining for the first time since 2018 These that these decline runs counter to national wide trends as we have seen the city being increased or crashes and and numbers going up on a fatality New York City is leading a decline of those numbers To help combat the the increase in reckless driving during the pandemic DOT last year Secure authorization to operate our speak camera 24 hours seven days a week Most crashes were happening from 10 p.m. And 6 a.m. And we went to Overnight and we secure speak camera 24 hours We also improved safety at 1,600 intersections as we continue to install Live-saving infrastructure to support save three on the delivery or a beating who oversee everything on planning in our street in slide 2 we will see how How the data that we are seeing so far this year we all those that are in here today as February 2nd 2023 all traffic fatalities are down 30 percent from 2022 and down 9% from 2019 Pedestrian's fatalities are down 32 percent from 2022 and 2019 motor vehicle fatalities are down 47 percent from 2022 and bike hill and severely injury are up 30 percent from 2022 but down 8 percent from 2019 course the whole portfolio looking at those data is also followed by Julia who is also here with us So they're doing great job in that particular area at DOT All severe injuries are up 14 percent from 2022 but down 26 percent from 2019 All injuries are off 6 percent from 2022 but down 20 percent from 2019 When we look go to a slide 3 what we see securing how securing 24 hours peak camera Enforcement was a major victory for the whole city of New York Not only for Mayor Adams and his administration Before the state granted this authorization last year this camera were not allowed to operate when a spirit Speeding was happening on on night and on weekends. We have seen remarkable result from expanding enforcement Since August 2022 the first month of around the clock enforcement the city has seen 40 percent Reduction in a speed violations. We are not telling people not to drive But we're telling people is drive at a speed limit, which is 25 mile per hour Our speed camera safe lives and this that is another reminder that this program is a valuable tool to To change driver behavior and make our street safer We are also working closely with our partners with the MTA to expand automatic enforcement on both lane on a slide for we will see how Traffic safety is not about enforcement. It's also about engineer and let's look at some of the project we completed in 2022 picture in our Bronxdale Avenue road died in the East Bronx over the five years before our project Bronxdale Avenue sold 17 deaths or serious injuries and 179 total injuries We removed a travel lane from the street and added a protected bike lane to calm traffic and support cycling Road died have shown no reduced deaths and serious injuries by 30 30 percent Sorry that and Correcting that the road died like these have shown how reduced deaths and serious injuries Happened by 30 percent big numbers there, too and protected bike lanes have shown to reduce Cyclists injuries raised by 34 percent On the slide see in slide six as I mentioned petition fatality are down 32 percent from 2022 and 2019 we are always working to protect our vulnerable streets and users Seen here is our safety project at the intersection of Broadway Flushing Avenue and Graham Avenue in Boswick Boswick Brooklyn in the five years before this project There were five deaths or a serious injuries at this intersection and 75 total injuries We extended the curve and sidewalk through shorting petitions crossing and provide safer turn for vehicle Curve and sidewalk extension like this has shown how to reduce death and severe injuries Having happening for pedestrian by 45 percent When we go to a slide seven we look forward to many great project and initiative this year This is just a sampling of what we will do in 2023 and we are already on the way Just last weekend I still we may add in to announce the star of our next phase of Broadway vision To add a new plaza and share streets along this iconic Manhattan corridor Rest assured we have exciting project across the whole board Including our plan to deliver a road died and protected by lane on some view Avenue in the bronze And on hillside Avenue in Queens where we plan to install pedestrian island So what we are showing is that when only we are looking at Manhattan. We're looking at the bronze We're looking at Brooklyn. We're looking at Queens. We're looking at a starting Island We're doing everything we have to do to be sure that we make our street safer for everyone especially for pedestrian and cyclists our team in Enclosing our team at DOT is working every day to make our streets safer for everyone who used them I can give you a sample. I had Joshua here who overseeing all the lighting pole that we have in New York City We had three hundred thousand light pole in our street So D.O.T. is the agency that run the larger transportation system in the whole nation And we know that with the support of your honor with the late leadership of deputy mayor a and a banks and many other NYPD We will continue to be sure that 2023 we will see even lowest number of their Oppositions in cycles. Thank you. That was very informative commissioner. I just to thank you It was a lot of information. I know the takeaway for me was when you know, 40% speed valleys and cameras were reduced which means people are Adhering to a degree So, you know, you've heard, you know, our information for this week a lot of good news we're trending in the right directions and a lot of different areas Does it mean it's there doesn't mean we ever get there? You know, but the a is in the effort and I just want to thank my colleagues here very much so and now Derek I turn it over to you Thank you deputy mayor We will now take questions from the media related today's announcements Please use the raise hand function if you would like to ask a question Our first question comes from you have gone in from the city You have your line is unmuted. All right. We'll try to come back to you have our next question comes from Jeffrey Maze From the New York Times. Jeffrey your line is now unmuted Hey, good morning This good afternoon rather this question is for chief madri deputy mayor banks We just won't recently about Madison Square Garden sending private detective To follow a state law enforcement officer I'm wondering if the NYPD has had any such issues as it goes about its investigative work And I'm wondering do you think it's appropriate for a private entity to send a private detective to follow a law enforcement? Agent I'm gonna take that repeat the question. I was not a one-topic question. I Didn't I missed the question. It was sort of with MSG sending a private detective Yeah, MSG send a private detective to follow a state law enforcement officer I'm wondering if the NYPD has had any such issues With that and secondly, do you think it's appropriate for a private business entity to send a private detective to follow a law enforcement agent? You know, you know that that's a question I would need more more data to be able to answer that question when they said they sent a private Investigator to follow a law enforcement I certainly would need much more information other than to answer that particular question there So if you you know, Jeff if you if you get a little more a little more about that Then I can actually attempt to give you a more intelligent answer, but just a question about a private business I don't know who they sent it on I don't I don't the parameters are it's a little bit more difficult to answer that question in that format And if I may I'm not aware of any incident where any private detectives were following Members of the NYPD in regards to anything that's going on in Madison Square garden All right, our next question comes from you have gone in again from the city you have your line is unmuted All right. Thank you very much. Oh This week the administration reached out to New Yorkers asking them to submit questions for the officials that have joined us here today We will now get to as many of those questions as we can with the time that we have left Our first question comes from John in Manhattan This is for the Department of Transportation Asking how is the city addressing commercial vehicles parked overnight on the street? Yeah, and first of all, I also want to say thank you to Ryan Lynch my chief staff also for the great job that he do Leading our agency and as I mentioned the other members of the great team that we have in leadership at DOT You know definitely a having Ryan, you know, I've been added as our chief is that it's a great accent that we have at DOT legal truck is real and trucking is a part of the topic that is very important for me I didn't you know together with the men and women the leadership the chief and that we were there with me you add And in Queens Removing illegal truck that they were parked in residential area So what we will see under this administration is NYPD Leading together with DOT and other agency EDC a plan of how we address a Truck that are in the park in illegal area. I just came from Brooklyn Terminal You know working in that area inside and outside and we know that there's a Three outside in front of the other of the Brooklyn market the truck are not supposed to be parked over there But we are you know Identifying we walk in the neighborhood and we want to be sure that the task force that we have that city hope put it together We'll continue doing all the work that we got to do to address Truck that are parked in illegal residential area. They are no allow and this is a big issue for us Our next question comes from Catherine from Manhattan Who asks what is the city and the NYPD doing to invest in youth sports in the high schools or creating more athletic? Facilities ice rinks hiring more coaches to help keep youth engaged. We wonder if this would help with teen violence Um, I believe it would help with teen teen violence, but that's not really in our purview to you know Open up ice skating rinks and sports facilities. We do work closely with our communities We work closely with our schools We do have youth centers that all offices run programs out of we have our youth center in East New York Right on the corner of Pennsylvania and Liberty Avenue where we do a lot of things with young people Involving academic sports. We have a full-fledged music studio in there. We have a aeronautics program in there So we have a lot of great things in there, but that's just one center We would love to partner up with other people or the donors and possibly open one center in every borough two centers in every borough Where not only can the police work with the youth But other programs can come in and they can do their programs with young people to keep them out off the streets I think that would be a tremendous help in our communities. I just want to add on Catherine I think it's a very you know a very good question um If the question is The more we invest in our youth doesn't have an impact on crime and the answer is yes And you know you just gave an idea and maybe we'll have in the short future We'll have a briefing where we talk about all of the city's efforts How we are investing into uh the youth and then we can hear ideas on what we need to do a little bit more of or differently So but that's not just on the nypd. That's one of the agencies of course But then of course there's the there's the do we there's yss There's just a host of different agencies and uh, we can all bring them together and have a forum or more on that I think it's a good question and uh, I appreciate the uh the question First time that the city has a A the office of sport sport and wellness A Created on the menu add-in. So this is also something that we have I don't think that many city has a office for sport and wellness And this is something that is happening on the menu add-in Our department also has a program that we are also doing now for youth And we started an apprenticeship program that will be going in this summer. So there are lots of pieces Absolutely Our next question comes for judge hinds radix People are defeating red light and speed cameras by they're covering their license plates with plastic or paint What is the city doing to crack down on this? That question may have been Right on topic we we we answer that and and we will we will continue the enforcement that At the city has and we will we are we intend taking all of the legal avenues That to ensure that people are Are complying with the city's laws and just to add on to i mean Our entire presentation was about that and the distance we spoke about amazon But also, you know the chief here in connection in coordination with the sheriff We look at the three one complaints that come out about these vehicles that have these ghost plates and these covers And there's operations that we go out to to illegally tow these vehicles there as well So if you see these plates On your streets call in three one one and we monitor that particular data We'll we'll we'll start sending out resources there to be able to uh to take action against them Next question comes from louis in brooklyn for commissioner rodriguez He asks in light of the drop of fatalities for pedestrians in 2022 What other plans are there in the works to keep new yorkers safe? Well, we oversee All our spit we overpass all the expectation that we have in january 2022 and may you add a nine in november's announce A how we improve safety of 1,600 intersection when our goal was only 1,000 in january 2022 We also did 100 race crosswalk In 2022 we also improved a number of intersections around schools and senior centers So what we have again and under the division led by every tune is that the whole planning team at dot We are taking to a new scale at the level of improvement may you add as increased 400 million dollars to dot So we will have all the resources that we need in order to improve safety Again from the length of equity and this is the different This is what new yorkers is seeing right now that in the past all attention transportation was mainly given to downtown Manhattan downtown brooklyn in long island city What we have seen right now in 2020 we saw in 2022 and we continue seeing 2023 is a more attention as giving Following the data where crashes are happening that we are also using new technology To be sure that we take care of the lighting that we take care of the improvement And also we're going back now to ovany, you know, and I stand that we center of john louis And something that is important for many items which is about improving reducing the level of alcohol That are allowed for someone when they're driving. We don't tell no one again not to drive What we're telling papa not to drink what we are telling people is about if you drink don't drive So what we are looking to accomplish is in a package or safety bills called the road A bill in ovany one is leading a Among this package is about to reduce the numbers of the level of alcohol that someone is allowed to have when they drive From 0.8 to 0.5. We are combining on vision zero Redesigning our street through engineer Education through vision zero and working with the ypd to be sure that all drivers know that we are watching then when it comes to How they're driving our street and enforcement is a condition Thank you Our next question comes for chief madry. This is a question we get quite often with summer coming up What are you going to do about noise problems? We have parties so loud that our windows shake. Where can we report this? Well, of course, you can call 311 to report any complaints as well as speak to your neighborhood coordination officers Well, we have locations that we know about in advance We can send our neighborhood coordination officers to the location We can speak to the representatives the host of the party Ask for some cooperation and just inform them that this is a quality of life issue and it affects many people We have to work in within the parameters of the law When a party's playing an indoor location, we just can't kick in the door if there's no other emergency We have to work within the parameters of the law But we're willing to go out and talk to people and do all that we can And then the places that we can do enforcement We will do enforcement to gain compliance But our first our first option the first thing we want to do is be able to talk to people Just ask for their compliance so everyone can enjoy themselves But our neighbors can sleep as well and we'll be doing that all summer long For Commissioner Rodriguez, Valerie from Manhattan asks, is it possible to make the street lights brighter at night? Or are there other ideas to increase roadway safety at night? Definitely improving safety as I said before is a top priority you know the Light the the light pole that we have in york city is around 300,000 That make it one of the cities that have the larger number So improving lighting will always be something that we are looking we always looking for new technology But I can say that when anyone you know see the command center that we have in long island city You know coordinated by do t NYPD and new york state department transportation All in your condition know that we are always looking for you know How we improve lighting and how we address you know crashes that happen at night I say before the trains Or reckless drivers is the epidemic that is affecting the whole nation All the city they're looking at new york city on what are we doing to reduce as mayors say we are 8.6 million new yorkers But we are 100 million is a different opinion So anyone can come and say at the dot and say these numbers are higher What we are looking on crashes and fatalities about those numbers are the results Or a lot of reckless drivers driving trunk Over speeding especially many of them in the highway So what I would like to encourage people is to see what are we doing at the intersections Book because before vision zero before this administration most crashes are happening at intersection What we saw in 2022 was a reduction many of those crashes were happening at night And yes, we are continuing doing everything we came to reduce or something because one One life that we lost in new york city is too many for this administration Thank you And our final question comes from christin in the bronx She asks I take the a and one train to school in the bronx same as my students When I transfer to the one at 168th street in the morning I often don't see officers. What can be done to increase enforcement to increase enforcement around school hours Uh christian, thank you. I will speak to the command and officer of that respective train district I absolutely want you to see more police officers there. I want the young people to see the police officers there We want a young people We want everyone to get to school safely and get to work safely. So we'll put some extra coverage there. Thank you On behalf of the adams administration, I would like to thank everyone for tuning into today's briefing We look forward to seeing you all at our next one. Have a great day