Just over a week into Mayor Zohran Mamdani\u2019s tenure, city lawmakers are poised to take the first steps in implementing his dramatic plan to revamp how the city responds to mental health emergencies.<\/p>\n
Mamdani has vowed to outsource many 911 calls, which are typically handled by the NYPD, to employees of a yet-to-be created Department of Community Safety.<\/p>\n
The plan was a central part of his campaign agenda. He outlined it in a 17-page public safety memo on the campaign trail last year, arguing that it would allow clinicians to deal with mental health emergencies while freeing up police officers to focus on more serious crimes. Critics have said it could put unarmed workers at risk and questioned if it would significantly reduce the workload for NYPD officers.<\/p>\n
Dora Pekec, a spokesperson for Mamdani, said the mayor is hopeful the council bill will pass, and “will pursue every legal avenue” to create the new department.<\/p>\n
The first step toward creating the agency will likely be in the City Council. Councilmember Lincoln Restler, who represents Williamsburg and other North Brooklyn neighborhoods, said he plans to move forward this month with a bill that would create the department. Restler and more than two dozen other lawmakers initially introduced the bill in December, but he said he\u2019ll have to do so again because a new Council has been sworn in.<\/p>\n
From there, the Council will likely call a hearing to hear testimony from experts, everyday New Yorkers and others about their view of the legislation, Restler said. Soon after, he hopes to bring it up for a vote before the entire Council, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m optimistic that we\u2019ll have even more support in this new City Council to move the bill forward,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
How will it work?<\/b><\/p>\n
The current version of the three-page bill<\/a> establishes a Department of Community Safety and allows the mayor to appoint a commissioner to lead the agency.<\/p>\n