NYC Will Dispatch 1K More 'Social Distancing Ambassadors': Mayor

NEW YORK, NEW YORK — The "big story" about New Yorkers and social distancing is that they largely abide by guidelines to stop the new coronavirus' spread, Mayor Bill de Blasio said Sunday.

But judging by the headlines — including at Patch — many city officials and residents don't see a success story. They see NYPD officers violently arresting people of color for social distancing violations while chummily handing out masks to white park goers.

De Blasio on Sunday announced an expanded effort to spread the word about social distancing, even as he asked people to look at the "positive" news that New Yorkers overwhelmingly follow the rules.

NYPD officers have issued fewer than 10 summonses a day over social distancing, he said.

"That being said, the last thing we want to see is enforcement if there's any other way to get the job done," he said.

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The city will increase its civilian "social distancing ambassadors" from 1,000 to 2,300 by next weekend, de Blasio said. He said these city employees will hand out face coverings and remind people of social distancing rules.

Enforcement is a last resort, he said.

"More and more the emphasis will be on a communicative encouraging approach through these social distancing ambassadors," he said.

"Communicative" and "encouraging" likely aren't words most people would use to describe NYPD officers' approach in a spate of viral videos showing harsh social distancing enforcement. De Blasio himself called one video depicting a Lower East Side arrest "troubling."

Police in that video and others from Brooklyn also engage in expletive-laden, aggressive confrontations with onlookers.

Outcry over the videos grew after NYPD released data on social distancing summonses. They showed a relatively small number of violations — 374 — but also that 80 percent of those went toward black and brown people. Brooklyn officials also revealed only one white person counted among 40 social distancing arrests in the borough.

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