NYC Council Members Push For NYPD Cuts Amid George Floyd Protests

BROOKLYN, NEW YORK — Protesters' cries of "defund the NYPD" are being echoed by some New York City Council members.

Councilman Brad Lander, who represents Park Slope, pledged to push for NYPD cuts as the city grapples with a looming $9 billion budget hole because of the new coronavirus.

Ongoing protests over the killing of George Floyd and black New Yorkers' experiences with abusive policing call for a different approach to public safety, Lander wrote in an email to his constituents.

New York City’s budget cuts must be shared by the NYPD, he wrote.

"I won’t vote for a budget that does not meaningfully cut the NYPD," he wrote.

Councilman Daniel Dromm, who represents Jackson Heights and Elmhurst, chairs the council's finance committee. He has pushed for NYPD budget cuts and has turned his Twitter into a near-constant stream of NYPD abuses during the George Floyd protests.

When NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea said he was "extremely proud" of how officers handled themselves amid the protests, Dromm's response was short: "Do you believe this s---?"

Lander noted Mayor Bill de Blasio's proposed, coronavirus-related budget cuts will defund 100 percent of summer youth jobs, take more than $640 million from the Department of Education and schools, slash 40 percent of affordable housing's capital budget and cut 45 percent of the Department of Youth and Community Development.

The NYPD's cuts in de Blasio's proposed budget? $23 million, less than 1 percent of their budget, Lander wrote.

The push for NYPD budget cuts is also shared by hundreds of de Blasio administration staffers who signed an open letter to their boss on Wednesday, first reported by the New York Daily News.

"We saw how, while crime rates are at record lows, the Administration has continued to pour money into the NYPD budget—which is now almost $1 billion larger than when de Blasio took office—heightening the over-policing of Black and brown communities," they wrote.

They demanded "radical change" starting with a $1 billion budget cut to the NYPD and reallocating that money toward social services.