As the Academic Year Begins, Governor Hochul Makes COVID-19 Tests and Masks Available to Schools to Keep New York Students Safe

State is Surveying School Districts and Boards of Cooperative Educational Services on Test Kits and Masks Needs

Governor Hochul Advises Schools to Follow CDC Guidance Amid Reports of New Variant and Rise in Cases This Summer

 As students return to school this week, Governor Kathy Hochul today announced that New York State is making COVID-19 rapid test kits and masks available to school districts and Boards of Cooperative Educational Services by request. This comes amid reports of the new BA.2.86 variant and following a rise in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations this summer. Governor Hochul is also advising schools to follow CDC guidance to help protect students in the classroom.

“Thanks to the hard work of New York schools, teachers, and parents, we have come a long way to ensure students can safely return to the classroom,” Governor Hochul said. “Frequent testing for COVID-19 is an important part of keeping our kids safe and preventing an outbreak, and I will continue working to ensure our school districts have the resources they need to provide a safe, in-person learning environment for our students.”

This week, the State will conduct outreach to the State Education Department and Boards of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES) to survey needs for test kits and masks. After the requests have been submitted, New York State will deliver the requested tests and N-95 and KN-95 masks to each BOCES for distribution to school districts.

Additionally, Governor Hochul and the New York State Department of Health (DOH) recommend that schools review current CDC school guidance for COVID-19 prevention and work with their local health department to implement effective and feasible public health measures.

New York State Health Commissioner Dr. James McDonald said, “As we start the new school year, and once again see an uptick in COVID-19 across the State, I urge all students, teachers and parents to remember COVID tests are easy to use as well as highly accurate. Also know that COVID is a treatable disease. If you have symptoms, get tested. If you test positive, stay home and stay away from other people, especially those who are vulnerable to serious illness. And, to improve your chances of not having serious illness, speak with a health care provider about treatment. I thank Governor Hochul for working to provide school districts with critical resources to ensure that children have a successful and safe school year."

To prevent the spread of COVID-19, the CDC recommends schools:

• Promote vaccination and testing;
• Encourage students, teachers, and faculty to stay home if they are sick and exhibiting symptoms;
• Optimize ventilation and maintain improvements to indoor air quality to reduce the risk of germs and contaminants spreading through the air; and
• Teach and reinforce proper handwashing and hygiene practices.

Schools that experience outbreaks should work with their local health department for timely outbreak response support. More guidance for schools is available here.

With the new BA.2.86 variant now detected in New York, DOH and the Wadsworth Center will continue monitor the situation and track new variants to help keep New Yorkers safe. As a reminder, an updated COVID-19 vaccine tailored to guard against certain variants is expected to arrive in pharmacies and doctor’s offices this Fall.

All individuals who have symptoms of COVID-19 should immediately get tested. If a test is positive, consult a health care provider about whether treatment is necessary, as it's important to begin treatment, if needed, soon after the onset of symptoms to ensure the utmost effectiveness. Individuals who do not have a regular health care provider can find locations for treatment here. Those with COVID-19 should follow CDC guidance to avoid transmitting it to others, including isolating for 5 days after the onset of symptoms, as well as masking and avoiding contact with those who may be at higher risk of negative outcomes.

At-home tests are available at many local pharmacies statewide, and New York continues to make high-quality N-95 masks and test kits available to state and county officials by request. New Yorkers should contact their respective county health department or local emergency management office for more information.

NYC PUBLIC ADVOCATE RESPONDS TO THE NYPD PROTEST POLICING SETTLEMENT

 

"Throughout the protests in the summer of 2020, and many times since, we were told not to believe what we were seeing on video and experiencing on the ground when it came to overpolicing. Protests against abuse by law enforcement were met with abuse by law enforcement. I thank the Attorney General, as well as The Legal Aid Society and New York Civil Liberties Union, for pushing for crucial accountability. 

"Fortunately, this settlement seems to both acknowledge the reality of the harm done and create a framework for preventing it in the future. Focusing on de-escalation in the moment and clear accountability for misconduct will be essential in ensuring that these patterns of protest policing do not continue. It is also vital that measures are put in place to protect the safety and the freedom of the press of media outlets. Many of the stories that came out of these protests would never have been known without the transparency and accountability that reporters on the ground provide. 

"The reforms in this settlement are key, but only if they are properly implemented and enforced. Moving forward, my office will work to help ensure that the new measures, and the rights of New Yorkers to make their voices heard, are upheld."

MAYOR ADAMS, NYPD ANNOUNCE NEW APPROACH TO HANDLING PROTESTS, RESOLVE LITIGATION STEMMING FROM 2020 BLACK LIVES MATTER PROTESTS

 

New Four-Tiered Approach Allows NYPD to Better Calibrate Response to

Spontaneous Protests, Protect Public Safety and Freedom of Expression

 

Reforms Codified in Agreement Demonstrate City’s Continued

Commitment to Public Safety and First Amendment Rights

 

WATCH: After Lifetime Fighting for Police Reform,

Mayor Adams Issues Video Statement on Black Lives Matter Agreement

New York City Mayor Eric Adams, New York City Corporation Counsel Sylvia Hinds-Radix, and New York City Police Department (NYPD) Commissioner Edward Caban today announced that the NYPD has implemented new practices to better address the unique challenges that arise during spontaneous protests, keep New Yorkers safe, and respect every person’s First Amendment rights to free speech. The new four-tiered approach to handling protests is codified in a legal agreement stemming from lawsuits filed against the City of New York during the Black Lives Matter protests in 2020. The approach lays out clear protocols for engaging with protesters, better training for police officers, and specific guidelines for arrests at each tier.

 

“The right to peaceful protest is a fundamental part of American freedom, and the right to public safety is essential for our city to function — balancing these two important rights is one of this administration’s core missions,” said Mayor Adams. “I spent my career fighting for police reform and accountability, and now as mayor, our administration is committed to improving our policies to keep New Yorkers safe and protect their civil liberties. Today’s agreement, stemming from the Black Lives Matter protests in 2020, sets new protocols and policies in place for the NYPD when responding to spontaneous protests as we ensure that we are both protecting public safety and respecting protesters’ First Amendment rights. This agreement is the result of a collaborative process that seeks to build consensus, balance safety with justice, and protect protesters, bystanders, and law enforcement personnel.”

 

“The rights guaranteed by the First Amendment are what allow the voices of over 8 million New Yorkers to be heard,” said Corporation Counsel Hinds-Radix. “While we acknowledge these rights, there must be a balance between what is a protest and what is breaking the law. In a world where social media sparks spontaneous assembly, we must be prepared to adapt to these changing times. This settlement acknowledges the work the NYPD is committed to doing to ensure that the voices of New Yorkers can be heard in a safe and peaceful manner.”

 

“During the summer of 2020, the frustrations of a global pandemic, a tragic killing, and the use of spontaneous demonstrations throughout the city drew people from all over the country — some with good intentions and some with bad,” said NYPD Commissioner Caban. “This presented many unique challenges for officers, who did their best to protect people’s rights to peaceful expression while addressing acts of lawlessness. Now, the NYPD has re-envisioned its policies for policing protests to deal with these unique scenarios. This agreement represents the department’s commitment to continually improving to ensure the public remains safe and individual rights are protected.”

 

The reforms codified by the agreement — negotiated by the New York City Department of Law, the NYPD, the Office of New York Attorney General Letitia James, the New York Civil Liberties Union, The Legal Aid Society, and more — will allow the NYPD to better calibrate its response based on specific conditions at each demonstration, ensuring it can enforce the law while protecting lawful free expression. The approach combines multiple law enforcement strategies, including the use of more community affairs officers to liaise and de-escalate situations with protesters, the presence of patrol officers to enforce traffic laws and direct crowds, and the deployment of specialized units, including the Strategic Response Group (SRG), as necessary to ensure public safety. The agreement also establishes a collaborative committee that will evaluate the NYPD’s response to 12 protests over the next three years.

 

Tiered Approach to Policing Demonstrations and Protests

 

Each tier defines NYPD protocols and practices for engaging with protesters based on conditions on the ground. The approach allows the NYPD to move progressively from Tier 1 to Tier 4 or begin its strategic response at Tier 3 if necessary.

• Tier 1 is used for a peaceful protest. Under Tier 1, the NYPD will temporarily accommodate peaceful protests passing through the streets or sidewalks. Community affairs officers can liaise with the protesters while the NYPD retains the ability to use patrol officers to enforce traffic laws and direct crowds.
• Tier 2 is used when the NYPD believes that illegal activity may be about to occur or that the protest is going to block critical infrastructure. The NYPD can station additional officers, including the SRG, in the vicinity of the protest in anticipation of the need for law enforcement intervention.
• Tier 3 takes effect once there is probable cause that an individual has committed a crime. The NYPD will deploy enough officers to address the individuals breaking the law. Specialized units, such as the SRG, may be deployed as necessary in this tier.
• Tier 4 commences when the protest must end. It is activated when either (1) protesters are trying to enter or blocking entry to sensitive locations or (2) crimes are so widespread that de-escalation and/or targeted enforcement has not worked or cannot work. In this tier, the only viable option is to end the protest. Before ending the protest, the NYPD must issue dispersal orders to warn the crowd, point out exit points, and identify a location where a protest could continue if feasible.

Three-Year Collaborative Committee to Evaluate Tiered Approach

 

Under the agreement, the NYPD will adopt training procedures for the new tiered approach. After that, a collaborative committee will be formed consisting of attorneys for the plaintiffs (including the Office of the New York Attorney General), as well as the New York City Department of Law, the NYPD, police unions, and the New York City Department of Investigation (DOI), which will serve as chair of the committee.

 

The committee will meet over three years on a regular basis to review the NYPD’s implementation of the terms of the agreement, including the effectiveness of the tiered approach in practice. DOI will review 12 protests — 10 chosen by the plaintiffs and two by the defendants — and file periodic progress reports with the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, where the suits were originally filed. DOI will also issue reports at 18 months and 30 months, as well as a final report at month 36.

New York City Comptroller Lander Delivers Remarks at the New York State Financial Control Board Annual Meeting

 

New York City Comptroller Brad Lander delivered remarks during the New York State Financial Control Board’s annual meeting. Full text of Comptroller Lander’s remarks, as prepared for delivery, is available below.

Remarks as prepared for delivery:

Good afternoon. I’m honored to join Governor Hochul, Mayor Adams, Comptroller DiNapoli, and the other esteemed members of the Financial Control Board, Bill Thompson, Rossana Rosado, and Steve Cohen.   

A lot has changed since last year’s meeting of this board. While the city continues to face meaningful long-term fiscal challenges that we must thoughtfully address, we are now on stronger economic footing to do so. Rumors of New York City’s demise, of a “doom loop,” are greatly exaggerated.  

Private sector employment is back to pre-COVID levels, though job growth remains below the extraordinary trend seen in the decade prior to the pandemic. Overall office occupancy is, of course, at a lower level as a result of the shift to remote and hybrid work. But the number of office-using jobs is at an all-time high, the city’s regional share of them is increasing, and new data indicate that office attendance is recovering better than in most U.S. cities. 

The near-term state of City finances contains meaningful good news as well. Personal income tax revenues are well above 2019 levels, property tax collections in the past fiscal year were up 6.7 percent versus the prior year, and non-property tax collections were up 3.9 percent. Strong pension returns of 8.0 percent for the past fiscal year will enable the City to reduce its contributions by $330 million through FY 2027.  

Still, there are serious fiscal pressures: long-awaited wage increases for the City’s essential workforce, the end of COVID-19 federal stimulus funding, and especially the growing costs of shelter for people seeking asylum without adequate state and especially federal support. Because of these and other factors, we project an FY 2027 budget gap nearing $14 billion. 

We need strong fiscal stewardship to address these gaps. We should transform the City’s Programs to Eliminate the Gap from short-term, ad hoc exercises into a regular feature of our budgeting process, like other elements that we adopted following the Financial Emergency Act that created this board. Such an approach would better identify long-term efficiencies including staff management strategies and attrition planning that prevent overreliance on unsustainable vacancies and overtime, while preserving and strengthening capacity to meet critical needs.  

We continue to urge the adoption of a standardized framework for the City’s rainy-day fund, to protect it from the vicissitudes of the annual budget process. While the City made significant deposits into the City’s long-term reserves in FY 2022, no deposits were made in FY 2023 – nor was progress made towards establishing deposit and withdrawal rules.  

We also continue to support state legislation to make the General Debt Service Fund a permanent feature of the City’s financial and budgetary system, like so many of the other important features of the Financial Emergency Act.  

Additionally, we continue to advocate for stronger City systems to track grant revenues and expenses, modernize our payroll operations, and hold City agencies accountable for claim settlement payouts, which cost the City $1.5 billion in FY 2022.  

More broadly, we urge an approach that emphasizes competent, compassionate, and coordinated government in rising to the challenges we face.   

We should apply this framework to the dramatic increase of people seeking asylum. The issue is not the arrival of people here – immigrants have long been a driver of New York’s economic growth, and I believe they will continue to be. However, providing so many of them with shelter is operationally demanding and very expensive, likely to cost over $4 billion this fiscal year. This challenge is the intersection of the federal obligation to provide safe haven for those seeking asylum with the obligation, grounded in the New York State Constitution albeit specified through a City-level consent decree, to provide shelter. So we must work more ambitiously, together, across all three levels of government, to rise to it.     

Recently, both the City and the State have begun to resource efforts to help people apply for asylum before they hit their one year deadline, and then help them obtain work authorization six months later. While we should certainly continue to pressure the federal government to eliminate the waiting period and provide vastly more funding support for shelter and services, we cannot wait to significantly scale up legal assistance in order to help as many people as possible to file before they hit their one year deadline to apply. This is the fastest path within our power to help new arrivals get on their feet and reduce the shelter census and City costs.   

The crisis of affordability, especially housing affordability, facing working families in New York is one of the biggest risks facing the city’s economy. We need an ambitious deal to expand housing supply across all incomes, as both the Governor and the Mayor have admirably advocated, while simultaneously protecting vulnerable tenants from eviction without good cause. Part of this deal should be a new multifamily tax framework like the one our office has put forward, that replaces 421a with something far less wasteful that better enables development while focusing subsidies on truly affordable housing. At the City level, we need to revive HPD’s capacity to get housing deals moving and launch a modern-day version of the Mitchell-Lama program to provide permanently affordable cooperative homeownership opportunities to working class families currently being priced out of the city. 

Meeting our expansive transportation and infrastructure needs will also require partnership, as the recent passing of Dick Ravitch reminds us. Congestion pricing is a smart approach both to addressing congestion and raising revenue for the long-term investments we need; I laud the Governor for supporting it, despite the noise from across the Hudson. To get more out of federal infrastructure funds, I urge the State to adopt performance standards that ensure projects meet our state-of-good-repair, climate, and street safety goals. And while we’ve made some progress in improving capital projects management, with 5 of 9 bills passed by the State Legislature, the most impactful bills were not passed this year, and substantial work remains at both the city and state level to make sure we get the most out of every dollar.    

Finally, as the Governor and Mayor’s “New” New York Panel argued last year, securing our economic future through inclusive growth that builds on New York’s strengths as a place of density, diversity, and creativity will require new investments in child care, mental health, transit, the public realm, and climate readiness. Even with the approach to savings and efficiencies I’ve outlined, these new investments will require new revenues. These revenues should be both progressive and effective, coming from high-income residents and the owners of high-value real-estate, without further burdening low-income or middle-income New Yorkers.  

I hope together we can use this moment to turn our shared priorities into policies that enable a thriving and equitable New York City for decades to come. Thank you.  

Attorney General James, The Legal Aid Society, and NYCLU Announce Agreement with NYPD to Reform Policing of Protests

 

NYPD Required to Change its Response to Protests in New York City, Stop ‘Kettling’ and Other Excessive Use of Force Practices, and Improve Treatment of Members of the Press

Settlement Resolves AG, Legal Aid, NYCLU, and Private Lawsuits Against NYPD for its Response to 2020 Racial Justice Protests

New York Attorney General Letitia James, The Legal Aid Society (LAS), and the New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) today announced a landmark agreement with the New York City Police Department (NYPD) that significantly reforms NYPD’s policing of protests to protect the public and members of the press from excessive use of force. Today’s agreement resolves lawsuits filed by Attorney General James, LAS, NYCLU, and other private plaintiffs over NYPD’s wrongful arrests and excessive use of force against protesters during the summer of 2020. As a result of today’s agreement, NYPD will be required to change how it deploys officers to public demonstrations to allow New Yorkers to exercise their First Amendment rights free from intimidation or violence. 

The centerpiece of the reforms is a new, four-tiered response system that will dictate how NYPD responds to protests, with the primary goal of protecting the rights of protesters. The tiered system will minimize police presence at protests and require NYPD to use de-escalation methods before increasing its response. The system allows for increased NYPD presence and response if protests block major traffic arteries, if protesters engage in unlawful conduct, or in other instances that could compromise public safety.

Additionally, the agreement requires NYPD to create a new, senior role within the department to oversee response to all public demonstrations. The agreement will also require NYPD to stop its use of the crowd-control tactic known as “kettling,” amend its internal discipline matrix, and improve treatment of members of the press. 

To ensure accountability, a new collaborative oversight committee will review NYPD’s response to public demonstrations over a multi-year period. The agreement requires New York City to provide $1.625 million in funding to the New York City Department of Investigation (DOI) and $1.45 million to support plaintiffs’ work during the oversight committee process.

“The right to peacefully assemble and protest is sacrosanct and foundational to our democracy. Too often peaceful protesters have been met with force that has harmed innocent New Yorkers simply trying to exercise their rights,” said Attorney General James. “Today’s agreement will meaningfully change how the NYPD engages with and responds to public demonstrations in New York City. As the Attorney General, it is my duty to protect New Yorkers’ rights and this agreement will ensure that peaceful protesters can make their voices heard without fear, intimidation, or harm.”

“Today's settlement represents a novel approach to policing protests that, if implemented faithfully by the NYPD, will ensure that protesters are never again met with the sort of indiscriminate violence and retaliatory over-policing New York saw in the summer of 2020,” said Corey Stoughton, attorney-in-charge of the Criminal Defense Practice’s Special Litigation Unit at The Legal Aid Society. “We look forward to seeing these reforms unfold and will hold both the City and the NYPD accountable should the Department and individual officers fail to adhere to these new and needed practices.”

“This landmark settlement holds the NYPD, the nation’s largest and most influential police force, to its oath to protect New Yorkers’ right to protest,” said Molly Biklen, deputy legal director of the New York Civil Liberties Union. “The NYPD’s violent response to protestors during the 2020 demonstrations for Black lives made clear to the world what too many New Yorkers already knew, that the NYPD is unable or unwilling to police itself. Today’s settlement ensures the NYPD can no longer indiscriminately deploy the notorious Strategic Response Group to protests and no longer escalate force on a whim.” 

In 2020, Attorney General James held a three-day public hearing on NYPD’s response to public protests and later released a preliminary report on the findings from the hearing. In 2021, Attorney General James filed a lawsuit against NYPD for its pattern of using excessive force and making false arrests against New Yorkers during peaceful protests. In October 2020, LAS and NYCLU also sued New York City and NYPD for its excessive use of force during protests in 2020 over the unjust killing of George Floyd. Two private lawsuits, Rolon v. City of New York and Gray v. City of New York, were also filed against NYPD for its excessive use of force against private citizens and members of the press respectively. Today’s agreement resolves those lawsuits and requires NYPD to make a series of reforms to how it responds to and interacts with public demonstrations. 

Overview of Reforms

Creation of a New Senior Executive Role to Oversee NYPD Response 

As part of today’s agreement, NYPD must create a new senior-level role within the department to oversee all protest-related activities. The new First Amendment Activity (FAA) Senior Executive, who will have the rank of at least Deputy Chief, will be responsible for overseeing and developing all policies, procedures, and police officer trainings consistent with this agreement. In addition, the FAA Senior Executive will be responsible for leading the department’s response to all New York City protests and must lead after-action reports, a new requirement that will document how NYPD responded to a public demonstration, who was the incident commander deployed to the demonstration, and why certain decisions were taken. 

Tiered Response

Using a new tiered response system, New York City protests will have varied levels of police presence depending on the size, scale, and conditions at a protest. The NYPD’s default response to a protest cannot be a large deployment of officers. At each tier, deployed officers have an obligation to attempt de-escalation techniques with the goal of facilitating the First Amendment rights of protesters.

Tier One

In Tier One, NYPD may deploy specially qualified protest liaisons from NYPD’s Community Affairs Bureau whose primary role is to communicate with protesters and help facilitate the protest. The protest liaisons will receive training on effective communication with protestors, de-escalation, and crowd psychology. 

In this tier and in all the tiers, NYPD may deploy patrol officers to reroute vehicle or pedestrian traffic to help facilitate the protest. These patrol officers cannot be drawn from NYPD Strategic Response Group (SRG) and shall not carry equipment associated exclusively with those units.

Tier Two

The NYPD may move to Tier Two if the commander in charge of the protest, in consultation with the FAA Senior Executive, believes that certain criminal activity, such as burglary, larceny, or assault are imminent but have not yet occurred or there is a serious risk that the crowd size would obstruct critical infrastructure. In Tier Two, NYPD will dispatch protest liaisons to the protest and may station additional officers nearby but out of sight of the protest. If dynamics at the protest change, NYPD may move back to Tier One as determined by the commander in charge and the FAA Senior Executive.

Tier Three

The NYPD may move to Tier Three if there is individualized probable cause for arrest. For certain lower-level offenses, arrests can only be authorized by more senior officers holding at least the rank of Captain. In this tier, the NYPD may deploy an appropriate number of officers to address the specific individuals engaged in unlawful conduct. The Incident Commander must authorize the implementation of Tier Three and may authorize return to Tier One or Two if the conditions at the protest have changed. 

Tier Four

The NYPD may move to Tier Four if protesters are seeking to gain unauthorized entry, or physically blocking others’ entry into a sensitive location, such as a hospital, or individuals are engaged in widespread criminal conduct that cannot be addressed by targeted arrests. In this tier, the Incident Commander may move to disperse the protest if approved and directed by the FAA Senior Executive. Dispersal orders must be audible to the entire crowd, clearly identify exit points, and whenever possible, direct protesters to where they may continue to lawfully protest. The NYPD must document the specific basis for the decision to disperse a protest. 

Use of Force

Today’s agreement requires NYPD to change its practices around encirclement of protesters to protect New Yorkers from unjustified arrests and excessive use of force. The NYPD can only encircle an individual or individuals within a crowd who are the target of a particular arrest. If any other individuals are inadvertently or mistakenly encircled, they must be allowed to exit the encirclement formation immediately, and officers must help facilitate those individuals' exit. The agreement makes clear that NYPD cannot engage in “kettling,” the practice of enclosing individuals with an intent to take police action against them without having individualized probable cause.

In addition, NYPD, including its Aviation Unit, cannot deploy helicopters with the intent of intimidation or the intent of disrupting, interfering with, or dispersing a lawful protest.

In the event that NYPD must establish a Mass Arrest Processing Center (MAPC), the new FAA Senior Executive or their designee must authorize its establishment. The agreement requires the NYPD to ensure MAPC’s location and contact information are readily available to the public via the NYPD’s social media accounts. In addition, the NYPD must provide all people held at the MAPC clean water, food (if held for more than two hours), personal protective equipment (PPE), prompt access to telephones, adequate medical care, and restrooms.  

Treatment of Members of the Press

As a result of today’s agreement, the NYPD must improve its treatment of members of the press and improve reporters’ access to a protest to be able to record and report. The NYPD must update its trainings and Administrative Guide to explicitly acknowledge that there is a clearly established right under the First Amendment to record police activity in public. 

The agreement states that NYPD officers cannot prohibit or restrict the press’s right to observe and record a protest, including by putting up crime scene tape for the sole purpose of preventing members of the press from viewing the scene. The NYPD also cannot arrest a member of the press or public solely for observing or recording police activity in a public place. If there is an order by the NYPD to leave an area, press pass holders are not required to leave the area but can move to a safe location.

To ensure that NYPD is effectively complying with these terms, NYPD agrees to participate in meetings at least twice per year to discuss any problems related to the press and newsgathering activities, and to allow representatives of the press to make any recommendations with respect to related policies and practices.

Oversight

An oversight committee comprised of the Office of the Attorney General (OAG), the Commissioner of DOI, New York City Office of Corporation Counsel, the new FAA Senior Executive, and two representatives from LAS, NYCLU, and the private cases will oversee and monitor NYPD’s implementation and compliance with the new reforms over a multi-year period.  

In phase one, NYPD must begin changing its trainings and policies to comply with the terms of the agreement, including the four-tiered response system, arrest policies, use of force at public demonstrations, and treatment of members of the press. 

Starting in phase two of the oversight period, the committee will meet regularly to review and evaluate NYPD’s response to protests. Every six months, DOI will conduct an in-depth review of two protests and make recommendations to NYPD. In addition, DOI must also publicly issue two progress reports summarizing their review of the NYPD’s response to protests. As part of today’s agreement, New York City will provide $1.625 million in funding to DOI to hire additional full-time DOI staff to fulfill its role on the oversight committee. New York City will also provide $1.45 million to plaintiffs’ attorneys on the oversight committee to conduct their work, including the hiring of a community outreach expert who will be responsible for engaging affected communities, including grassroots organizations, legal organizations, press organizations and legal observers, and ensuring that community input is incorporated.

In phase three of the oversight period, the court will retain jurisdiction over the agreement for an additional 12 months, and if at any time during phase three the NYPD violates the terms of the agreement, OAG or the other plaintiffs may take action to bring the matter back to court. 

Bronx Man Charged With Shooting Outside Of Deli

 

Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Edward A. Caban, the Commissioner of the New York City Police Department (“NYPD”), announced the unsealing of a Complaint charging CHRISTOPHER SCOTT with firing a shot at a victim on a commercial street in the Bronx on August 6, 2023.  SCOTT will be presented this afternoon before U.S. Magistrate Judge Valerie Figueredo   

U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said: “As alleged, Christopher Scott conducted a targeted shooting of an individual on a summer night outside of a deli near the Pelham Parkway Houses in the Bronx.  Thanks to the swift action of our law enforcement partners and the prosecutors of this Office, Scott is now facing justice for his alleged violent actions.”

NYPD Commissioner Edward A. Caban said: “The firing of a gun on a public street will never be accepted as a way of life in New York City.  Such a grave act of violence demands accountability.  I commend the work of our brave NYPD officers who go in harm’s way, removing illegal guns, and those who pull the trigger, from our communities.  I am also grateful for our close alignment with the Office of the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York as we work together to build strong cases and hold the most violent offenders accountable.”

According to the allegations in the Complaint:[1]

On August 6, 2023, shortly before 10:30 p.m., SCOTT fired a gunshot at an individual (“Victim-1”) near Williamsbridge Road in the Bronx.  

Surveillance video captured SCOTT approaching Victim-1, brandishing a firearm, and firing a shot at Victim-1, then following Victim-1 inside a nearby building.  A still image from the surveillance footage with SCOTT circled in red is below:

Within minutes after SCOTT fired the shot at Victim-1, and shortly after SCOTT appears to have hidden the firearm used in the shooting under the wheel of a nearby vehicle, NYPD officers arrived at the scene of the shooting, and SCOTT proceeded to interact with the NYPD officers. 

After the NYPD officers left the scene of the shooting, one of SCOTT’s associates appears to have retrieved the firearm used in the shooting for SCOTT, and then SCOTT and that associate drove away from the location of the shooting in a grey SUV.  

Upon canvassing the scene of the shooting, NYPD officers recovered a shell casing.  

On August 14, 2023, shortly before 10:30 p.m., SCOTT was arrested in connection with the above-mentioned shooting.  Around the time of his arrest, SCOTT was seen driving the same grey SUV he drove on the night of the shooting.  During an inventory search of that SUV, a Springfield Armory model XDS-9 MOD2 OSP 3.3 9mm caliber semi-automatic pistol (the “Firearm”) with eight live rounds of ammunition in the magazine and one live round in the chamber was recovered under the driver’s seat of the vehicle. 

The National Integrated Ballistic Information Network of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives found a preliminary correlation between the shell casing recovered at the scene of the shooting and the Firearm, indicating that the firearm that was used in the shooting was the same firearm found under the driver’s seat of SCOTT’s SUV.   

SCOTT was not permitted to possess ammunition or a firearm because of a prior felony conviction for attempted criminal possession of a weapon. 

SCOTT, 26, of the Bronx, New York, is charged with one count of possession of ammunition after a felony conviction and one count of possession of a firearm after a felony conviction, which each carry a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison.

The maximum potential sentences are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendant will be determined by a judge. 

Mr. Williams praised the outstanding investigative work of the NYPD.  Mr. Williams also thanked the Bronx County District Attorney’s Office for their assistance in this case.

This case is being handled by the Office’s General Crimes Unit.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Meredith C. Foster is in charge of the prosecution.

The charges contained in the Complaint are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

[1] As the introductory phrase signifies, the entirety of the text of the Complaint and the description of the Complaint set forth below constitute only allegations, and every fact described should be treated as an allegation.

Governor Hochul Greets Students on the First Day of School

 

Earlier today, Governor Kathy Hochul greeted students on the first day of school at Washington Irving School in Tarrytown alongside Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins and County Executive George Latimer. 

Governor Hochul's school visit was part of the first day of school in the 2023-2024 school year, a year where schools statewide are set to receive $34.5 billion from the FY 2024 Budget, including full funding of the Foundation Aid formula for the first time in history. In addition to greeting students, Governor Hochul also met with school mental health professionals to discuss the youth mental health crisis and the State's $1 billion mental health plan. 

Good morning. Kathy Hochul here with Majority Leader, Andrea Stewart-Cousins and County Executive, George Latimer. And where we are today is the first day of school, welcoming children here at the Washington Irving Elementary School in Tarrytown.

And I had a chance to talk to teachers and see the kids in the cafeteria. Also important to all of us was to have a conversation with the mental health professionals, the school psychologists, and those who are on the front lines of dealing with what we understand to still be as pandemic learning loss and how we overcome some of the challenges that our children are still facing in the aftermath of having two years of a disruptive life during COVID. So, we heard firsthand about how our resources, the $1 billion that we worked with the legislature to deliver, is being implemented, how that's trickling down into school districts.

And just a week ago, we announced $108 million that is dedicated to help schools all over the state to address this situation and how we can help our kids have a healthy experience while they're in school and to, again, acknowledge there is pandemic learning loss.

We have money on the table to support it as well as our record investment in education, $34.5 billion, as well as all kinds of support for our schools. It's critically important to us, and that's why we're here today – to welcome students back, thank our teachers, thank our principals, thank our school superintendents and our leaders who are so invested in making sure our kids have the best shot in life.

The Bronx Chamber of Commerce - 2023 Gala - The Bronx is Building

  

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