COURIER L 12 IFE, AUGUST 21-27, 2020
CHECKIN’ IN WITH:
Assemblywoman
Nicole Malliotakis
BY MEAGHAN MCGOLDRICK
Nicole Malliotakis is a member of
the New York State Assembly currently
serving the Brooklyn neighborhood of
Bay Ridge, as well as
a portion of the East
Shore of Staten Island.
To celebrate the relaunch
of the Bay
Ridge Courier, we’re
“checkin’ in” with each
of the area’s representatives
to discuss a
topic of their choosing.
This week, we caught
up with Malliotakis
about quality-of-life issues
in her district and
the importance of public
safety.
Brooklyn Paper:
Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis.
Nicole Malliotakis’ offi ce
Why is public safety an issue of
concern for you as a legislator?
Nicole Malliotakis: When I ran
for mayor in 2017, I had warned that
some of the polices that were being put
in place by the city were going to lead
to a deterioration in our quality-of-life
and an increase in crime and make us
less safe. First, starting with Mayor
Bill de Blasio doing away with broken
windows theory, he started decriminalizing
quality-of-life crimes. Then it
all got compounded when the state legislature
fl ipped Democrat in 2018 and
they pushed through a botched bail reform
law. Now, shootings are up citywide.
Murder, burglary, grand larceny
auto — it’s all up citywide year-to-date.
I think we’re at that point where we
need to make a drastic change in the
management of this city and in the
representation of it or things are just
going to continue to spiral.
BP: How have you worked to
make the city safer as a legislator?
NM: For me, as a state legislator,
my biggest priority this past year has
been getting some fi xes to the broken
bail reform law the Democrats passed
last year. The governor jammed it
through and it passed with one-party
rule so, even though the Democrats
were saying that it was just eliminating
pretrial detention and cash bail
for non-violent crimes, that wasn’t
true. When it was fi rst passed, it also
included crimes like manslaughter,
drunk driving, stalking, assault of a
child, hate crimes — the list goes on.
We fought very hard and we did get all
of those violent crimes — minus robbery
and burglary — added onto the
list of crimes for which a judge can use
their discretion and set bail.
We were also able to implement
a one-chance stipulation, meaning, if
you are released under this bail reform
law, and you commit another crime,
then you can be held without bail.
BP: What else
would you like to
see done, legislatively,
to bring
down crime citywide?
NM: For starters,
I think we need to
add crimes like robbery
and burglary
to the list of crimes
where bail can be
set. Even Republicans
agree that some
changes to the antiquated
bail system
were needed, but
what they did was
completely dismantle our criminal
justice system and it made city streets
more dangerous. I also think, instead
of closing Rikers Island we should be
using the funds the mayor wants to put
aside for the fi ve-borough jail plan to
retrofi t the buildings and make them
more safe and humane for inmates and
offi cers, and we need to have consequences
for quality-of-life crimes, even
as low-level as public urination.
BP: Are there any community
resources you think the city can
further invest in to help combat the
recent uptick in crime?
NM: The city is spending more
money than ever — this mayor has
somehow managed to increase spending,
and he’s putting more money into
combatting homelessness and the
failed Thrive NYC program, and we’re
not seeing results. One of the things
I’ve always advocated for is, if something
isn’t working, you put that energy
somewhere else — or towards a
different program — that is working.
You have to have metrics. I think that
those issues need to be looked at because,
a lot of the time, these people
who are committing crime need help
— but they’re not getting it.
I also think there are excellent programs
that the city can work to fund.
For example, there’s a great children’s
boxing program called the NYPD Cops
& Kids Boxing Program. It is run by
cops who take at-risk youth and give
them a positive way to channel their energy.
The program helps them set goals
and achieve those goals and really focus
on something productive. Stuff like that
is what I’d rather see money going to.
This conversation has been edited
for brevity. For the full interview, visit
BrooklynPaper.com.
/BrooklynPaper.com