➤ BOTTCHER, from p.9
into market rate rentals.
“We stopped that hemorrhaging”
of rent-stabilized units, Bottcher
said, “and have given tenants
housing security for fi rst time in
decades by removing the impetus
for tenant harassment.”
Mental health also came to the
fore when Bottcher discussed police
reform issues. With George Floyd’s
killing last spring at the hands of
Minneapolis police bringing criminal
justice practices and funding to
the center of public debate nationwide
and in this summer’s diffi cult
city budget process, Bottcher said
some functions currently carried
out by police — especially when
dealing with behavior occasioned
by mental health issues — must
“immediately” be shifted into the
hands of civilian agencies equipped
to resolve them peacefully. He
mentioned the fears a couple he is
friendly with have that their adult
son with autism could face danger
if his behavior were misconstrued
in an encounter with police.
He also emphasized that reform
of regulations and policies are not
worth the paper they’re written on
unless there is a follow-through in
practice. Asked about a 2018 arrest
of a Black transgender woman
in the Bronx for “personation”
in presenting identifi cation police
considered fraudulent — a case
recently resolved with the NYPD
committing to better enforce patrol
guide regulations for dealing
with the trans community adopted
six years before — Bottcher, who
worked on shaping those regulations,
said the ultimate responsibility
for such a shortfall lies with
the police commissioner.
He noted that a similar gap between
policy reform and implementation
hindered the rollout of
school anti-bullying policies that
he worked on while in Speaker
Quinn’s offi ce. During the fi rst few
years after their adoption under
Mayor Michael Bloomberg, many
schools simply failed to post information
about teachers and other
school offi cials to whom LGBTQ
and other bullied youth could
turn. The hiring of an LGBTQ liaison,
Jared Fox, at the Department
of Education changed that, with
nearly every school Bottcher has
recently visited complying. But it
took the Council and the effort of
Erik Bottcher (right) at the LGBT Community Center’s 2016 Garden Party with former State Senator Tom
Duane, who was the fi rst of three consecutive out gay or lesbian councilmembers representing District
Three since the Council was expanded and reconfi gured in 1991.
out Queens Councilmember Daniel
Dromm, when he led the Education
Committee, to fund the liaison
post.
Bottcher also singled out
Dromm, who is now Finance Committee
chair, for his success in securing
almost $2 million annually
for a Trans Equity Fund that provides
dollars for programs on the
ground to give transgender and
gender-nonconforming New Yorkers
skills training. Continuing that
commitment, he said, will depend
on electing new LGBTQ members
to a Council whose entire current
queer roster is term-limited.
“Representation matters,” Bottcher
noted. “You need people in
the room able to speak from lived
experience.”
Addressing the epidemic of lethal
violence against transgender
people, especially trans women of
color, Bottcher said such attacks
must be “condemned loudly and
universally” by all communities, a
challenge made harder when “unfortunately
in this country the opposite
message is coming from the
right — that is acceptable to attack
transgender people.”
DONNA ACETO
The “vicious discrimination”
facing too many trans people, he
said, has made sex work “survival
work” for many. As a result, Bottcher
said, he favors full decriminalization
of sex work involving
consenting adults, the one point
on which he offered a different view
than Speaker Johnson, who supports
a more limited reform that
ends criminal penalties for sex
workers but not for their clients.
Advocates for sex workers argue
that only full decriminalization
will provide them with the ability
to control their work conditions
and avoid violence, while others
— including longtime feminists
from Gloria Steinem to Manhattan
State Senator Liz Krueger — say
full decriminalization undermines
the fi ght against sex traffi ckers.
Bottcher said his view is informed
by “best practices,” but made clear
that guardrails against traffi ckers
must be part of any reform.
Asked about the city’s success in
combatting homelessness among
LGBTQ youth, Bottcher lauded
both de Blasio and the Council for
increasing the availability of safe
shelter not only for those under 21
but also for the young adult population
as they age out of youth facilities.
The challenge, he said, is to
make sure that there is suffi cient
job and life skills training support
to ensure that youth shelters do
not become the start of a “pipeline
to adult shelters.”
He also acknowledged the success
SAGE, supported by public
dollars, has achieved in opening
up LGBTQ-affi rming senior housing
facilities, but noted that the
COVID crisis — which left many
elder New Yorkers alone, often with
limited access to online resources
— has highlighted the risks of
isolation among the city’s senior
population.
The pattern of COVID infection
and mortality, of course, also put
into stark relief the racial and socioeconomic
disparities in the city’s
healthcare system.
“Advocates have been telling us
for a long time that the healthcare
system is vulnerable to mass casualty
events,” said Bottcher, who recounted
harrowing stories of families
unable to have their deceased
loved ones cremated in timely fashion
and of an elderly couple who
faced days-long hurdles in removing
the body of their home healthcare
worker who died of COVID in
their apartment.
“There are lessons we need to
learn from all this,” he emphasized.
At the same time, looking forward
to the post-COVID era,
Bottcher showed off an upbeat,
optimistic side that exists hand-inhand
with his acute appreciation
for the yawning challenges facing
New York.
“The city has to get itself put
back together so our economy is
working,” he said. “People need to
know that New York City is back
in business, that we have a 24-
hour subway, theaters, and restaurants.”
Then, noting that District Three,
with dozens of Broadway theaters
as well as Off-Broadway houses,
dance spaces, and more, represents
the largest concentration
of cultural offerings in the world,
Bottcher added, “I think people
will come rushing back. People will
be able to fi nd affordable apartments.
People are going to want to
dance, and hug, and go to shows,
and shop. It could be a very exciting
time for the city.”
GayCityNews.com | JANUARY 28 - FEBRUARY 10, 2021 9
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