WWW.QNS.COM RIDGEWOOD TIMES FEBRUARY 3, 2022 13
How Mayor Adams’ public safety success will defi ne his legacy
BY GEORGE ONUORAH
Mayor Eric Adams, who
assumed office on New
Year Eve, Jan. 1, 2022, was
anointed mayor following a very
contentious election battle running
as a centrist. He promised to keep
New Yorkers safer, a daunting task
even for a former NYPD captain.
The surging omicron variant put
a damper on Adams’ historic inauguration
as the city’s second African
American mayor. Still, history will
chronicle Adams as the 110th mayor
of the greatest city that is home to the
United Nations.
New York City is facing a big challenge
with crime that will put Adams
— a former police offi cer — to the test.
He won his race on the promise that
“Public safety is the prerequisite to
prosperity.” Other equally pressing
issues — the COVID-19 pandemic,
homelessness, housing and rebooting
the economy decimated by the
pandemic — are on his radar.
This newly minted mayor clearly
understood what it will take to surmount
the threat to public safety in
our city, and return to normalcy aft er
more than two years of hardship and
deaths, with COVID having eviscerated
and paralyzed the economy.
Clearly, this pandemic upended life
with families and essential workers
paying a heft y price as many lost
loved ones.
Thankfully, Mayor Adams has
the support of leaders including
President Biden, who is due in New
York City this week to show Democratic
solidarity at a crucial time, as
crime is becoming an impediment to
advancing the party agenda across
the United States. Without safer cities
where families can walk the street
without danger of assault, robbery
and even death, our democracy fi nds
itself at a bad intersection and abyss.
Mayor Adams’ predecessor, Bill de
Blasio, a die-hard progressive, should
join hands to assuage centrists bothered
by his support about defunding
police. Like every other leader before
him, a better legacy remains ideal.
Additionally, no meaningful public
safety discussion should ignore
homelessness and its connection with
mental illness. Presently in New York
City, there are about 48,723 homeless
people, consisting of 10,362 families
and 15,346 children. One should not
ignore the challenges they face and
the stress they go through; plus, it’s
a public safety issue.
Since the advent of this pandemic,
the subway has become a rendezvous
for the homeless, lodging on the
subway cars and inconveniencing
OP-ED
straphangers. Before people wore
face masks, at times, the emanating
odors could leave a whole subway
car abandoned because the pungent
smell can be unbearable. The ones
that are mentally ill and not on medication
oft en create havoc and engage
in aggressive panhandling. Some
who perhaps have mental and emotional
challenges remain a menace,
leading to concerned advocates calling
for promulgation of new mental
hygiene laws or strengthening of the
existing Kendra’s Law of November
1999 (Kendra Webdale was pushed
into the subway track by a mentally ill
man). The law mandates involuntary
outpatient commitment or outpatient
treatment and grants judges the legal
authority to mandate treatment for
those who are noncompliant with
meds or a danger to themselves or
to undergo psychiatric evaluation.
Those are safeguards to help keep
our communities and counties safe.
The serious implementation of this
law may have taken a back seat since
the pandemic and should be urgently
strengthened.
Adams should also consider the
deployment of NYPD personnel
and Mental Health Crisis teams for
transit safety. Commissioner Ydanis
Rodrigues of the Metropolitan Transit
Authority (MTA) should by now
understand the magnitude of this
problem and is probably already
at the drawing board working on
urgent solutions to ameliorate them.
Addressing public safety in New
York City may ultimately require
some police offi cers to be reassigned
from their desk jobs at our 123
precincts to the streets and subway
where their training can better be
utilized. Replacing NYPD officers
will not be challenging at all. NYC
has an army of retired folks, patriotic
volunteers and community-minded
individuals who want to serve their
city. Let’s think outside the box and
do what it takes to improve public
safety.
In the final analysis, our goal
of making our city safer requires
prudent management of resources,
effi cient manpower allocation and
streamlining of city bureaucracy.
These are crucial actions for Mayor
Adams to advance his bold agenda to
reimagine post-pandemic NYC.
George Onuorah is the author of
“The Political Diary of A Rising Son,”
a humanitarian and advocate, and
former City Council candidate.
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