4 THE QUEENS COURIER • JANUARY 2, 2020 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
Queens Hurricane Relief Task Force refl ects on lessons learned
BY BILL PARRY
bparry@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
As her tenure draws to a close, Queens
Borough President Melinda Katz reported
AOC calls on Cuomo to invest in NYC Transit, not more cops
BY VINCENT BARONE
Congressman Alexandria Ocasio-
Cortez is calling on Governor Andrew
Cuomo to cancel plans for hiring 500 new
police offi cers into the city transit system
and invest in improving service instead.
Ocasio-Cortez and colleagues penned
a letter to Cuomo Tuesday arguing that
the hirings would only exacerbate racial
biases in policing fare evasion and could
deprive low-income outer-borough communities
of better commutes.
“Arresting hardworking people who
cannot aff ord a $2.75 fare is, in eff ect, the
criminalization of poverty,” reads the letter.
“Further, it will be these same communities
that will be most aff ected if the
subway system is bankrupt or if there are
additional route cuts.”
Cuomo announced the additional cops
back in June as a way to combat fare evasion;
homelessness and address a rash of
worker assaults.
Th e MTA has estimated that its new
police offi cers would cost $249 million
over the next four years—a fi gure that has
alarmed advocates and fi scal watchdogs;
the authority is taking on the additional
expense as it grapples with large budget
gaps and potential service cuts. An analysis
from the Riders Alliance nonprofit
found that $249 could bring a 15 percent
increase is midday and weekend subway
service.
“We urge the MTA to divest from
this current model of criminalization
and invest desperately needed resources
in our subways and buses, and, most
importantly, in those communities that
need updated modes of transportation,”
Ocasio-Cortez continued in the letter.
As the hirings were being discussed,
a slew of viral videos began surfacing
showcasing forceful policing in the
subways against turnstile jumpers and
illegal food vendors. Social justice advocates
have pushed back against what they
describe as a condescending and antipoor
MTA campaign to crack down on
fare evasion, which they feel is being used
to divert blame from the authority’s own
operating failures.
Th e hirings would represent a 20 percent
increase in the transit police force on
subways and buses, where roughly 2,500
NYPD offi cers patrol. Th ey would come
as major felonies, generally, are trending
down 3.7 percent through the year,
according to NYPD data.
Worker assaults are also trending down
when compared to last year, according to
the NYPD — but robberies and misdemeanors
have increased.
Th e MTA board is scheduled to vote
on the authority’s next capital plan
Wednesday, which would green-light the
hirings.
At the board’s committee meetings on
Monday, two of Mayor de Blasio’s three
representatives on the board voiced policing
concerns as a reason why they would
be voting against the budget. Of the more
than 5,000 New Yorkers were arrested for
farebeating last year, 90 percent were people
of color, according to city data.
“Rightfully, there is a lot of concern in
the public,” said board member Veronica
Vanterpool. “Th ey see these two competing
realizations in our system. Th ere is
a very real perceived inequity in how…
this enforcement is being rolled out in
our system.”
Vanterpool and others in attendance
called for the MTA to publish deployment
and enforcement strategy for the
new offi cers. Board member Bob Linn
criticized the MTA for failing to properly
budget for new police, saying they
could potentially rack up troubling overtime
expenses.
“Th e police force has been presented
as like manna from heaven for fare evasion,
homelessness, quality of life, crime
prevention, terrorism prevention…but
one thing is clear: I believe it has not been
totally budgeted.”
MTA Chairman Pat Foye, whom
Cuomo hired to run the transit system,
defended the plan for additional police
offi cers. Th e chairman disputed NYPD
fi gures, stating that worker assaults were
actually on the rise this year. He also
pointed to increases in robberies, hate
crimes and aggravated harassments in
city subways and buses.
“We will not engage in politics when
it comes to public safety: New Yorkers
deserve to have reliable service and feel
secure on our system – these priorities
are one and the same,” Foye said.
“Adding additional uniformed police offi -
cers across the MTA will help ensure safety
and quality of life for our eight million
daily customers.”
Ocasio-Cortez suggested city police
could address worker safety “without
criminalizing poverty.”
“Instead of patrolling the turnstile,
existing offi cers should focus on the
threats faced by MTA employees,” she
wrote. “Utilization of a more fi nessed
deployment approach that focuses on the
reduction of assaults against transit operating
personnel would protect workers
and safe the MTA sorely needed operating
dollars.”
Congressmen Jerrold Nadler and Jose
Serrano signed on to the letter alongside
state Senators Michael Gianaris, Jessica
Ramos, Julia Salazar, Alessandra Biaggi
and Luis R. Sepulveda.
on the work of her Hurricane Relief
Task Force, a group of government agencies,
elected offi cials and community leaders
who collectively developed and implemented
solutions to problems that had previously
hindered and plagued the borough’s recovery
from Hurricane Sandy. Katz prioritized
the recovery eff orts by forming the task force
within weeks aft er taking offi ce in 2014.
Th e group fi rst met nearly 16 months
aft er the storm wreaked havoc across the
borough. Th e objective was to regularly
and correctly address what many found
to be an excruciatingly slow process for
repairing the damage wrought by Sandy
and for getting thousands of displaced
Queens residents back in their homes.
Th e Hurricane Relief Task Force connected
communities most impacted by the
storm directly and regularly with city, state
and federal agencies and elected offi cials on
the multi-year recovery eff ort. Th is helped
to ensure a reliable channel of communication
between offi cials and the community
residents who had “on-the ground” knowledge
of recovery-related problems.
Th e Task Force also facilitated interagency
cooperation by empowering community
leaders to create innovative ways
with elected offi cials to enhance the effi cacy
or recovery and resiliency eff orts.
“Th e community-driven Task Force
model should be used as a guide for how
we respond to future major disasters,
especially in this time of climate change,”
Katz said. “A natural disaster of Sandy’s
unprecedented scope requires a coordinated
response that minimizes bureaucratic
red tape and empowers impacted
communities to work directly with
government to launch and complete the
Herculean task of recovery.”
Since February 2014, the Queens
Hurricane Relief Task Force has inspired
a citywide zoning amendment to facilitate
reconstruction of Sandy-damaged homes,
streamlined issuance of necessary permits,
cleared roadblocks regarding the U.S. Small
Business Administration disaster loan
applications, spearheaded outreach to Build
it Back applicants, and improved coordination
between the Broad Channel street raising
initiative and the Build it Back program.
Th e Task Force also helped to reduce
delays in elevating homes, supported
legislation to speed up the Buildings
Department’s permitting process, prompted
the aggressive investigation and resolution
of construction delays.
“Our deepest thanks go to all of the
members of the Hurricane Relief Task
Force who did such a great job of delivering
much needed help to those impacted
by Superstorm Sandy,” Katz said.
She will be inaugurated as Queens
District Attorney on Monday, Jan. 6, at
Carnesecca Arena at St. John’s University
beginning at 5:30 p.m.
QNS fi le photo
Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
QNS fi le photo
The Queens Hurricane Relief Task Force developed innovative solutions and templates for future recovery eff orts.
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