FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM MAY 6, 2021 • THE QUEENS COURIER 27
City Council candidates join activists in cycling for justice
BY BILL PARRY
bparry@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
As the onslaught of Asian American
violence continues to plague New York
City, more than 150 cyclists pedaled
across western Queens on April 24 to raise
awareness and call for justice. Th e event
was organized by Helen Ho, co-founder
of the Biking Public Project; Margaret
Lu of Girls Bike NYC; activist Pam Yang;
and two candidates for City Council, Julie
Won and Carolyn Tran.
Th e Bike Ride for Justice was the fi rst
of its kind to be led by women making
Courtesy of Tran’s campaign
More than 150 cyclists gather in Queensbridge Park before setting off on a Ride for Justice in response to anti-Asian American violence.
Moya’s bill designed to weed out bad cops
BY BILL PARRY
bparry@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
New legislation that would keep rogue
cops from joining the NYPD was unveiled
by Queens Councilman Francisco Moya
over the weekend.
Moya joined Council Speaker Corey
Johnson to announce their new bill that
would increase police accountability and
reimagine public safety. It would ban the
city from hiring police offi cers from other
jurisdictions who were fi red for misconduct
or who resigned while being investigated
for misconduct.
Th e bill requires the Department of
Citywide Administrative Services, which
sets qualifi cations for civil service jobs,
to add a line in the hiring code that automatically
disqualifi es these police offi cers
when they apply for the NYPD. Th ere
are already several disqualifi cations from
becoming an NYPD offi cer, including
domestic violence misdemeanors, dishonorable
discharges from the military
and felony convictions.
While transfers to the NYPD are not
common, the goal of this legislation is to
make sure that no one with a history of
misconduct fi nds their way into the city’s
police force.
“Every step we can take towards dismantling
systemic racism is an action
towards meaningful police reform. Th e
bill I’m introducing is a step to keep the
bad apples from multiplying — if an offi -
cer is let go because of disciplinary issues,
regardless of jurisdiction, they will be
ineligible for NYPD service,” Moya said.
“Th is is about protecting Black and brown
lives from police offi cers who have a history
of misconduct. With this bill, New York
City can be an example of vigorous and
positive action so Black lives are no longer
in danger.”
Offi cers who are fi red from one department
only to get hired by another, known
as wandering offi cers, are more likely to
receive misconduct complaints and get
fi red again compared to other offi cers,
according to a 2020 report in the Yale
Law Journal.
“All it takes is one bad cop to make a
fatal mistake, shatter a family and destroy
the trust people have in all police,”
Johnson said. “Sadly, we’ve seen too many
police misconduct cases across the country,
and many times these so-called wandering
offi cers land in other departments.
We don’t want them in the NYPD, and
we must do everything we can to prevent
them from working as offi cers in our city.”
Harlem state Senator Brian Benjamin
will introduce a companion bill in Albany
aft er he was inspired by the shooting of
Daunte Wright in Minnesota. Kim Potter,
the 26-year veteran who resigned aft er
allegedly shooting Wright, would be ineligible
to work as a member of law enforcement
across New York under the legislation.
their way along a 10-mile route
from Queensbridge Park and ending in
Elmhurst Park. Th e group paused briefly
on Justice Avenue in Elmhurst as riders
chanted “no justice, no peace” before
resuming their ride.
“Our society leaves Asian American
Pacifi c Islanders vulnerable at every turn.
From women working survival jobs, to men
collecting bottles on the side of the street,
the victims of these hate crimes have been
made vulnerable by a system that criminalizes
poverty and renders us expendable,”
said Won, a District 26 candidate. “Th is
ride should not be misconstrued as a call
for more violent policing. Instead, we are
here to build solidarity amongst marginalized
New Yorkers of color and advocate for
community-led public safety.”
Tran, a District 25 candidate who rode
with her two young daughters, believes
that anti-AAPI violence can only be combated
with an intersectional communityled
approach.
“We cannot lean on law enforcement
to keep us safe, we keep each other safe,”
Tran said. “For too long, our immigrant
and working-class communities of color
have been over-policed and brutalized by
broken systems and institutions that were
never meant to keep us safe. We’re riding to
say that those most impacted should be the
voices we hear the loudest to eff ect change.”
Meanwhile, nearly 950 educators, parents
and students from every corner
of Queens signed off on an open letter
to Mayor Bill de Blasio and Schools
Chancellor Meisha Porter asking city
leaders to take swift and enduring actions
to address the anti-Asian discrimination
that have fueled recent violence against
Asian New Yorkers.
Th e letter, signed by a coalition of more
than 2,500 community members from
the metropolitan area, calls for immediate
actions to establish and promote a curriculum
in the city’s public school system
that is inclusive on Asian American history
and culture.
Courtesy of Gerardo Romo/NYC Council
Councilman Francisco Moya announces new legislation at the National Action Network that would
prevent “bad cops” from joining the NYPD.
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