Press Releases

The New York City Council on Thursday will vote on bills to legalize the use of electric bikes and scooters throughout the City. The legislation will remove restrictions on three classes of electric bicycles with top speeds under 25 miles per hour and electric scooters with top speeds under 20 miles per hour. E-bikes and e-scooters were legalized statewide when the state budget was passed on April 1. The Council is now acting to remove the local law that prohibits them and adds measures designed to ensure that delivery cyclists are not subject to unequal crackdowns and summonses of their bikes by the New York City Police Department. 

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New York City Council Speaker Corey Johnson and Oversight and Investigations Chair Ritchie Torres today announced that the Council will subpoena a Department of Health and Mental Hygiene report that purportedly shows more police-involved deaths in New York City than has been previously reported. The existence of this report was disclosed in an op-ed by journalist Mara Gay in the New York Times on Friday afternoon. The Council will ask for the report referred to in the 

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New York City Council Speaker Corey Johnson released the following statement calling for Juneteenth to be made a federal holiday and announcing that the New York City Council is observing Juneteenth as a holiday.  

“Juneteenth is celebrated as the true end to slavery in this country, though it came more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation. June 19th signifies the ongoing fight for real equality for Black people in our country—which is always urgent, especially right now. 

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Call for removal comes on the eve of Juneteenth

NEW YORK, NY – Council Speaker Corey Johnson, Council Member Debi Rose, Council Member Inez Barron, and Co- Chairs of the Council’s Black, Latino and Asian Caucus (BLAC), Council Member Adrienne Adams and I. Daneek Miller, today called for the removal of the Thomas Jefferson statue, located in the Council Chambers in City Hall.

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One measure will criminalize the use of Chokeholds and other forms of restraint

City Hall – The New York City Council on Thursday will vote on an historic package of legislation aimed at addressing police misconduct and enacting substantial police reforms. Included in the package is a bill to ban chokeholds and other methods of restraint, such as kneeling on a person’s neck, by police officers while conducting an arrest.

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Call for probe follows false statements made by police unions about Shake Shack

NEW YORK, NY – Council Speaker Corey Johnson and Council Member Ritchie Torres, Chair of the Council’s Oversight & Investigations Committee, today called on the New York Police Department (NYPD), the Department of Investigation (DOI) and the Civilian Complaint Review Board (CCRB) to investigate whether recent false allegations by the Police Benevolent Association (PBA) and the Detectives’ Endowment Association (DEA) violated City laws and rules, including those that forbid the release of confidential information and making false or deceptive statements or reports.

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The bill requires NYPD to disclose its use of surveillance technology and develop impact and use policies 

New York, NY – Council Speaker Corey Johnson and Council Member Vanessa Gibson, Chair of the Subcommittee on Capital Budget, today announced that the City Council will vote on the Public Oversight of Surveillance Technology (POST) Act on June 18.

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“We believe that we can and should work to get to $1 billion in cuts to New York City’s police spending in the Fiscal 2021 budget, an unprecedented reduction that would not only limit the scope of the NYPD, but also show our commitment towards moving away from the failed policing policies of the past. 

“There is no doubt that this is an ambitious goal, but it is one that the time we are in calls for–both here in New York City and nationwide. 

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Billsalso ban officers from covering their badge number from the public; reaffirm the right to record police activity in public places; create tool to identify problematic officers

New York, NY – City Council’s Public Safety Committee today is holding a hearing on four bills addressing police misconduct and inappropriate behavior. One bill criminalizes an officer’s use of a chokehold;

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Bills also ban officers from covering their badge number from the public; reaffirm the right to record police activity in public places; create tool to identify problematic officers     

New York, NY – City Council’s Public Safety Committee today is holding a hearing on four bills addressing police misconduct and inappropriate behavior. One bill criminalizes an officer’s use of a chokehold;

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