Council Cartel: More Powerful Than the Mayor
The City Council's Flex Shows Us Who's Boss in New York, and It's Not Pretty
The New York City Council overrode Mayor Eric Adams’ veto of their “police transparency” bill on Tuesday, intensifying the rift between the progressive-dominated chamber and the struggling mayor.
The bill is designed to apparently enhance “transparency,” by mandating NYPD officers log all public interactions. Required information includes:
the “apparent race/ethnicity, gender, and age” of those encountered
the reason for the encounter
whether the encounter happened because of the officer’s observations, dispatch request, a tip from a witness, etc.
whether a summons was issued or arrest was made
if there was any use of force
what “level” can be designated for the encounter, and if that level changed throughout the interaction
Adams and police officials have said the move would only encumber officers and that there’s enough transparency. City Council progressives (read: most of them) say its critical to ensure equity and social justice, which at this point should be an immediate red flag.
Adams vetoed the bill last month, but regrouping, the Council delivered a two-punch combo with a veto-proof majority of 42 to 9, passing the bill — called the “How Many Stops Act” — along with another bill banning solitary confinement in jails.
Even moderate dem Tom Suozzi admits his Democrat colleagues are going haywire, speaking with the New York Post:
“I think that the progressive left wing of the Democratic Party is hurting Democrats throughout the country. Because the people want us to solve problems,” Suozzi said during a press conference on gun control and safety when The Post asked about the new cops reporting law.
If you have any doubt that the Council isn’t acting in good faith by allegedly advocating for transparency, just look at their rhetoric:
They don’t care about transparency or safety. They just want to create a data stream they can manipulate and cast as racist to further entrench their progressive control and dismantling of the NYPD — and thereby, New Yorkers’ well being.
It wasn’t long ago that major cuts would have prevented the NYPD from bringing in a new class of officers into a police force that has already been hemorrhaging cops who have chosen to retire early, join another municipal PD, or leave the field altogether.
Anyone who studies oppressive regimes understands that the most successful authoritarians are freaks for paperwork, bureaucracies, and red tape. They love to create a DMV-Tower of Babel system that benefits their collectivist ideology.
If you think I’m exaggerating, the councilmembers openly celebrate and claim allegiance to socialism. They want to decolonize, defund, and dismantle. It’s an aesthetic and a lifestyle for them. Their actions match their words, so I believe them.
High off their flex on the mayor, expect gaudier and more in-your-face initiatives and bills masking under the guise of “equity” that actually undermine the structures keeping New York safe for everyone. The Gothamist writes:
Among political historians, the tense and sometimes fractious relationship between the two branches of city government has marked a turning point in City Hall.
“The Council, for the first time, is using the powers given to them,” said Joseph Viteritti, a political scientist at Hunter College. “It’s a very interesting time in the history of the two institutions.”
The progressive circus is unfortunately not limited to the City Council. With the migrant crisis representing another tear in New York’s seams, the migrants who brutally beat NYPD officers were let go without bail by Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg, and reportedly fled to California.
If New York just had one mediocre mayor, or one crooked DA, we could tackle this insanity more easily. Or, at least there would be some ebb and flow in our city’s condition. But, we are steadily deteriorating in part because the problem is so widespread, as we see in the Council, nonprofit industrial complex, and among political agitators.
As
and the folks at One City Rising wrote in a statement:“Overreaching and misguided laws, driven by hatred of our public safety officers, has made policing incredibly stressful and high risk… New Yorkers need to pay attention to their local elections and commit to vote in every election, especially primary elections. We need to elect better representatives at every level of government.”
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