100 Days into the Mamdani Administration, LDF Outlines Public Safety Priorities in New York City

Read a PDF of our statement here.

Today marks 100 days of New York City Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani's administration.

In response, Legal Defense Fund (LDF) Director of Strategic Initiatives Jin Hee Lee issued the following statement:

"Mayor Mamdani has expressed a desire to ensure the safety and wellbeing of all New Yorkers, especially those who are the most vulnerable. All New Yorkers deserve real safety, and it is imperative to prioritize the needs of the most marginalized residents. This includes protecting them from violence and abuse at the hands of law enforcement - both local and federal.

"Mayor Mamdani previously endorsed legislation to abolish the NYPD's notorious gang database, having seen it for what it is: a dragnet that ensnares Black and Brown people in a vicious cycle of aggressive policing, surveillance, and punishment. We urge the Mayor to use his position to finally end the NYPD's use of this harmful and ineffective database by pushing the City Council to pass this legislation. The NYPD must never be allowed to catalogue people as criminal, based on unreliable and biased criteria that perpetuates the false association between race and criminality.

"We further encourage the Mayor to build upon the steps he has already taken to protect New Yorkers from abuse by federal law enforcement. This unprecedented threat of authoritarianism from our federal government demands bold action from the Mayor and other city officials to prevent the unjust targeting and surveillance of New York's immigrant communities, protesters, and any other residents who are baselessly labeled as 'domestic terrorists' due to their speech or association, race, national origin, religion, or other protected identities.

"We look forward to working with the Mayor's administration and his Office of Community Safety to implement a much more effective system of safety that invests in communities to reduce and prevent violence, and removes law enforcement from addressing the failures of our social safety net that should be providing for the basic needs of all people, including mental and behavioral health support.

"Mayor Mamdani has an unprecedented opportunity to deliver a system of safety in which all New Yorkers can thrive. It is crucial for the Mamdani administration to continue working with impacted communities to make this vision a reality."

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Founded in 1940, the Legal Defense Fund (LDF) is the nation's first civil rights legal organization. LDF has been completely separate from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) since 1957, though it was founded under the leadership of Thurgood Marshall while he was at the NAACP. LDF's Thurgood Marshall Institute (TMI) is a division of LDF that undertakes innovative research and houses LDF's archive. In all media attributions, please refer to us as the Legal Defense Fund or LDF (do not include NAACP) and refer to the Institute as LDF's Thurgood Marshall Institute or TMI.