This mayoral platform has been endorsed by leaders of the NAACP New York State Conference, the New York Working Families Party, the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades of District Council 9, and Riders Alliance. For more information, please see Vera's full statement here.

As New Yorkers prepare for the upcoming mayoral election, Vera’s researchers and policy experts have prepared a guide for how the next administration can build a safer, fairer city. It presents five big ideas popular with New York City voters and grounded in evidence for what the next mayor should do to deliver more safety, accountability, and justice. This page offers key toplines and recommendations from the longer, in-depth report.

A comfortable place to live. An easy commute on the subway. Green spaces, well-lit streets, and good schools. Economic opportunity and the chance to get ahead—not just get by. This is the New York City that we deserve. To make it a reality, the next mayor must prioritize safety, accountability, and justice. Yet we know that success will not come easily. When the 5BORO Institute recently asked 3,000 New Yorkers to choose two words describing their feelings about the city, a third chose “unsafe.”

There are no simple answers to these hard problems, but New Yorkers deserve an honest debate—one grounded in facts and evidence on what works. An honest debate means following the data, even when it contradicts frequently repeated assumptions. New Yorkers deserve more than just tough talk or performative measures that fail to address the underlying drivers of crime, crisis, and violence. The next mayor can:

• increase safety by championing a comprehensive approach of relying on the right tools and responders to prevent crime, respond to crisis, and stop violence;

• deliver accountability at all levels—for people who break the law; for police when they abuse their power; for elected officials when they misuse public money, ignore evidence and data, and squander trust; and for the criminal justice system to actually keep us safe;

• and administer justice by reducing unnecessary arrest and incarceration and by following the law to close Rikers Island once and for all.

New Yorkers know there is no false choice between safety, accountability, and justice—we deserve and can have all three.

IDEA # 1: Invest in the full range of tools in the public safety toolbox to prevent crime, respond to crisis, and stop violence.

New Yorkers understand that we need to use the full range of tools in the public safety toolbox to prevent crime, respond to crisis, and stop violence. While New York City has in recent years invested more than $200 million in community-based violence prevention, $50 million in treatment to fight the opioid crisis, and $6.4 million in dedicated housing for people frequently cycling through the jail system, community-based public safety investments pale in comparison to the $11 billion annual budget of the New York Police Department (NYPD). Instead of tasking police officers to do the jobs of social workers and mental health providers, the next mayor must build out a robust, comprehensive public safety infrastructure that relies on the right community-based tools and the right responders.

• Deliver an unprecedented investment in the city’s infrastructure of community-based crisis response, treatment, and services. This includes expansion of Intensive Mobile Treatment (IMT) teams and community-based crisis response programs such as B-HEARD. The city must also expand its network of crisis respite centers, clubhouses, and stabilization centers and improve discharge stabilization plans for care in the community to keep people from cycling in and out of hospitals and jail.

• Double funding for proven community violence intervention (CVI) to expand programs to neighborhoods in need. CVI programs, which are under the city’s Crisis Management System, provide mentorship and services for people at the greatest risk of committing or experiencing gun violence and have contributed to a 21 percent reduction in shootings in New York City neighborhoods where they operate.

• Expand access to vouchers and supportive housing programs. Lack of housing leads to many New Yorkers cycling in and out of jail, and a stable home is essential to breaking that cycle. The city must prioritize housing vouchers and expand programs like Justice Involved Supportive Housing.

• Build better physical infrastructure to make the city safer. Simple fixes, such as more green spaces and better lighting, improve quality of life and reduce crime. New York City should revitalize the original Mayor’s Action Plan for Neighborhood Safety, a targeted community-based safety investment in 15 public housing developments that led to a 15.4 percent drop in misdemeanors and a 6.3 percent drop in major felonies where implemented.

IDEA # 2: Deliver better, more effective, and more accountable policing that lives up to the responsibility of the role.

Police are the largest part of the city’s public safety infrastructure and serve as the default first responder to many situations and crises—from very minor to extremely serious. In a 2021 survey, roughly two-thirds of New Yorkers said that the police address the community’s concerns, stand up for the community’s values, treat people with respect, and can be trusted. But those numbers plummeted by 20 percentage points among residents in neighborhoods experiencing the highest levels of violent crime. We need an honest conversation about what constitutes accountable, efficient, and effective policing for all New Yorkers—but that debate is too often overtaken by fraught politics. With roughly 34,000 sworn police officers, the answer to our city’s policing problems cannot be simply more police—but rather better, more effective, and more accountable policing. When police are on the beat, patrolling the subways, or responding to an emergency, we need to support them so that they can focus on responding to violence and serious crime.

• Civilianize the force. Maintaining historic levels of police staffing has been a long-standing challenge for departments across the country. Instead of trying to maintain an outdated staffing model, the NYPD should serve as a national leader by employing more civilians for functions that do not require officers’ expertise—such as transit and traffic enforcement, investigations, community engagement, forensics, and internal affairs—so that current sworn officers can be redeployed on patrol.

• Focus on the right priorities and limit low-level enforcement, especially on the subways. Officers should focus on the most important priorities, such as improving response times and raising case clearance rates by investigating and solving violent crimes. The mayor and governor have sent thousands of law enforcement officers (including the National Guard) into the subways, and arrests for fare evasion rose by 126 percent in 2024. Officers on patrol in the subways should aim to deter violent encounters and, instead of focusing on low-level enforcement that does not improve safety, should be a reassuring presence to all riders.

• Improve training and implement culture change from the ground up.The trust gap between some New Yorkers and the police can make this job difficult and undermine safety. True culture change towards a “guardian” approach to policing—in which officers are “inclusive and respectful in their interactions, display empathy, and exercise patience in citizen encounters”—requires individualized coaching and professional development. Strong training in procedural justice and de-escalation leads to fewer arrests, more perceived fairness, and double-digit drops in use-of-force incidents.

• Fully fund and staff the Civilian Complaint Review Board (CCRB) and require adherence to its disciplinary recommendations.The next mayor needs to deliver on police accountability by endorsing pegging the CCRB’s overall budget to 1 percent of the NYPD’s annual adopted budget (as proposed recently in a city council hearing), committing to fully staffing the open positions on the current CCRB board, and requiring the NYPD commissioner to follow the CCRB’s disciplinary recommendations.

• Seek community input and build trust by increasing transparency. Understanding residents’ perspectives on the police and their opinions on various important measures of policing can help the city gauge in real time what is working and what needs improvement. The next mayor should revive the practice of seeking community input by adding questions about policing to the existing annual Community Health Survey and publishing monthly data that provides the public insight into the department’s activities (this data is currently published with less frequency).

IDEA # 3: Make the subways safer by comprehensively addressing the daily signs of crisis and neglect.

Subways are the lifeline of New York City, and all New Yorkers want a safe and peaceful subway ride. Yet, despite a recent increase in ridership as congestion pricing went into effect, the overall numbers remain well below pre-pandemic figures amid the shift to remote work and concerns about public safety. Several high-profile tragedies have fueled New Yorkers’ perceptions about transit crime, and recent polls reflect their fear and desire to see a robust response. Rider surveys reveal that there has been too much neglect of the subway system—from infrastructure and maintenance to addressing the needs of people who ride or work on it. According to the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA), roughly 2,000 people are unhoused in the subway system at any given time. While the planned expansion of the Subway Co-Response Outreach Teams (SCOUT) to 10 teams by the end of 2025 is a positive step forward, we need to invest far more.

• Expand street-based programs to the subway. New York City has several effective street medicine programs that can be expanded to the subway, including the NYC Health + Hospitals Street Health Outreach & Wellness (SHOW) mobile health teams, and medical and mental health services provided by organizations like Janian, Breaking Ground, and Project Renewal (currently BRC is the main provider of services in the subways).

• Create drop-in centers at subway stations and direct police to hand off situations to specialized outreach teams. Police officers have daily interactions with people on the trains and platforms who are experiencing homelessness, mental illness, or crisis. These interactions should be handed off to specialized outreach teams, and people should be steered to “drop-in welcome centers” (a plan to expand 24/7 Department of Homeless Services “welcome centers” at end-of-line stations is already under way).

• Upgrade platforms and entrances. The MTA should work with the city to install platform barriers so no one ends up on the tracks, full-height barriers on turnstiles to prevent fare evasion, and improved lighting at subway entrances and on platforms.

• Make the subway affordable for all New Yorkers. We need all New Yorkers to pay their fair share to support the MTA, and we need to assist those who can’t afford the price of a ride by increasing investments in the Fair Fares program.

IDEA # 4: Improve the shopping experience for both workers and consumers.

New Yorkers are frustrated by finding toothpaste and shampoo locked in plastic cases at their local pharmacy or seeing empty shelves in the grocery store. Organized operations reselling stolen goods online on sites like Amazon and eBay have driven this phenomenon. While overall rates of retail theft are beginning to decline in New York City from their peak in 2022, curbing retail theft and shoplifting remains a priority as district attorney offices continue to uncover large-scale fencing operations. Yet, organized retail crime should not be conflated with crimes of desperation.

• Curb organized retail crime. Much retail theft is driven by large-scale fencing operations that resell stolen goods online. Large online marketplaces, already required by federal law to verify the identity of high-volume third-party sellers on their platforms, should be required to report the suspected resale of stolen goods.

• Work with businesses to reduce theft. Major retailers with low levels of theft have attributed their success to basic measures like employee training and store layouts. The next mayor should launch a fund and work with business improvement districts on programs to increase employee safety and change store layouts to reduce theft.

• Support our neighbors in need to prevent theft. A recent study found that one in four city residents cannot afford essentials. The next mayor should invest in community navigator and alternative-to-incarceration programs to connect people who have been caught stealing to housing, treatment, and other stabilizing services.
  

IDEA # 5: Close Rikers Island and implement a new approach to accountability and safely reducing the jail population.

Rikers Island has failed to keep New Yorkers safe and remains an unsalvageable stain on our city. The horrible conditions at the jail complex cause everyone to suffer—including incarcerated people and their families, along with the correction officers working there. The lack of basic services, like educational programs or medical and mental health care, means people come out worse than they went in. Any deaths—let alone the current level—are unacceptable. To safely close Rikers Island and transition to the modern, borough-based jails, we must safely reduce the jail population from roughly 6,000 to no more than 4,160 and invest in services that deliver more accountability—and not just punishment.

• Invest in restorative justice and diversion. True accountability is acknowledging the harm committed and changing behavior to prevent future crime. While it may seem counterintuitive, using incarceration as the default response when someone breaks the law is a poor investment in safety and makes it more likely that someone will be arrested in the future. The next mayor should triple investments in restorative justice and diversion programs that break the cycle of crime and turn people’s lives around.

• Create targeted programs for people repeatedly arrested. To address concerns about people who are frequently arrested, the next mayor should establish teams that provide wraparound services for a minimum of 90 days to people who are detained at Rikers Island multiple times in six months. Supervision should continue until the person remains jail-free for six months and the case manager deems them independently stable.

• Appoint a Rikers czar. Closing the sprawling, decades-old jail is a complex task. The next mayor must demonstrate their commitment to getting it done by appointing a Rikers czar to oversee the process, work with the court-appointed federal monitor, and assemble a team to focus on all aspects of Rikers Island closure.

• Commit to an aggressive but achievable timeline for finishing the new jails. The next mayor should speed up the construction of the borough-based jails by starting work on the foundations and exteriors and shortening the current construction timelines.

• Safely reduce the jail population to ~4,000. The next mayor should safely drive down the jail population by ramping up the existing “population review” teams and by using the 6-A program and the Local Conditional Release Commission to their fullest.

• Improve immediate conditions at Rikers Island for everyone.While Rikers cannot be salvaged, the next mayor must do everything in their power to at least make it safer in the interim before it closes. This includes expanding care for people with serious mental illness, increasing investment in the counseling and case management services that were cut during the current administration, and complying with the local law ending the use of solitary confinement.

Safety, accountability, and justice require protecting progress and investing in what truly works.

These recommendations must be accompanied by meaningful criminal justice reform and protecting the progress that has made the criminal justice system fairer for all New Yorkers—regardless of race, age, wealth, or zip code. The next mayor has a unique opportunity to transform New York City and protect progress to strengthen safety, promote accountability, and deliver justice for all New Yorkers.

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