FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 9, 2025

Contact: Trip Eggert, media@vera.org

NEW YORK – In response to Mayor Adams’s State of the City address, Alana Sivin, director of the Vera Institute of Justice’s Greater Justice New York initiative, issued the following statement:

“We firmly support Mayor Adam’s stated vision of a safer and more affordable New York City in the wake of several recent tragedies and an escalating cost of living crisis. We are heartened to hear that the mayor intends to add 900 new safe haven beds, make upstream investments that help prevent crime, and close Rikers Island as well as the pipeline that feeds it.

“But in the fourth year of Mayor Adams’s term in office, we have seen too often the difference between his words and his actions. Some of the mayor’s proposals—such as further increasing the police presence in our subways and supporting a drastic expansion of involuntary hospitalization—are the wrong responses to serious problems. These approaches fail to connect New Yorkers in crisis to ongoing support, cause devastating harm to our marginalized neighbors, and make us all less safe.

“To meaningfully deliver on his vision for a safer New York, the mayor must adequately fund supportive housing for justice-involved people—an effective way to address street homelessness while preventing and breaking the cycle of crime. He must increase the number of Intensive Mobile Treatment teams, clubhouses, crisis respite centers, and trained outreach workers on subway platforms and in communities, prioritizing care for New Yorkers with mental illness over involuntary hospitalization or arrest. The mayor must continue to invest in violence interruption to drive down gun violence. And he must take meaningful action to reduce the jail population and close Rikers Island once and for all, ending the abuse and trauma that takes place in our city’s jails.

“We stand ready to hold the Adams administration accountable to its stated vision and to advise New York’s leaders on how to increase public safety by investing in communities. We know that the safest communities are the ones with the most support—not the largest jails or police departments."

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About the Vera Institute of Justice: The Vera Institute of Justice is powered by hundreds of advocates, researchers, and policy experts working to transform the criminal legal and immigration systems until they’re fair for all. Founded in 1961 to advocate for alternatives to money bail in New York City, Vera is now a national organization that partners with impacted communities and government leaders for change. We develop just, antiracist solutions so that money doesn’t determine freedom; fewer people are in jails, prisons, and immigration detention; and everyone is treated with dignity. Vera’s headquarters is in Brooklyn, New York, with offices in Washington, DC, New Orleans, and Los Angeles. For more information, visit vera.org.

About Vera Action: Vera Action is an independent 501(c)(4) organization and the advocacy partner of the Vera Institute of Justice. At Vera Action, we harness the power of advocacy, lobbying, and political strategy to end mass incarceration, protect immigrants’ rights, restore dignity to people behind bars, and build safe and thriving communities.