Public Safety Testimony from Samy Feliz to City Council

My name is Samy Feliz. I am representing the Justice Committee, a grassroots organization committed to ending police violence and systemic racism in New York City.

I was born and raised in the Bronx and Washington Heights. To me, public safety is very personal.

My brother, Allan Feliz, was killed by NYPD Lt. Jonathan Rivera and Officers Michelle Almanzar and Edward Barrett in 2019. Lt. Rivera has since been promoted, despite a documented record of 40 misconduct allegations and multiple shootings. Since 2020, he has received over $1 million in salary (not including benefits), and cost taxpayers at least $115,000 in settlements so far, with several lawsuits still pending. Lt. Rivera continues to patrol the streets, despite the fact that the CCRB and NYPD Deputy Commissioner of Trials have recommended he be fired. This is an egregious misuse of city money and it is not keeping New Yorkers safe. 

But this is not an aberration – this is how the NYPD operates. Consider NYPD Officer Wayne Isaacs, who killed unarmed father Delrawn Small in 2016. He has received no discipline in the near decade since he killed Delrawn, despite being indicted by the New York State Attorney General and having fireable charges substantiated by the CCRB nearly six years ago. The NYPD has intentionally delayed the CCRB’s prosecution of Isaacs, allowing him to collect well over $1 million in salary and, more egregiously, continue working long enough to secure his pension.

The pattern is clear: the NYPD systemically shields officers who harm New Yorkers while rewarding them with promotions, raises, and job security. Meanwhile, misconduct complaints remain at decade-high levels, with misconduct complaints in 2025 nearly as high as they were in 2024, and use of force complaints even higher. Last year alone, NYC paid out over $117 million in police misconduct settlements. Why are we continuing to pour so much money into the NYPD when there is no accountability for officers who hurt New Yorkers? This is not the cost of public safety – it’s the cost of impunity.

New Yorkers voted for change with the new Mayoral administration, but so far, Mayor Mamdani has maintained the status quo and allowed the NYPD to create chaos and violence at the expense of New Yorkers. Mayor Mamdani’s executive budget invests about $12 billion dollars in the NYPD and, despite promises not to, increases the officer headcount by 580. Overtime is set to cost the City nearly a billion dollars, double its allocated budget for this year – and because overtime pads officers’ pensions, New Yorkers will continue paying for this overtime for years to come. Meanwhile, low-level arrests and summons, under the guise of ‘quality of life’ enforcement, are surging. Court cases for people sleeping or taking multiple seats on the subway went up 3000% from 2024 to 2025, and they’re on track to even exceed that in 2026 – all while the department shows no accountability for the harm it causes.

The city cannot arrest its way to safety. Instead of continuing to flood city resources into policing and criminalization, we are calling on the City Council to pass a budget that cuts Mamdani’s proposed 580 new officers, implements a hiring freeze for school police, eliminates funding for vacant school police positions, further reduces the NYPD’s bloated budget, and eliminates funding increases to B-HEARD so that resources can be channeled into services that actually increase safety and well-being for New Yorkers who need care. Some of these services include:

1. At least $66.3M, baselined, for Intensive Mobile Treatment (IMT) teams – $22M more than the Executive Budget allocates, which should allow the program to expand sufficiently to eliminate the current waitlist. 

2. At least $23.8M, baselined, for Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) – $4.5M more than the Executive Budget allocates.

3. At least $6M, baselined, for Forensic Assertive Community Treatment (FACT) – $2M more than the Executive Budget allocates), which provide both mental health and reentry services to people returning from jail and prison. 

4. At least $8.8M, baselined, for crisis respite centers – $6M more than the Executive Budget allocates,  which should enable the opening of four new centers, in compliance with Local Law 118-2023.

5. $20.3M to establish at least 150 units of low-barrier housing for people with court-involvement and mental health diagnoses. 

6. At least $12M, baselined, for Restorative Justice that is funded by City dollars. $6M of this funding was baselined in the FY26 budget. The remaining $6M expires in June. NYC Public Schools must be safe, welcoming spaces where young people can grow, learn, resolve conflict and navigate challenges.

You cannot have public safety without accountability, and you cannot have real safety without addressing the root causes of crises. The choice before this Council is clear: continue funneling billions into a system that protects officers who kill and criminalizes survival, or invest in the services that truly keep New Yorkers well and safe.

Thank you for your consideration.