June 2nd, 2020
Mayor Bill de Blasio
City Hall
New York, NY 10007
RE: Invest in Human Services, Not Over-policing Our Communities
Dear Mayor de Blasio,
The COVID-19 pandemic has amplified what the community based organizations (CBOs) in the
human services sector have always known about inequities that exist within the institutions that
all New Yorkers rely on. The outrage that has been expressed in our city – and across the
country – over the last few days is not solely representative of an isolated incident, it is a
reflection of the anger and frustration that exists from inequity and injustice being born on the
backs of communities of color, immigrants, and low-income New Yorkers over and over again.
A strong social safety net is the only way that our city survives a crisis. As we experience the
unprecedented intersection of a health crisis, a social justice crisis, and an economic crisis that
could devastate our city for years, even decades to come, not all City agencies are bearing the
burden. We were dismayed to see that the FY2021 Executive Budget makes cuts to crucial
programs and social services that serve the very communities who are being hardest hit by
COVID-19 — communities of color, immigrants, and low-income New Yorkers — while
maintaining funding for the NYPD, an institution that too often fails to protect and serve, and
disproportionately harms, these exact communities.
Services like senior food programs, homeless services, youth development, employment
programs, public health and others – proven tools that help us protect and serve communities –
are experiencing more demand than ever before, but instead of enhancing funding to these
programs, the City is proposing more cuts.
Our social services workforce has been designated as essential by the City, and our services
will be more essential than ever as more New Yorkers rely on them as we move into recovery.
Yet our (mostly women of color and immigrant) workforce is paid poverty wages, sent on the
frontlines with inadequate supplies, and is being asked to meet growing community need with
less City resources.
Echoing the letter from the City Council released on May 31st, the proposed budget cuts are not
equitable. While our social services and discretionary funding (which is a key support for smaller
CBOs and CBOs of color) is on the chopping block, funding for the NYPD has been largely
maintained. Budgets are a statement of values. When we are facing a budget deficit where the
City is emphasizing that difficult decisions must be made across the board, the decision to
decrease funding for social services while maintaining funding for the NYPD is the opposite of
what our values should be. Particularly in light of the actions of the NYPD over the last few
days, it is clear that our city requires diametrically opposite approaches to repair what has been
broken.
While this mayoral administration has been working on criminal justice reform, it has also
expanded the role of NYPD into human and social services — including putting cops in schools
instead of counselors, policing the homeless instead of providing adequate supportive services
and housing, criminalizing poverty instead of investing in addressing root causes and uplifting
individuals out of poverty, and over-policing young people of color instead of providing summer
programming. Cutting funding to social services while continuing to over-police our communities
is the opposite of what the City should be doing right now.
As the human services sector is being impacted by budget cuts and as our vulnerable children
and families are struggling, it is unjust that the NYPD can maintain its level of funding and not
be required to change its harmful policing practices. Police reform must be a mandate for the
NYPD in the next fiscal year.
We are proposing a different way, and a new way, to protect our communities – economically,
socially, psychologically. Stop over-investing in policing our communities and start to make real
investments that serve communities in need. This “new way” is cheaper, it’s proven, it’s just.
As community based organizations, we know that it’s not the police that keeps communities
safe. It’s the work that we do to support, enrich, and empower New Yorkers that keeps
communities safe. Our communities are safe when residents have affordable and quality
housing, transportation and food; seniors and people with disabilities are healthy and engaged;
individuals have good jobs and worker protections; youth have summer programming and arts
education; immigrants have language accessible services; and more.
It’s time to invest in supporting our communities instead of policing them. It’s time to be bold by
making targeted cuts to the NYPD. We need to protect investments in human services, the
social safety net, racial and economic justice, and the vision that all New Yorkers deserve to
thrive.
CC:
Comptroller Scott Stringer
Public Advocate Jumaane Williams
City Council Speaker Corey Johnson
First Deputy Mayor Dean Fuleihan
Deputy Mayor Raul Perea-Henze
Deputy Mayor Vicki Been
Deputy Mayor Phillip Thompson
Commissioner Steve Banks
Commissioner Marco Carrión
Commissioner Bill Chong
Commissioner Lorraine A. Cortés-Vázquez
Commissioner David Hansell
Budget Director Melanie Hartzog
MOCS Director Dan Symon
Organizational Sign-ons (171):
Chinese-American Planning Council (CPC)
Greenwich House
Stanley Isaacs Neighborhood Center
82nd Street Academics
Acacia Network
Academy of Medical & Public Health
Services
ACQC
African Communities Together
Ali Forney Center
Apicha Community Health Center
Asian Americans for Equality
Bannon Consulting Services
Barrier Free Living Inc.
Beachwold Residential LLC
Black LGBTQ Migrant Project
Boys & Girls Club of Harlem
BRC (Bowery Residents Committee)
Bridge Builders
Broadway Housing Communities
Bronx House
BronxWorks
Brooklyn Community Services
CAAAV: Organizing Asian Communities
Cabrini Immigrant Services of NYC
Callen-Lorde Community Health Center
Capitol Hall
Carroll Gardens Association
Catholic Charities Archdiocese of New York
Catholic Charities of Brooklyn and Queens
Catholic Migration Services
Center for Family Life
Center for Independence of the Disabled,
NY
Center for the Integration and Advancement
of New Americans, Inc. (CIANA).
Chinese Methodist Center Corporation
Chinese Progressive Association
Citizen Action of New York-NYC Chapter
Citizens’ Committee for Children of New
York
Citymeals on Wheels
Coalition for Asian American Children and
Families (CACF)
Coalition for Homeless Youth
Community Access
Community League of the Heights. Inc
Community Resource Exchange
Comunilife, Inc.
Covenant House New York
Cypress Hills Local Development
Corporation
Day One
East Coast Asian American Student Union
(ECAASU)
Educational Alliance
Elmcor Youth & Adult Activities
Emerald Isle Immigration Center
Empire State Indivisible
Empire State Progressives
Exponents
F.Y. Eye
Faith in New York
Fifth Avenue Committee
FPWA
Girl Vow
Girls for Gender Equity (GGE)
GMHC
Goddard Riverside
Goodwill Industries of Greater NY and
Northern NJ, Inc.
Graham Windham
Grand Street Settlement
Hamilton-Madison House
HANAC Inc.
Hartley House
Heights and Hills
HELP USA
Henry Street Settlement
Here to Here
Hetrick-Martin Institute
Hudson Guild
Human Services Council
India Home
Indochina Sino-American Community
Center
Iris House, Inc.
Jacob A. Riis Neighborhood Settlement
JCC Staten Island
JCCA
JGM Consulting
Kingsbridge Heights Community Center
Korean Community Services of Metropolitan
New York, Inc.
Laal NYC
Lantern Community Services
Literacy Assistance Center
LiveOn NY
Lower East Side Family Union
Lutheran Social Services of New York
Make the Road New York
Martin De Porres Youth and Family
Services
Mekong NYC
Mercy Home for Children
MinKwon Center for Community Action
Mixteca Organization, Inc.
MMCC (Mosholu Montefiore Community
Center)
Morningside Heights Resistance
Nazareth Housing Inc.
Neighbors Helping Neighbors
Neighbors Together
Neighborhood Care Team, Inc
New Settlement Apartments
New York City Anti-Violence Project
New York Immigration Coalition
Nonprofit Finance Fund
Nontraditional Employment for Women
(NEW)
New York City Employment and Training
Coalition (NYCETC)
NYS Harm Reduction Association
OCA New York Chapter
Opportunities for a Better Tomorrow
Options Center
OutRight Action International
Partnership for After School Education
Partnership with Children
Phipps Neighborhoods
PHNP- NY Metro
Project Hospitality
Providence House, Inc
PSS
Queens Community House
Red Hook Initiative
Riseboro Community Partnership Inc.
Rising Ground, Inc.
S.T.O.P. - The Surveillance Technology
Oversight Project
Sadie Nash Leadership Project
Safe Horizon
SAGE
Sakhi for South Asian Women
Samaritan Daytop Village
Sanctuary for Families
Sapna NYC, Inc.
SCAN-Harbor, Inc.
SCO Family of Services
Service Program for Older People, INC
Sheltering Arms
Solstice
South Asian Youth Action
St. Francis Friends of the Poor
Sunnyside Community Services
Supportive Housing Network of NY
The Brotherhood/Sister Sol
The Center for Anti-Violence Education
The Children’s Village
The Coalition for Behavioral Health
The Data Union
The Door
The Fortune Society
The Jewish Board of Family & Children’s
Services
The Korean American Family Service
Center
UJA Federation of New York
Unique People Services
United Chinese Association of Brooklyn
United Community Centers
United Neighborhood Houses
University Settlement
Urban Justice Center
Violence Intervention Program
Vision Urbana, Inc.
Voces Latinas
Welllife Network
WiN NYC
Wingo NYC
Womankind
Women Creating Change
Women's Center for Education and Career
Advancement
You Gotta Believe
Youth Action Programs and Homes, Inc.
Youth Action YouthBuild
Youth Communication
YWCA Brooklyn