Missed me?
Four weeks between scorecards is too long. I know this because a couple of you pinged me about it. (I see you, and I love you.) Here are the highlights from weeks 11-14 of the Mamdani administration:
Build 200,000 rent-stabilized homes: A new city process shaves eight months (!) off affordable housing development timelines.
Universal childcare: A new online portal lets childcare providers get permits faster, and applications for the first 2-K spots will open June 2. So they are working on supply and demand, very nice.
Expand mental-health crisis intervention: The Office of Community Safety was officially created on Mar 19 🎉 🥳💃🏽 Deep dive below.
Fewer cops, more doctors
Anytime a government creates a new Office of Something, a fair question is: did they actually build something new, or just move some desks around?
I watched the 45-minute press conference and read the 17-page policy memo to figure it out.
The Office of Community Safety has Three Divisions
Neighborhood Safety: This arm will focus on victim support and prevention of harm ranging from gun violence to hate crimes. Given this mandate, why not call the division "violence prevention"? My guess is that the naming choice tells us something about the philosophy: bottom-up and community-driven.
Community Mental Health: This is the division charged with mental health crisis response. Its big job is coordinating programs like B-HEARD (more on that in a sec).
Strategic Initiatives: aka the innovation lab. This is the division that I believe could end up being the most consequential, because this is where radical new ideas get tested.
The Office of Community Safety will also supervise five existing offices, like the Office of Community Mental Health. So yes, there's some consolidation happening. But the bigger play is the reporting structure…
The Most Important Part of the Office is the Officer
The Office will fall under the newly created position of Deputy Mayor of Community Safety.
A reporter asked a pointed question at the press conference: if this deputy mayor oversees just one office, unlike others with full portfolios, is the role less powerful?
Mamdani responded that the narrow portfolio is the point. This deputy mayor's job isn't to run a bunch of programs. It's to be in every other room and ask the questions nobody else is asking.
Thinking about rezoning a neighborhood? What does that do to the local supply of mental health providers?
Choosing where to build new housing? A community safety deputy mayor in that room could ask if it’s in a domestic violence hotspot that needs to build more support in parallel with density increases
It's a subtle structure that embeds a safety perspective into decisions that don't normally get one.
Have ya heard of B-HEARD?
During research for this issue, I found out that a New Yorker calls 911 for a mental health crisis every three minutes. Until 2021, cops were sent out to the scene.
With the B-HEARD program, if there’s a low threat of violence, the city sends a team of two EMTs and a mental health professional. No handcuffs, no squad cars, just health workers trained to de-escalate.
B-HEARD launched as a pilot in East Harlem in 2021 and its success is evidenced by just how much of the city it now covers (incl. the entirety of the Bronx!) The Office of Community Safety is charged with expanding B-HEARD even further.
B-HEARD coverage map as of 2024
One thing I'll be watching for: research consistently shows that the most effective crisis response teams include a peer, someone who has personally experienced mental health crises or substance abuse. Mamdani's campaign policy memo explicitly discussed adding a peer element, and this new Office feels like the right home for making that happen…
Why this office is a big deal
Cynics will say this is just consolidation — moving existing offices under one roof — and incremental growth of existing programs. But the part that matters is the structure: one deputy mayor whose entire job is to walk into every room and ask "what does this mean for community safety?"
Pair that with a “Strategic Initiatives” division specifically designed to test bold new ideas, and we see a real foundation for the future we want: making shootings a rarity and getting people in crisis help instead of handcuffs.
Till next time,
Niki
Have a question about policy you want answered? Reply and I'll dig into it for a future issue. Last time a reader asked about the millionaire tax and we went full myth-buster, so don't be shy.
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