- 5/30/2025
Mayor Eric Adams and other city officials announced a new initiative to improve the quality of and safety in New York City's Central Park.
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00:00Good morning, and thank you for joining us here today.
00:04My name is Camille Joseph-Varlak, and I serve as Chief of Staff and Deputy Mayor for Administration.
00:09I say it all the time, but our Community Link Initiative is one of the projects that I am
00:13proudest of.
00:14It tackles chronic quality of life issues in this city directly.
00:19We talk to the community leaders, we get on the ground, and we fix problems with comprehensive,
00:24collaborative, and community-focused solutions to ensure that no neighborhood is overlooked
00:30or underserved.
00:32Today, I'm pleased to announce that we're expanding our efforts to Central Park.
00:36And to tell you more about our ongoing work, I'm pleased to introduce Mayor Eric Adams.
00:41Thank you so much, Deputy Mayor.
00:44I'm not sure if you know what team I'm rooting for, but let's go next.
00:52Exciting game last night.
00:54At the Garden, and just real good energy and resiliency.
00:59They led from the start and did not lose the lead at all.
01:04But on a serious note, many of us know the passing of my mentor, my friend, and a real
01:12leader for this city, a patriot who fought in the Korean War, who led Harlem.
01:20And we called him affectionately the Lion of Lenox Avenue, Congressman Charlie Rangel.
01:28He will be Lion in State at City Hall.
01:32Our team is going to coordinate with the City Council for the exact date.
01:37So those who knew or those who benefited from the congressman, they will have an opportunity
01:44to come to City Hall as we have his body will be Lion in State at City Hall.
01:50I think the last time we did this was for Councilman James E. Davis.
01:55We want to show that, just a high-level respect for a leader.
02:00Of my knowledge that there's only two congressmen I can recall from Harlem, and that was the great
02:05Congressman Adam Clayton Pyle and the Congressman Charlie Rangel.
02:10And so we're looking forward to show him the respect that he's due.
02:15So an important day today.
02:18This is a beautiful park.
02:20It is an oasis.
02:21It's a place of energy.
02:22It's a place where people come together.
02:24As I was walking with Betsy, as we walked in, she was sharing with me that over 40 million
02:32visitors come to Central Park.
02:35This is an attraction.
02:38People know Central Park from all across the entire globe.
02:41They know of this beautiful space, an oasis in the middle of Manhattan with all of the
02:48brick, mortar, and buildings.
02:49There's a place you can come.
02:50And there's room for everyone from 59th Street to all the way up to Harlem.
02:56People have found this as a place of refuge and a place to really interact and to cross-pollinate
03:02not only with the beautiful flowers and trees, but the people.
03:05This park is a great equalizer.
03:07It doesn't matter if you are a bartender or a banker, a CEO or just someone, let's say,
03:14an admirer of our cultural institutions.
03:17The park is going to treat you all the same way.
03:20And so we're proud to be here today.
03:22This is New York City's backyard.
03:25We've talked about it all the times where families come here, joggers, cyclists come here, tourists
03:30come here.
03:31But no matter who is in this park, they must be safe.
03:34And that's what today is about, is to ensure a cross-cap collaboration of all of our agencies
03:41to make this and continue to be the safest big city in America, but also the safest park as all our parks.
03:48And we know that some of the issues that have been plaguing the location is everything from illegal
03:54vending to overflowing trash, excessive noise, substance use, and more have persisted for far too long.
04:02And the Conservancy have been doing their job, and we want to make sure that we're doing our job.
04:07So today, we're announcing the Central Park Conservancy Partnership, a multi-agency response
04:14aimed at addressing public safety and improving the quality of life in and around Central Park.
04:21This partnership, which is part of our Community Link Initiative, Deputy Mayor Joseph Volok has been
04:30overlooking this with Deputy Mayor Daughtry, and improves coordination across enforcement agencies,
04:36increases public education for park goers.
04:40We're bringing together NYPD and New York City Parks, the Parks Enforcement Patrol, the Central Park Conservancy,
04:48a new Ranger Corps, and many more agencies to be zero focused on the quality of life in our parks.
04:56So no more trash, no more debris, illegal vending, unlawful petty cabs, or excessive noise,
05:03forcing family tourists to cut their visits short in this rural-class park.
05:09And we know that New Yorkers and tourists are fed up with these quality of life concerns.
05:13This is part of our 1,500-man unit, a woman unit in the New York City Police Department to specifically
05:20go after quality of life issues. This is a continuation of that. And so I want to be clear,
05:26our administration, we don't believe in the philosophy of anything goes in our parks and on our
05:32streets. We want to make sure that we have the quality of life issues addressed and corrected,
05:37and that is our North Star. And this is why we launched our community league operation across
05:42the city. This is one of the locations we have launched many more. We're working hand in hand
05:49with the community to keep our neighbors safe. This team's intensive effort has already responded to
05:56over 1,500 complaints and conducted over 1,600 operations across our city addressing our quality
06:04of life issues and concerns raised by communities. We hear that in all of our town halls, all of our
06:10forums. People specifically are concerned about those quality of life issues, and that is why we're going
06:15to focus on them. We know crime is down and jobs are up. That's a successful model that we're able to
06:21proclaim. But you can't give people stats when they're worried about abandoned vehicles, public drug usage,
06:30or any other quality of life issue. We want people to be safe. We were successful in doing that, but we
06:36want them to feel safe. And we're going to continue this decline in crime even in the month of April.
06:42Many people don't realize Sunday before Memorial Day, we had zero shooters in this city. And that weekend
06:50was one of the safest Memorial Day weekends in the history of this city.
06:58And so we're looking forward to a six quarter of decline in crime. And here in Central Park,
07:04this precinct, crime is down 50% in this precinct year to day, driven by a 90% reduction in robberies
07:12and nearly a 29% reduction in grand lawsuit. Great job to the CEO here. 90% reduction in robberies.
07:24Additionally, we have shut down more than 1500 illegal smoke shops across the five boroughs,
07:30and are reopening one shuttered shops into legal businesses. We have taken thousands of illegal guns
07:35off our streets, and more than 2,000 alone this year of illegal guns removed off our street.
07:4421,800 since we came into office of these illegal guns. And many of them, or a substantial portion
07:51of them, are ghost guns. And so it's a zero focus. And most importantly, when we think about quality of
07:58life, those pesky two wheel scooters, dirt bikes, illegal cars, ghost cars, the numbers are staggering.
08:0899,000 of those illegal vehicles have been removed off our streets. And many of them have been crushed
08:15and destroyed, are never to be used again. So this city, in order to be safe, people must feel safe,
08:21and people must be safe. And we are going to continue that movement forward. It's the best place to raise
08:27children and families, and no greater partnership than the Central Park Conservancy. We look forward
08:32to continue this great work and having our city a place to enjoy and to raise our children and family.
08:38Happy summer. Have a great summer. And most importantly, I don't think anything can be more
08:43significant than saying, let's go Knicks.
08:50Thank you, Mayor. I would now like to turn it over to Deputy Mayor for Public Safety, Cass Daughtry.
08:57Thank you, Sheila.
09:02Ali, you couldn't clap for me.
09:06Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Thank you for your leadership in ensuring everyone involved in this initiative
09:12is aligned on one clear mission, to make Central Park safer, cleaner, and more enjoyable for everyone.
09:21This effort is about more than enforcement. It's about coordination, communication,
09:28and long-term strategies to protect the heart of New York City. Central Park is one of, if not the most
09:37iconic public space in the world. The public safety team is very happy to partner on all of these projects
09:46with the Chief of Staff and Deputy Mayor for Administration, Varlack, who leads the Community
09:51Link Team. And thank you to the teamwork for everyone here today. The park is safer, order is being restored,
10:01and people can really see and feel the difference. I want to recognize Jessica Cruz from my office, who has been leading this effort behind the scenes. Jess and our team work with every stakeholder to turn concerns.
10:09Concerns into action. Together, we created a punch list of 78 specific action items to improve the safety and the quality of life inside Central Park.
10:26To date, 48 are completed, 13 are in progress, and 11 are long-term ongoing efforts.
10:38That team work includes accessing and upgrading lighting and camera systems across the park to improve visibility, deter crime, and support enforcement.
10:49Coordinating enforcement strategies to address illegal vending and unlicensed pedicabs while also engaging directly with the vendors and the pedicab operators to prevent violations before they even occur.
11:02Launching a dedicated pedicab task force to drive long-term solutions to bring operators into compliance and to hold bad actors accountable for and to protect the riders.
11:15Educating park goers. Educating park goers on the rights when riding in a pedicab or buying from a vendor because protecting consumers and preventing scams is key to keeping the space safe and fair for everyone.
11:30Strengthening coordination between the newly launched Central Park Conservancy Ranger Corps, the NYPD Park Precincts, and Park Enforcement Patrol,
11:39so our teams are sharing information in real-time and working as one, increasing surveys for drug paraphernalia and expanding outreach to people experiencing homelessness,
11:51connecting them to the services and keeping the park clean and accessible to all.
11:57And we are backing this work with real enforcement, where it counts.
12:02Park Enforcement Patrol has issued 289 summits this year related to pedicab violations,
12:08and the NYPD Central Park Precinct has issued 194 related summits, up from 162 the same time period last year.
12:17The NYPD has also seized 19 pedicabs so far this year, compared to just one during the same time period last year.
12:26As for illegal vending, Park Enforcement Patrol has issued 294 summits this year to date,
12:32and the Central Park Precinct has issued 38 vending-related summits and conducted 17 seizure operations.
12:40Officers also made three arrests for trademark counterfeiting, recovering 203 counterfeit items,
12:45with an estimated street value of nearly $55,000.
12:49This teamwork matters even more as we head into the summer,
12:53when even more people are coming out to enjoy Central Park.
12:58This is the We Outside Summer, man.
13:04Whenever you are outside, we outside, too, keeping you safe.
13:09And let me be clear, we are not here for quick fixes or one-off crackdowns.
13:14Our goal is to create long-term solutions to reduce the need for enforcement, even in the first place.
13:20And it's also already working.
13:23We are seeing fewer violations related to pedicabs and vending, because people are following the rules.
13:28Last year, the park saw an uptick in crime.
13:31As the mayor said this year, crime is down, jobs are up,
13:34and we are expected to continue that trend and keep this summer this park safe,
13:41thanks to the coordinated efforts that you see here standing behind me today.
13:46This level of coordination does not exist under the previous administration,
13:49but the mayor changed the game with the Community Link Initiative.
13:53Thank you very much to Deputy Mayor Joseph Varlock for that.
13:57Community Link is about taking action, tackling issues and progress, and delivering real-time results.
14:05That's exactly what's happening here in Central Park and many neighborhoods across our city.
14:10I'd like to thank the team and the agencies and our partners and the community members who are here,
14:14and everyone, thank you for your help, for making this park safer and stronger,
14:18and please come outside.
14:24Thank you, D.M. Daughtry.
14:26And finally, but not with, can barely understate, cannot underscore enough, excuse me,
14:34the importance of our partnership in this effort with the president of the Central Park Conservancy, Betsy Smith.
14:46First of all, thank you very much, Mayor Adams.
14:49You understand Central Park completely and how important it is.
14:52We often say at the Conservancy that Central Park is sort of a barometer about the way people feel about the city,
14:58and when it's safe and it's clean and people feel comfortable and there's not a lot of quality-of-life violations,
15:04people feel New York's good because we have so many people.
15:07So thank you so much for your appreciation of that.
15:10My name is Betsy Smith.
15:11I'm the president and CEO of the Central Park Conservancy,
15:15the not-for-profit civic institution that has been caring for the park for over 40 years.
15:20We are very, very pleased to recognize this critical partnership with the city of New York.
15:26By working with all of our partners and all the various agencies,
15:31we are able to maintain Central Park as a respite for the millions of New Yorkers and visitors every year.
15:37That's why I'm so excited about this new initiative,
15:40so that we can do everything we can to make the park safe, accessible, and welcoming to everyone.
15:47Through our collaboration with the deputy mayor of public safety's office,
15:51we meet weekly with over a dozen agencies, all steered by the deputy mayor's team,
15:55and we are all working together to tackle whatever the challenge of the day might be.
16:01And so far, as the deputy mentioned, there has been very, very impressive results.
16:06But more specifically, when the conservancy, for example,
16:10when our staff hears that there's street lights that are out,
16:13we have a new protocol with the Department of Transportation to make sure the lights get fixed and fast.
16:19When we express concern about quality of life issues along 110th Street,
16:24we began a conversation with the Department of Homeless Services
16:27that has resulted in 48 New Yorkers being connected to housing.
16:32When a member of our staff sees something concerning in the park,
16:35we are able to communicate with PEP and with NYPD in real time
16:39and get the help that's needed to address whatever problem has been discussed.
16:44And to bolster these efforts, we're so proud of our new Central Park Ranger Corps.
16:52This has been a long time in the making.
16:54We really see it as additional eyes and ears for our city partners.
16:59We are in the park, on the ground, looking, talking to everybody every single day.
17:05So our rangers are designed to address visitor concerns and quality of life issues.
17:13The Ranger Corps is tasked with protecting the park and serving as a point of contact for the public.
17:19They were very closely with our partners in government to keep the park safe and welcoming.
17:23And none of it would have happened without the cooperation of all these city agencies.
17:27And that is really the brilliance of this initiative.
17:29If you want to solve problems, you need to get everybody at the table,
17:33and then you need to keep meeting until the job is done, which in our case is going to be forever.
17:38We're really hoping this is a long-term initiative that just lives throughout the next decades,
17:44because that's what we need to keep 40 million people safe in the park every year.
17:49Not every park, though, has the same challenges,
17:52but every park can benefit from this kind of tailored, multi-agency approach.
17:56And we are thrilled to be a part of this pilot program.
18:01It takes a village, as people say, and in many ways Central Park is its own village.
18:07We have so many different constituencies and so many different users.
18:10So we could not be more grateful for the level of help and communication that we are getting
18:15from the mayor's office and from all of our agency friends as we head into the busy summer season.
18:20So I just want to thank you so much.
18:22This has been an extremely effective partnership, and we'll do everything we can,
18:28leading with our rangers and everyone at the Conservancy,
18:32to help the city keep Central Park the iconic place it is for the worldwide reputation that it has.
18:39Thank you so much.
19:10Before we put extra cameras in here, some cameras that people will see, some will not see.
19:17New technology cameras where they are also hooked up to electric, but they're also solar-powered as well.
19:22You will also see extra park patrol officers, PEP officers.
19:27We, my office is working with the NYPD to secure 12 to 15 new bikes for bike patrol inside of Central Park.
19:37That's breaking news if you want to hit the button because I didn't say that yet.
19:40And you're going to see some of the park police officers, mounted teams, as well as some of the field forces,
19:47where one field force of officers in here, about 40 additional officers, especially during the week.
19:53And so you're going to see a lot of police personnel in here.
19:57And some cops you will not see also as well.
19:58We have some of our plainclothes officers that are going to be tasked to conduct vending operations in the park,
20:03and they're also looking out for crime, too.
20:04Yes, hi. Good morning, sir.
20:17Good morning.
20:17What is the specific regulation with respect to these pedicabs?
20:22Because if you go to Central Park South, for example, by 6th Avenue,
20:27it can be overwhelming when they're blasting their music, cutting people off.
20:32What is the regulation regarding that, and how is that specifically being addressed?
20:37Well, one thing for sure, and we're talking about some of the enforcement, it's not a petty concern, that's for sure.
20:44You know, we are really concerned with the over-proliferation of pedicabs that many of them are unlicensed.
20:52They're overcharging tourists.
20:54Some of the cases that we've heard are really astonishing when you think about people coming in to visit the city
21:02they don't want to be ripped off and harassed in a manner.
21:05And so we did several operations.
21:06You want to talk about those operations?
21:09Thanks, NJ.
21:10And that's one of the biggest concerns here in Central Park is the pedicabs.
21:14They're out of control.
21:16Last year we did a really big pedicab initiative through Midtown as well as even down in Central Park.
21:22But pedicab is just what it is, a pedicab.
21:25You notice some of these pedicabs, majority of them have motors on them.
21:28They're not supposed to have motors.
21:29And their prices are very deceiving to New Yorkers, especially tourists.
21:35When, you know, I'm coming here from a different country because this is the best place in the world.
21:40When they jump on a ride, it says $8.99.
21:43People think it is $8.99 per minute, but they're charging you $8.99 per person.
21:47So a ride around Central Park can cost a person almost $200.
21:50And that gets into a conflict between the rider, the ride-goer, and the pedicab operator.
21:55So when the officers come in and converge on them, initially they try to take off.
22:00But we have a really tactical plan in place for how we go after these individuals.
22:04But if you see a pedicab with a motor on it, if you don't see the license sticker on the side by the Consumer Worker Protection Program,
22:11they're supposed to be registered.
22:12And I would say about 95% of these pedicabs are not registered.
22:16They're not licensed.
22:17So it's an easy confiscation.
22:18And we're working with our law department to see ways of how we can take these pedicabs legally and lawfully
22:26and not give them back to the owner because we only can have them seasoned for a couple of days.
22:31So we're working with our legal teams, our law department, to come up with some sort of resolution
22:35so we can actually take these pedicabs permanently if they don't come pick them up.
22:38What about the music?
22:39The music is also.
22:40You're not supposed to have a sound reproductive device.
22:43They don't.
22:43I'm sure they don't go to the precinct to get one, right?
22:45No.
22:46So the, I mean, listen, the pedicabs are fun for attractive for people that are not from here.
22:52But sometimes they do take advantage of our tourists, and we don't want that.
22:57We want people to come here, have a good time.
22:58We don't want them to get into altercations with the pedicab drivers over a $250 fare,
23:04which is sometimes absurd.
23:10Thanks all.
23:11Good job.