100+ Org Letter Urging City Council to Sustain Veto of Intro. 175-B

Over 100 organizations sent a letter urging the City Council to sustain the veto of Intro. 175-B, protect free speech and student safety, stand in opposition to all legislation restricting the right to assemble, and pursue solutions that protect students while safeguarding civil liberties and advancing racial equity.

Intro. 175-B requires the NYPD Commissioner to develop a plan for the establishment of security perimeters around every entrance and exit of “educational facilities” across New York City. This bill is simply not a transparency measure as supporters state. Intro. 175-B does not ask the NYPD to outline current policies and practices related to how and when police are deployed to educational facilities, but rather calls on the NYPD to advance one particular response – security perimeters – to respond to protests near covered facilities. Combating hate requires policies that expand rights, protect free expression, encourage dialogue, and invest in communities, not measures that curtail constitutional freedoms or expand policing and surveillance.