All progressive eyes are on Maya Wiley. After the dramatic implosions of the Scott Stringer and Dianne Morales campaigns, Wiley stands as the last great hope of left-leaning New Yorkers seeking to avoid electing as mayor of New York City a former Republican and cop, a confused tech bro whose platform includes more police and no NYPD budget cuts, or a proudly moderate former de Blasio appointee. Andrew Yang, Eric Adams and Kathryn Garcia, the other top contenders, oppose even the lowest-hanging fruit of NYPD reform: taking final authority to fire bad cops away from the police commissioner and giving it to an agency specifically tasked with police oversight. Their election would be a disaster for those who have marched this last year for the memory of George Floyd and the countless other victims of police violence.
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Years ago, before he was mayor, Bill de Blasio laid out the essence of any effort to reform the country’s largest police department. New York City needed true civilian oversight.
Describing the city agency tasked with investigating police misconduct as “more of a lapdog than a watchdog,” he proposed in 2009 to give it more independence, authority, and guaranteed funding. A few months later, he again pledged change, saying in a statement, “the NYPD cannot oversee itself.”