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arrow NYPD at a protest in 2020. Scott Heins/Gothamist While more moderate candidates are gaining steam in the heated race for New York City mayor, as talk of criminal justice reform gets overshadowed by spikes in gun violence and hate crimes, there’s an effort underway in City Council races to promote candidates who promise to push issues of police reform to the political left. Neighborhoods such as Soundview in the Bronx, Stapleton on Staten Island, and Kew Gardens in Queens, have candidates for City Council pledging to reduce the budget of the New York Police Department and invest that money in social services. They’re backed by left-leaning groups like the Democratic Socialists of America, the Working Families Party, and Black Lives Matter organizers. Some have no institutional backing at all, but still support the demands of demonstrators who flooded New York City streets last summer demanding a reduction to the NYPD’s budget among other changes.