A small group of faith-based community advocates gathered at Barclays Center on Tuesday, advocating for the fiscal 2025 city budget to include more money for social services while reducing funds for the police department.
The group was comprised of religious leaders and community advocates, most of whom belonged to the grassroots federation known as Faith in New York, an interfaith association of dozens of congregations across the city supporting social justice.
“As people of faith, we believe that budgets are moral documents,” said Crystal Walthall, executive director of Faith in New York. “Where you put your money is where you put your power, your investment, what you believe in. And right now what our Mayor and City Council are saying is that they don’t believe in our communities, that they’re gonna divest.”
The group asked the City to stop the New York City Police Department from building a $225 million police training facility and hiring an additional 1,200 officers.
In addition, advocates said they would like to see the NYPD pare down their social media presence, get officers out of mental health response teams, stop police hirings in schools and demobilize the NYPD’s Strategic Response Group, which deals with terrorism and protests.
Instead, spending should focus on affordable housing, public education and more mental health resources, the advocates said. As the City Council currently debates FY2025 funding, city schools could lose up to $1 billion, according to Chalkbeat New York.
About 20 people chanted “Care, not cuts!” as they marched from Next Step Community Church on Schermerhorn Street to Barclays Center.
The advocates also set up tables and offered voter registration cards, email links to various city council members and set up a shared poster board where passerbys could write down their hopes and prayers.
Also present were representatives from the Civic Engagement Commission, a city office that supports public engagement in civic activities. They gave out information about Participatory Budgeting, where New Yorkers can vote on how the city spends on various community projects, like classes and workshops.
“A lot of the time when we talk about money in the city, real New Yorkers or real citizens of New York are never asked to come to those conversations to really give insight in regards to how things should be done in their communities,” said Rev. Franklin Wilson, a co-chair on the New York Restorative Justice Team from Faith in New York. “We are working citizens. We pay taxes. We should be a part of those conversations.”
Donavan Taveras, a community defense coordinator with the nonprofit Justice Committee, said he was at the rally to call on the City Council to use its power to ensure the fiscal 2025 city budget reflects the demands of the people of the city.
“Anything short of divesting from the criminalization of New Yorkers so that there can be real investment in critical agencies and non-police safety alternatives, is a danger to New Yorkers and a waste of our money,” he said.
