Transcript: Mayor Adams, NYPD Commissioner Tisch Launch New Quality of Life Division to Enhance Public Safety and Community Trust

April 10, 2025

Mayor Eric Adams: These are faces that are behind me, that they have been with us for so many years. They are unsung heroes during some very difficult moments. They have responded accordingly and they are true New York heroes. And it's really good seeing many of you. They have been the voices of just quality of life, because they are quality people. 

From our bodegas, to our crisis management groups, to our religious leaders, to those who helped us during the asylum seekers. Sheikh Musa is here, and just so many people who are here. And we want to thank them for joining us. And we were very clear, we have not wavered off our message from day one. Public safety is the prerequisite to prosperity. And we have said it over and over again, and the results are speaking for themselves. 

And so I really want to just thank them for joining us today, because every New Yorker deserves a safe place to raise their children and families. And nothing personifies that more than a quality of life, a safe and clean community. Our streets and sidewalks should be clean [and] well lit. And our families should be able to enjoy all of the activities that come with a safe environment. And streets that are free from illegal activities, and where they are safe from gun violence and other crimes. 

Today, we are taking public safety to the next level with the creation of a new NYPD Quality of Life Division. Since day one, the administration has been clear, as I stated over and over again, we will not tolerate an atmosphere of any and everything goes. We said it over and over again, and we have ensured on every level of every agency, making sure every place, everywhere we are going to have a city that is clean and safe. 

The Quality of Life division will begin operations next Monday with the pilot program in five precincts and one housing PSA area. These commands will have localized precinct based Q teams that the police commissioner will go into specifically. And they will be made up of officers who have already forged relationships with their communities and have additional training on resolving quality of life conditions once and for all. The role of a police officer is to correct conditions. That's the job of a police officer. 

And the best way to correct conditions is to have pre-existing relationships and communicate with the men and women in organizations that are surrounding us now. These officers that are assigned will help reduce crime and improve quality of life, making our neighborhoods continue to be more and more livable. Issues like illegal vending, substance use, abandoned vehicles, illegal mopeds and reckless driving and more have persisted for far too long. And we want to ensure that we [continue] to move our city in the right direction. 

Our Q teams will be leading the line, working hand in hand with [the] community to keep our neighborhoods safe and address these quality of life concerns. As part of this new division, we are launching QSTAT, a program modeled after CompStat. New York City revolutionized under Bill Bratton, the former commissioner of the role of CompStat more than thirty years ago, holding precinct commanders accountable and using real time data to adjust police deployment. This tried and true method has spread and is being tried all over the globe. And we are going to use the same recipe for success this time to address quality of life issues. 

QSTAT will help us track and tackle quality of life issues using real time data and deployment. And today's announcement also built on our recent achievement and success. I don't think it is being mentioned enough how well this Police Department is operating in the job that the commissioner is doing. We have had five straight quarters of decreasing crime since January 1st, 2024. Looking at a quarter representing three months as [five straight quarters] of decrease in crime. And we are shattering crime records. 

The first three months of this year saw the lowest number of shootings in recorded history. Since the start of modern crime tracking, there has never been this few number of shootings in any quarter in New York in any year. And you add that to removing 21,000 guns off our streets. And just this year, 1,400 guns were removed off our street, including those that are ghost guns. 

New York City additionally saw the fewest number of murders and recorded second fewest number of murders. The second fewest number of murders in recorded history. So this trend is continuing. Transit crime has also gone down by double digits in the first quarter for all boroughs that have subway service. And was at the lowest level in recorded history, minus one year of the pandemic when no one was on the trains. We have moved. We're moving in the right direction. 

The train has left the station and crime is not on it. I like that. So we know that public safety is more than just crime stats. We got that and we hear it over and over again. I don't think the commissioner and I don't go to events where people keep saying, “Well, we don't feel safe. We don't feel safe. We don't feel safe”. 

We know our success in numbers must match the success in how people are feeling. And part of that is we're asking all of you out there and in the media to let's not find the worst thing that happens in our city in the day and make it seem like it defines our city. Let's highlight how well we have turned the city around so New Yorkers can enjoy the city. 

Sixty five million tourists, second highest in the city history, have returned to the city and enjoy the city. If they know we're safe, the New Yorkers should enjoy the city as well. So time and time again, I talk to New Yorkers about their perception of safety. Their concerns frequently come down to quality of life problems, making them feel less safe. 

So we will not rest until we address the issues that have affected the lives of everyday New Yorkers. And we continue to work to make every borough, every neighborhood and every block safer across our city. Job well done. Commissioner Tisch will go into the details of this important initiative.

Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch: Thank you, Mayor Adams. And as always, thank you for your continued support. The men and women of the NYPD and of the noble work that they do every day. This is an important day for New York City. This announcement has been a long time coming. But I'll admit it's a bit atypical because today and this may sound strange coming from the police commissioner is not about crime. 

Today is about improving the quality of life for everyday New Yorkers in their neighborhoods, on their blocks and at their front doors. It's about addressing conditions that have plagued our communities for years. And finally, having a consistent, coordinated plan at the local level to do something about it. 

Over the last quarter, the NYPD's work against crime and violence, as you just heard from the mayor, has been exceptional. Shootings at their lowest level ever. The second fewest homicides in recorded history. Double-digit crime declines in our precincts, in our subways and our housing developments. Your NYPD officers are doing an incredible job and that should never go unnoticed. But New Yorkers are telling us that even as crime falls, that they still don't feel safe. 

So we're putting together a plan to address illegal parking, abandoned vehicles, homeless encampments, unreasonable noise, out of control scooters and e-bikes, open air drug markets and more. All of this, especially when it's compounded day after day, gives people the impression of chaos and disorder. It erodes our sense of public safety and New Yorkers have had enough. Over the past six years, calls to 311 centered on quality of life issues have nearly doubled. 

From 2018 to 2024, complaints about panhandling are up over 2,000 percent. Calls about homeless encampments are up 500 percent. Illegal parking complaints are up 200 percent, and noise complaints have increased by over 100 percent. New Yorkers are frustrated and they're pleading for our help. So we are here with Mayor Adams and community partners to tell them that the NYPD hears you. We understand the problem. 

And now, with the launch of the NYPD's new quality of life division, we are reorganizing our department to address it. Starting on Monday, select officers will be assigned to specialized quality of life teams or Q teams and will respond to 311 complaints and address quality of life conditions in their precinct or PSA seven days a week. They will coordinate with agency partners to resolve these issues efficiently and effectively. And team members have received additional training in the wide range of jobs that they'll handle every day. 

The six pilot commands will be the 40 precinct in the Bronx, the 60, 75 and PSA one in Brooklyn, the 101 in Queens and here in the 13th precinct in Manhattan. After this pilot phase is complete, the initiative will expand citywide. The division will have a unified structure led by a new chief of quality of life who will report directly to the chief of department. 

The quality of life chief will oversee the division, manage analytics and administrative support and coordinate borough based citywide resources. And under this division, we are centralizing units such as our vehicle recovery team, our smoke shop task force, our encampment team, community link and others. Each Q team will be supervised by a dedicated quality of life sergeant and staffing will be guided by the commands C.O. 

This initiative involves the reorganization of nearly 2,000 members of our department when it's fully rolled out. But I want to assure New Yorkers right away, this will not affect staffing associated with 911 emergency response. It is no secret that we're short on cops. Over the past several months, we've moved thousands of officers out of desk jobs and back to patrol and that does help. But ultimately, this is an internal restructuring of personnel already within precincts and a recentering of our approach to public safety. 

Next month, the division's work will be assessed and evaluated in our first QSTAT meeting as the mayor said. These monthly meetings will focus on responses to 311, community engagement, and the identification of chronic conditions and strategies to resolve them. And just like CompStat meetings do, QSTAT will provide enhanced accountability, coordination and accurately measure our progress. QSTAT is the logical evolution of the CompStat revolution that began 32 years ago. 

We are ushering in the next era of policing in New York City at the right time, in the right places, and for the right reasons. And on that point, I need to be very clear about one thing. Some have criticized this as a return to zero tolerance policing, which is a complete mischaracterization of what we're doing here. We are addressing quality of life issues, yes, but this is [a] different policy for a different purpose. 

In 2025, quality of life enforcement is not about preventing more serious crimes. It is about improving quality of life. It's about being responsive to actual community complaints and fixing the very real issues people are dealing with everyday. That is why we're doing this. The vast majority of New Yorkers have never been the victim of a crime. In fact, most of them have never even witnessed a crime. 

But many of them have struggled to find parking because abandoned vehicles are taking up spots in the neighborhood, or had to jump out of the way for an e-bike on the sidewalk, or avoided walking through a park with their kids because people were there openly using drugs. These encounters make people feel less safe. They make you not want to walk through the neighborhood or take the bus or go to the corner store. And it's that feeling that we need to change. 

Our methods are different from thirty years ago, too. There are no quotas or inflexible activity targets. This is not zero tolerance policing. When correcting these conditions, officers will have discretion. And discretion starts with engagement. Even the most progressive members of the City Council write letters to my office, asking me what the NYPD is going to do about all of the quality of life complaints in their districts. This is about listening to what New Yorkers are telling us and responding to their repeated calls for help. 

In the nation's largest and most densely populated city, where millions of people share just a few hundred square miles of space, there will always be complaints about noise, about parking, traffic, and disorder. On any given day, our officers are far more likely to respond to a blocked driveway than to a burglary. Because of this, our cops need to be more than just great crime fighters. They need to be great problem solvers. 

And now, under the mayor's leadership, they will have the training, the tools, and the time to give New Yorkers the quality of life that they have been begging for. In this city, in Mayor Adams' city, results matter. And that is exactly what the Quality of Life Division will deliver. Now you're going to hear from Francisco Marte, president and founder of the Bodega and Small Business Association of New York. 

Francisco Marte, President and Founder, Bodega and Small Business Group: Thank you, all of you, for being here. My name is Francisco Marte. I'm the President and Founder of Bodega and Small Business Group. I moved to the Bronx when I was 19 years old. I opened my first store, and that was in the late 80s. During that time of violence, I have been shot three different times in my life, but I keep moving forward. 

And today, I advocated, along with my friends, for thousands of bodegas, beauty salons, barbershops, and beauty parlors. These small businesses are the fabric of our community. They hold together every neighborhood across the five boroughs. They keep our neighbor, our cities, moving forward, and millions of New Yorkers rely on them every single day. 

Just like with every New Yorker, small business owners need our street and subway to be safe, and the business to thrive. The work that Mayor Adams’ administration has done since day one, he drives the crime down, hasn't gone unnoticed. And we know that because we've been working hard before he even [became] the mayor.

Now, I’m [not] alone, and we say how grateful we are with the mayor and the police commissioner for being laser focused on delivering a safer city for all of our small business owners and the working families service. A safer city means a stronger local economy, a more prosperous city for all of us. It is true that when I talk to the small business owners, I represent, I hear the same complaints. These are exactly what New York is fearing, too. 

Loud noise, reckless e-bikes, [moped], illegal parking. For too long, the city government has ignored this quality of life complaints. But today, I'm truly with Mayor Adams, and the Police Commissioner Tisch to tackle them head on. Not only addressing this complaint makes our city safer and more livable, it will make New York feel safer, too. 

Mayor Adams knows that he has been talking about how important not only being safe, but also feeling safe from day one. And that's the most important thing, make the people feel safe. Because we are improving the quality of life, but some people don't feel safe. They don't feel safe. That's why we have to work, making the people feel safe. 

We want to feel safer, and this is the next step for that plan. This is going to go a long way, so I want to thank Mayor Adams and the Police Commissioner Tisch for fighting for us. Thank you so much.

Mayor Adams: Yeah, I think that as we join here also, brothers and sisters from the United Bodegas of America, I think our bodegas are real indicators on how well we are doing as a city. They see firsthand, and having both these organizations here means a lot. Why don't we open it to a few on topic? 

Question: Yes, for the commissioner, what is the plan to either enforce or contain e-bikes, bicycles that just zigzag everywhere, [and] don't adhere to any sort of traffic?

Commissioner Tisch: It's actually one of the largest pieces of feedback that I get from New Yorkers about e-bikes and scooters either out of control or up on the sidewalk. And so we've done a good, hard look at the data. 

We've looked for where we're seeing the most complaints, where we're seeing the most collisions, where we're seeing the most injuries. And we are deploying our officers accordingly to those corridors to do a major crackdown on this issue. 

And I want to be very clear that the Quality of Life teams are a part of that crackdown. We are going to have, with these Q teams, dedicated officers in all precincts at all hours of the day. Starting with the first six pilot commands, at all hours of the day, focused on these types of quality of life issues that New Yorkers are telling us that they want addressed.

Question: Will they physically stop the bikes?

Commissioner Tisch: So enforcement is different depending on what the condition is. But yes, in some circumstances, they will be stopping the bikes and they will be deployed in corridors where we're seeing the most reports of issues with out-of-control e-bikes and scooters. 

Question: Can you explain some of the specialized training to address some of these things that are not always–

Commissioner Tisch: Yeah, so the Q teams are going to be, as I mentioned, responsible for addressing a whole host of issues that are very different than traditional crime fighting. So for example, with noise complaints, how you use noise meters with abandoned vehicles, how you work with the roto vendors to get the cars removed, what sorts of paperwork you have to fill out. 

They are getting a real deep dive focused training on how to address the very specific quality of life issues that are challenging their commands. And I want to also be clear that quality of life issues tend to vary from precinct to precinct. In certain precincts, like this one where there are some big parks, it might be drug use in a park. In another precinct, it might be abandoned vehicles. 

And so every Q team will get standard training, like generally on how to deal with the quality of life issues. But where there is a specific issue in a specific precinct, they'll get enhanced training as well. 

Question: [Inaudible] summons? 

Commissioner Tisch: As I mentioned, this is not a drag net. This is not zero tolerance policing. Our officers are going to be given an incredible amount of discretion on how to address the problem that they see in many instances that may be writing a summons in some instances that may just be engagement. Obviously, there are police officers in certain instances that may be making an arrest, but we trust our officers, and they're going to be given a wide amount of discretion on how to address the issue at hand.

Question: Mayor, why decide to test this with Commissioner Tisch and the NYPD? She freely admits this is not a thing for a commissioner to say, but this isn't about crime. Why give it to the NYPD, especially when everyone acknowledges we're probably short some cops here?

Mayor Adams: Because, first of all, the Police Department is probably one of the most dynamic agencies within the city. 24/7, seven days a week. Every sector must become familiar with their sector. The heart of removing the encampments that we witnessed on the street was the NYPD. They were not carrying out the enforcement of wrapping up the encampments. DSNY did that, our human services arm did that, but NYPD, they are the eyes and ears. 

No one knows, see something, say something, do something more than the men and women that wear the uniform. That's the starting point. So if a person is in an encampment, they're not going to execute the action of giving that person service. They're going to be the entryway of letting the other agencies know, here, we have a problem here, let's rectify that. 

During my days of policing, you had street conditions. We were reporting problems we saw, hazardous conditions in our precinct boundaries. So there's no greater starting point for the department than the New York City Police Department, or for the city, the New York City Police Department. They identify a condition, and some of those conditions are going to go beyond their scope of addressing. 

Other agencies must address that, and that's part of the whole Q-Stat, is to make sure the other agencies are stepping up and doing their job. We had a condition I was on, we were in the Bronx. There was a condition where a group of people were partying late at night, keeping up neighbors, drinking, drag racing. Once it came to our attention, we were able to go there and execute a real plan to address it. 

But the precinct sector was responsible for constantly monitoring that condition. So this is a perfect fit, and there's not a better fit to do than start with the New York City Police Department.

Question: Commissioner, if I could ask you about one specific quality of life issue. One of the most tragic and, I think, scary things for most New Yorkers is encountering an emotionally disturbed person. I think that's probably what's scaring most New Yorkers right now, particularly on the subway. 

So talk to me about how you can address that specific issue, because I think when people think quality of life, they think about that very scary situation.

Commissioner Tisch: Absolutely. And we recently announced that we are providing completely new overhauled training to every member of the service at the NYPD and how to address that very issue when they have police encounters with an emotionally disturbed person. We are starting with our academy class that is in right now. 

This is highly tactical training, not just the background on mental illness or mental health crisis, but how our officers should approach and handle situations when they encounter people suffering from severe mental illness. And I also want to mention on the last question that you asked the mayor, it is not just the New York City Police Department that is engaged in quality of life enforcement in New York City. 

Virtually every agency in the city has a role to play. As you know, previously I served as sanitation commissioner, and there we dealt with quality of life concerns all the time. They were different. Dirty street, dirty sidewalk, trash left out, early things that people call 311 to complain about. 

And one of the early things that the mayor tasked all agency commissioners with doing was developing a CompStat-like approach to quality of life issues. We did that at the Department of Sanitation. And this QStat that we are rolling out here at the NYPD is just a continuation of that. 

So I don't want to give the impression that the NYPD will be handling every single quality of life issue that people call 311 about. We will be the eyes and ears and obviously work with agency partners to address concerns as appropriate.

Question: Commissioner, how do you measure success and what guardrails will be in place to avoid some of what we've heard in the past with critics that this is policing white numbers or a pretext to conduct a stop and search?

Commissioner Tisch: So the CompStat book, which we've had for over thirty years in New York City, looks at the seven major crimes. And it goes through the numbers, what were the numbers last year, what are the numbers this year? 7-day period, 28-day period, year-to-date period. 

We're doing the same thing with our quality of life stuff that comes in through 311. So how many calls did we get, for example, for abandoned vehicles last year versus this year in the 7-day period, in the 28-day period, in the year-to-date period? So it is very much modeled after the CompStat book, but instead will be driven by the numbers from 311.

Question: As far as the guardrails that might be in place to avoid policing by numbers, so to speak?

Commissioner Tisch: Yeah, so in this initiative, as I mentioned previously, there are no quotas. There are no activity targets. Our Q-teams will be managed by sergeants focused on quality of life who will report to the special operations lieutenant in the precinct. 

And then ultimately, all of that work will be overseen by a new citywide chief of quality of life. The idea here is to put focus on it, to give a division responsibility and ownership of it to oversee it, and we believe that that is how we are going to drive results rather than based on just looking at numbers.

Question: Good morning, commissioner. What does this mean for the CRT teams, which were obviously taking the lead on this issue? Is the CRT being disbanded? If so, when? If not, how are their duties going to change given this initiative? And also, are the Q-teams, are they going to be wearing special uniform, khaki pants, or anything like that?

Commissioner Tisch: No special uniform at this time for the quality of life teams, but it's a good question that you raise. CRT has been, the community response teams, have been responsive to community concerns. Oftentimes, those concerns that they're responsive to are related to some nexus to violence. 

So it could be gun violence or robbery patterns on scooters, stolen vehicles, things that the precinct or the borough is hearing from the community, but oftentimes what CRT is called to have a real nexus to violence. The Q-teams, obviously they may have to deal with violence, but the things that we're talking about with the Q-teams are very much driven by 311, i.e. reports of nonviolent issues, and that's how to distinguish the two.