On Tuesday, Jan. 30, City council members representing the Bronx voted overwhelmingly to override Mayor Eric Adams’ veto of the police transparency bill commonly known as the How Many Stops Act.
Adams strongly opposed the bill, claiming that officers would be required to do paperwork for every interaction, no matter how minor, adding hours to their workload. In recent weeks, the debate intensified as Adams and the council both accused each other of spreading misinformation about the bill.
On Tuesday, the council overrode the mayor’s veto by a vote of 42 to 9, far exceeding the two-thirds majority required.
Newly-elected Republican Kristy Marmarato of District 13 (northeast Bronx) was the lone Bronx council member to vote against the bill. Her predecessor, Democrat Marjorie Velázquez, also voted against it in December.
In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, Marmarato said, “I proudly stand with my brothers and sisters in blue. I will continue to stand and fight for them and protect our public safety.”
“Considering police attrition and resource strain,” she continued, “we must assess the impact on efficiency and allocate resources judiciously.”
But among Bronx council members, Marmarato was alone in her “no” vote.
Council Members Diana Ayala, Rafael Salamanca, Jr., Eric Dinowitz, Kevin C. Riley, Pierina Ana Sanchez, Oswald Feliz, Althea Stevens and Amanda Farías all voted in favor of the bill in December and for Tuesday’s override vote. Ayala, whose district includes parts of the South Bronx, was one of the bill’s sponsors.
At Tuesday’s stated meeting, Stevens — who serves on the Committee on Public Safety and represents District 16 including Morisania, Concourse and Yankee Stadium-Macombs Dam Park — testified that the vote to override “sends the signal that this is not against you [police and corrections officers]. This is about making sure everyone is safe.”
Stevens pointed to inequities in past enforcement of stop and frisk that created the need for the new accountability bill.
“I’m really concerned that [police officers] are going so hard to not have transparency,” Stevens said. “Why is it that they don’t want these numbers recorded?”
Sanchez explained her vote in a statement shared on X:
“…in the end, we all share a desire: a better relationship between the NYPD and our communities, respect and appreciation for our neighbors. The only way we can get there is with a full accounting of how we are doing, asking: how many stops, who was stopped, why were they stopped, was the motive constitutional?”
“I hear consistently from New Yorkers in all five boroughs who want both good police officers as well as strenuous and objective oversight. I truly believe this bill satisfies both of those requirements,” said Farías, who was recently appointed Majority Leader of the council, in a statement published by the Bronx Times.
Public Advocate Jumaane Williams made the rounds last week to full board meetings of Bronx Community Boards 1 and 2 to dispel what he characterized as misinformation from the mayor.
Community opposition to the bill was strong, Williams said — but often based on incorrect information.
He distributed a flyer titled “Myths vs Facts,” which said that the bill “requires basic data reporting for police investigative stops that are intrusive to civilians, particularly in Black and Latino communities. NYPD has the resources and technology to make this reporting simple and doable.”
In a statement following the override vote, Williams expressed concern over the conflicting messaging already received by the public.
“It’s an important day for everyone committed to the hard work of advancing true public safety, made all the harder by a relentless misinformation campaign from this administration,” Williams said. “It could take years to undo the damage from an intentional campaign of dishonesty.”
Reach Emily Swanson at eswanson@schnepsmedia.com or (646) 717-0015. For more coverage, follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram @bronxtimes
