City Council member Phil Wong has voiced disappointment with Mayor Zohran Mamdani's $125.8 billion budget, stating it fails to allocate funds for any new New York Police Department (NYPD) officers. Wong, who represents Central Queens, contends that this decision prioritizes other areas over public safety, arguing that residents assess safety by police response times rather than official statements.
"New Yorkers do not judge public safety by City Hall press releases. They judge it by whether someone answers when a neighborhood is in trouble," Wong stated. He expressed that the budget's omission of additional NYPD personnel is a significant setback.
Wong cited specific incidents to illustrate his concerns. He described a situation in April where over 100 vehicles converged on 69th Street and Eliot Avenue in Queens, engaging in dangerous activities such as performing donuts around a fire and damaging a marked police vehicle. According to Wong, officers were unavailable to respond to this incident because they were handling a separate car meetup elsewhere. He noted that while arrests were made, five individuals connected to the Eliot Avenue event remain at large.
Another incident mentioned involved dozens of e-bikes circulating recklessly on a track at Juniper Valley Park. Wong's office reportedly contacted the local precinct, expecting a response, but officers never arrived. Approximately an hour later, a 5-year-old girl was struck by an e-bike in the park. Subsequent calls to the precinct revealed that only two patrol cars were operational and covering one of the city's largest precincts at the time.
"Our cops are doing their best. But they cannot be everywhere at once, and families should not have to wait until someone is hurt before a dangerous situation gets attention," Wong commented, emphasizing that this is not an isolated issue affecting only Queens, but a city-wide concern.
He further called for increased presence of Parks Enforcement Patrol officers in city parks. Wong asserted that Mayor Mamdani had the financial capacity within the current budget to make public safety a priority by increasing the NYPD headcount, but instead chose not to. "At $125.8 billion, that is not a lack of resources. It is a choice," he concluded. "New Yorkers deserve better."