A moderate Democrat has been chosen to lead the New York City Council committee charged with debating Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s proposed Department of Community Safety.
Oswald Feliz, a Bronx councilman, was tapped by Council Speaker Julie Menin for the the crucial public safety committee leadership spot, replacing Manhattan lawmaker Yusef Salaam, who is further to the left.
Feliz, 35, could have a considerable role in determining if the new safety agency — which will be tasked with tackling mental health calls across the five boroughs — becomes a reality.
Menin, another moderate, vowed that she and Feliz would review “all public safety issues as they come” when asked about vetting the new department, which could cost around $1 billion.
“You have progressives on the public safety committee,” she said.
“You’ve got moderates. You’ve got a real ideological mix on public safety. So you’ve got a broad based ideological views on that committee. And we look forward to having that conversation.”
The proposed agency would change the way Big Apple authorities respond to 911.
NYPD cops would be removed from responding to some emergency calls for a person in emotional distress, which Mamdani has argued would allow police more time to fight other crimes.
Menin, who replaced now-former Queens Councilman Adrienne Adams as head of the Council, unveiled different committee assignments and leadership posts, including naming Queens lawmaker Natasha Williams deputy speaker and Manhattan elected official Shaun Abreu majority leader.
Menin, of the Upper East Side, said her committee decisions weren’t based on ideology.
“It’s about trying to restore faith in city government, which I think honestly, after the last four years, hit an all-time low around corruption, around fraud, around waste, around abuse. We are going to reform that,” she said in an apparent swipe at Eric Adams administration.
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