The City Council unanimously passed an amendment Thursday that would require the NYPD to submit to the Council crime reports for all city parks and playgrounds larger than one acre.
Currently, crimes are only reported in the city’s 31 largest green spaces.
The NYPD would also be required to post this data on the department’s website within five days of providing it to the Council, according to Peter Vallone Jr., chair of the City Council’s Public Safety Committee, who proposed the amendment.
The councilmember said the amendment will close a “loophole” from a bill he passed in 2006.
“It will help the public make more informed decisions about their safety,” said Vallone
That legislation originally required the crime reporting of 20 parks, but was supposed to be extended to hundreds more over three years. But, according to Vallone, the NYPD didn’t need to make those increases if the technology wasn’t available to do it.
The amendment will increase the amount of parks where crime is reported to over 870, Vallone said.
According to the legislation, the Police Department would be required to report crimes for 100 of the city’s largest parks initially, then that number would be increased over time, until January 2017 when all crimes for parks one acre or larger would be reported. In January 2018, crimes would be submitted for public pools, basketball courts, recreation centers and playgrounds that are not located within parks one acre or greater in size.
Vallone said he anticipates a veto from Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
It would be up to the next City Council to override his veto in January, he said.
“I’m sure my brother will lead the way on [the override], Vallone said, referring to Paul Vallone, who starts his term representing District 19 next month.
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