'Core 34' Vow to Override Veto

New York City Council member Jumaane Williams is livid at Mayor Bloomberg's veto of the Community Safety Act, saying "This Mayor should be embarrassed of himself. And he has embarrassed this city!"

 

Williams joined about a dozen City Council members outside City Hall Wednesday to protest the veto. Behind them stood a wide coalition of advocacy groups. Shouting "We are New York," they represented Blacks, Latinos, LGBTQ people, and other groups of New Yorkers.

 

One piece of the two-part act would make it easier to sue the police over alleged profiling - racial or otherwise. Mayor Bloomberg has said nobody racially profiles in the NYPD.  But the act's co-sponsor Councilman Brad Lander was critical of Bloomberg's attacks on the bill, calling them "full of mischaracterizations, full of falsehoods, and, honestly, full of fear mongering that I think is really beneath the Mayor of New York."

 

The other piece of the Community Safety Act would create an oversight position of Inspector General for the NYPD. 

 

Williams said he was confident the 34 Councilmembers who voted for both parts of the Act - calling themselves the "Core 34" -  would not renege their support.  That gives just enough votes to override the Mayor's vetoes.  The City Council has 30 days to do so.