City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito delivered her second State of the City address this afternoon where she spoke about fighting for paid family leave and criminal justice reform for non-violent offenders.
In her remarks delivered at Samuel Gompers High School in the Bronx, Mark-Viverito announced an independent commission to explore a more community-based justice system.
She says the commission will look at ways to reduce pre-trial detention and will also assess moving teens suffering from mental illness off Rikers Island.
"Rikers Island has come to represent our worst tendencies and our biggest failures," Mark-Viverito said. "It is where Kalief [Browder] suffered and his spirit broke down. For too long, Rikers has stood not for more justice, but for revenge.
"We must explore how we can get the population of Rikers to be so small that the dream of shutting it down becomes a reality," she continued.
In the area of civic engagement, the City Council speaker talked about creating a voting app and online portal for election and registration information and a get out the vote texting system.
Additionally, she offered up plans for the city to offer a social justice post-grad fellowship to encourage young New Yorkers to pursue a life in public service.
Mark-Viverito also talked about developing a Neighborhood Commitment Plan that will go along with city rezoning proposals. Among its goals, she said, is to strengthen small and independent mom and pop shops.
She also talked about the City Council's commitment to give more money to after school programming and expand summer youth employment to a year-round program.
Mark-Viverito says she will be working to secure more money for the elderly and their caregivers as well as more funding to keep Section 8 housing, anti-eviction legal services and other housing assistance programs — all to help reduce the city's homeless population.
The Speaker also announced plans to reform the warrant system to eliminate old warrants for minor, non-violent crimes.
The City Council would have to work with the state court system and individual judges to try and make that happen.