PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Donovan Taveras, Community Safety Coordinator of Justice Committee, on Randy Mastro's Nomination for Corporation Counsel
9:30:54
·
154 sec
Donovan Taveras, representing the Justice Committee, strongly opposes Randy Mastro's appointment as Corporation Counsel due to Mastro's history with the Giuliani administration and concerns about police accountability under Mayor Adams.
- Taveras argues Mastro's appointment would further erode police accountability and support Adams' agenda to expand police power.
- He cites Mastro's role in defending controversial policing policies like "broken windows" and the resurgence of stop-and-frisk under Adams.
- The Justice Committee is concerned about Mastro's potential influence on cases involving families seeking accountability for police killings.
Donavon Taveras
9:30:54
Good evening, and thank you, Speaker Adams, Chairman Powers, and members of the city council who are still here.
9:30:59
My name is Donovan Tavares.
9:31:00
I was born and raised in Bushwick, Brooklyn, and I'm the community safety coordinator for the justice committee, a forty year old grassroots organization that is dedicated to building a movement against police violence and systemic racism in New York City.
9:31:13
It is through this lens and this and and this expertise that the justice committee strongly opposes the appointment of Randy Mastro for corp counsel.
9:31:21
Given Mister Mastro's long history of supporting racist policing and other racist policies as part of the Giuliani administration, his return to New York City government as corp counsel will only serve to further mayor Adams agenda to erode a police accountability and build New York City as a police state.
9:31:38
Maestro played an essential role in the adjudgan administration, under which the NYPD murdered Anthony Paez, Antonio Rosario, Hilton Vega, John Singkwon, Amadou Diallo, Ana Pocaresquillo, Frankie Arswaga, and Nicholas Hayward Junior, along with along with joining Giuliani and really cooling police accountability recommendations.
9:32:00
Matt Marshall defended Giuliani's violent broken windows police saying that played black in the in the communities and set the stage for further ballooning of unconstitutional stop and frisk under mayor Bloomberg, which is resurging under Eric Adams.
9:32:13
Since he took took office as mayor Eric Adams has been working to expand the NYPD's power and role in New Yorkers' lives and shield abusive officers from accountability.
9:32:22
Mayor Adams charter revision proposal to complicate the process for passing public safety legislation in his case in point as is the systemic burying of police misconduct complaints during his tenure as mayor and his refusal to ensure accountability for the officers who killed Kowalski Traywick.
9:32:39
With the families of Win Rosario and an Allan Feliz, Del Ron Small, Antonio Williams, in the midst of fighting for the office fighting for the officers who killed their loved ones to be fired, we're deeply concerned about what a national court Council appointment would mean, especially given that this position represents the CCRB when police union attorneys use bogus legal maneuvers to delay administrative trials.
9:33:00
If his appointment is confirmed, Maestro would be at the legal helm as the Adams Administration continues to erode police accountability while working to expand the NYPD's power to use force against, involuntary removed from public spaces, and hospitalized New Yorkers without suspicion of criminality.
9:33:17
As an organization dedicated to true safety for all New Yorkers, the Justice Committee urges the city council to reject Maestro's nomination.
9:33:24
Thank you.
9:33:25
Thank you.
9:33:27
Thank you.