Q&A
Coordination with law enforcement and handling of on-campus/off-campus protests
0:44:50
·
6 min
The discussion focuses on CUNY's coordination with law enforcement, particularly in handling on-campus and off-campus protests.
- Chancellor Rodriguez explains that CUNY works closely with NYPD for protests occurring on city sidewalks or streets near campuses
- The conversation reveals that CUNY's jurisdiction is limited to campus property, with NYPD having authority over public spaces
- Dinowitz expresses concern about the clarity of boundaries between CUNY property and public spaces, and the university's ability to respond to threatening situations near campus
Eric Dinowitz
0:44:50
Thank you.
0:44:51
I'm gonna talk about one more recommendation, and then I'm gonna turn it over to my colleagues for the first round of questions.
0:44:58
Recommendation 4 states to coordinate at all times with law enforcement to protect everyone at CUNY.
0:45:07
I I think this is a recommendation that just makes sense.
0:45:10
I know you speak about coordination between law enforcement and CUNY.
0:45:15
I wanna talk about, first, boundaries, physical delineations between CUNY campuses and the public.
0:45:24
And what we hear both from I've heard both from administrators and students is this concern of certain types of speech.
0:45:34
And then one of the more recent ones was at CUNY Hunter, where right outside the window of Hillel, right on the street where Hunter is, what I would consider on their campus, you had a number of protesters saying, it is right to rebel, hillel go to hell with images of assault rifles.
0:45:56
I think most people would find that sort of language and imagery threatening.
0:46:02
One of the responses we got from CUNY was that, well, there's really nothing we can do because it's not really on our campus.
0:46:09
Can you please talk about what the coordination looks like related to boundaries between CUNY physical boundaries between CUNY property and city property?
Felix Matos Rodriguez
0:46:20
So, I mean, first, let me agree with your with your assessment of the, of the of the deeply offensive nature of the language.
0:46:28
Right?
0:46:28
Let me begin by by doing that.
0:46:31
In that particular scenario, and I don't know the exact details right, but, if if there is something occurring on New York City sidewalks and street, right, NYPD has jurisdiction.
0:46:45
They work very closely with our campus if that sidewalk or street is close to our campus, that happens with many of our vertical campuses in the city.
0:46:53
But let it be clear that the jurisdiction of anything that happens there is not CUNY's.
0:46:59
Right?
0:47:00
We are in in conversations with NYPD, but any determinations about barriers, physicality, any decision there is not our decision.
0:47:10
There's conversation, but I want to make sure that you understand that that is.
0:47:14
And sometimes also, we have no way of knowing whether the individuals out there are members of the CUNY community, in this case, Hunter or not.
0:47:22
Right?
0:47:23
So that that is 1.
0:47:26
When those things happen, most of our campus president have direct lines of communication, in this case with the Hiddells.
0:47:33
Right?
0:47:34
They meet with them, they provided, additional counseling and support services to be able to support the students who are facing those, you know, that that tense environment, you know, that's that's out there.
0:47:49
They engage them in conversation about what they can be do do to be, to be more supportive.
0:47:55
Many of our presidents in situations like that issue statements, right, about saying, you know, this is really reprehensible behavior, and this does not represent the values of, in this case, the hunter community.
0:48:09
But, any direct action, in terms of those individuals protesting there, it is the responsibility of NYPD.
Eric Dinowitz
0:48:19
So is that besides the statements, which, you know, I believe are good, but I think need to happen with more frequency and more quickly, in some cases, these statements take hours.
0:48:32
And when students are already feeling scared and threatened and unwelcome, I think a statement from the university president and the chancellor does go a a certain amount away.
0:48:43
And it's one of the recommendations, in in the report that says free speech is afforded to you as well, and your position does not preclude you from making free speech statements, such as you made today, such as you made after October 7th, and that you've made in the past.
0:49:01
But those statements should happen, in my view, sooner, and more, with more stakeholders.
0:49:10
But what I'm also hearing is that the protest that happens on the street 2 feet away from the campus, campus safety is precluded from even asking them to move a little away from the doors, for example.
0:49:23
And it's a it's it's just a little weird because we have businesses that are on the hook for sweeping in front of their stores and shoveling snow in front of their stores, but the CUNY campuses are not responsible, or it seems what you're saying aren't even allowed to ask students to move along or help the NYPD?
Felix Matos Rodriguez
0:49:39
2 things.
0:49:39
With all due respect, shoveling snow and dealing with a group of protesters is a slightly different, endeavor.
0:49:46
Right?
0:49:47
So, again, when you have the the protesters at the end of the day, the decision making about that, we we engage with, with NYPD.
0:49:57
I mean, they we work very closely with them.
0:49:59
We try to create as much distance as we can from all the entrances when these things occur.
0:50:05
We try to create as much distance when you have protesters and counting protesters.
0:50:10
But at the end of the day, the decisions about that are decisions made based on the public safety judgment of NYPD.
Eric Dinowitz
0:50:18
Right.
0:50:18
The the comment, by the way, about the snow wasn't about the importance of snow versus protests to be clear.
Felix Matos Rodriguez
0:50:24
The sidewalk.
Eric Dinowitz
0:50:24
It was about public property versus CUNY property or private property.
0:50:28
Yes.
0:50:29
And I just find it strange as someone who we legislate on these things.
0:50:33
You know, how many feet away from the door does a business owner have to shovel that somehow CUNY seems exempt or it seems that they're not allowed to have the same sort of jurisdiction over their own property.
0:50:48
But it seems that the jurisdiction of of public property versus private property is different for CUNY than it is for businesses.
Felix Matos Rodriguez
0:50:57
I think it might be a safety issue.
0:50:58
I think he's talking about safety.
0:51:00
When you have a demonstration, that that I think was the difference.
Eric Dinowitz
0:51:07
Okay.
0:51:07
We we've heard outside, and and and by the way, of course, related to boundaries, I think, again, that's one of the things we're hearing from students.
0:51:16
It's in the report.
0:51:18
The boundaries are not clear, but I do think it would go a long way to have campus safety there as well assisting in whatever way is safe for
Felix Matos Rodriguez
0:51:27
campus safety.
0:51:28
But they are.
0:51:28
They're I mean, they're they're they're they're coordinating with NYPD.
0:51:31
But what I'm saying, decision making rests with NYPD.
