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PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Joseph Puleo, President of DC37 Local 983, on Parks Safety and Cleanliness Crisis
2:21:27
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Joseph Puleo, President of DC37 Local 983, testifies about the crisis in cleanliness and safety in New York City parks. He expresses frustration with reduced workforce and lack of promised support, emphasizing the need for more PEP officers and highlighting the increasing crime rates in parks.
- Puleo represents urban park rangers, PEP officers, associate park service workers, and city seasonal aids in parks
- He states that the current situation is "probably the all time worst" in terms of park cleanliness and safety
- Puleo calls for doubling the number of PEP officers to address safety concerns and mentions recent high-profile crimes occurring in parks during daylight hours
Joseph Puleo
2:21:27
Alright.
2:21:27
Thank you.
2:21:28
Good afternoon.
2:21:29
For those of you who don't know, my name is Joe Puglio.
2:21:32
I am the president of Local ninety three.
2:21:34
I represent the urban park rangers, the PEP officers, the associate park service workers, and all the city seasonal aids in parks.
2:21:44
Again, thank you, chair for your advocacy and members for all your help.
2:21:50
As you already know, we're we're in a crisis situation when it comes to both cleanliness and safety in our parks.
2:21:56
It is probably the all time worst.
2:21:59
And I what I find most frustrating is it's not coming from enemies, this is coming from friends.
2:22:04
These are people that were elected and told us they were going to do things for us, like the 1%.
2:22:11
Not only did we not get the 1%, but we got a reduction in workforce, just the exact opposite of what we were promised.
2:22:17
So this, from my standpoint, is frustrating and it's to me, it's outrageous how we could put our people out there in harm's way.
2:22:27
Not only the patrons, but also our PEP officers with a reduced force.
2:22:31
That means that they are scattered thin.
2:22:34
A lot of times these people have to do these patrols by themselves, and they have to encounter such people in parks that are less than friendly.
2:22:41
You know, these are people that at times have to be arrested.
2:22:45
We need more PEP officers.
2:22:47
Right?
2:22:47
We need to double the force that's out there just to scratch the surface.
2:22:51
And what a lot of people don't realize is that during the summer months, most of the people that are in the parks are no longer there because of the pools and beaches.
2:23:01
They're redeployed into these areas so that leaves the parks wide open with nobody there.
2:23:08
For the first time in in in recent times, last year, I'm watching park crimes on national news.
2:23:18
We're talking about night line, you know.
2:23:20
These are during broad daylight, vicious crimes like rape, robbery happening in our parks during the daytime.
2:23:29
And to me, for that not to catch somebody's attention is really is really a crisis.