Alliance Alert: The Alliance for Rights and Recovery welcomes the City Council’s consideration of a new agency which will have a focus on ensuring that people experiencing mental health and substance use crises receive the right response at the right time. For too long, New Yorkers in crisis, and their families, have been met by law enforcement rather than trained, compassionate health and peer professionals.
We strongly urge the City and State to advance non-police crisis response models grounded in Daniel’s Law principles, including health-led, peer-centered, trauma-responsive approaches that prioritize de-escalation, connection to services, and community-based supports over punishment or coercion. These models save lives, reduce harm, and better meet the needs of people in crisis.
The Alliance is encouraged to see New York State moving forward with Daniel’s Law mental health first responder pilots, and we are pleased to see localities like New York City building additional infrastructure to ensure that emergency mental health and substance use calls are answered by appropriately trained responders.
As these proposals move forward, we will continue to advocate for strong implementation, clear protocols, meaningful community oversight, and sustained investment in peer-led and behavioral health crisis services that keep people safe, supported, and out of the criminal legal system.
City Council Bill Would Create Mental Health Agency, Aligning with Mamdani Goal
By Ethan Geringer-Sameth | Crain’ Health Pulse | December 19, 2025
A new City Council bill would create an agency to respond to mental health emergencies, which could help deliver a key plank of Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s agenda.
The bill, introduced Thursday, would establish the Department of Community Safety. The agency would have offices in each borough, and trained social service providers to respond to physical and emotional crises. It would “supplement and support” certain emergency responses currently performed by other agencies, including the New York Police Department, leaving it up to the mayor to establish specific protocols.
The bill could be seen as an early sign of support for one of Mamdani’s signature and most controversial campaign promises, before he takes office Jan. 1. On the campaign trail, Mamdani called for an agency to replace the NYPD in mental health emergencies and outreach services, which would require a $1.1 billion annual budget. Of that, $605 million would be reallocated from existing departments’ budgets.
Under the Council’s proposed legislation, the department would provide direct services, referrals and responses to New Yorkers who place emergency calls, and assist other responding agencies. It would also move incarceration diversion programs, reentry services, and pretrial supervised release under the agency.
The bill was introduced on the final days of the City Council session. Many members’ terms end this month, meaning the bill will have to be reintroduced when the next cohort is seated.
Council Member Lincoln Restler, a progressive Democrat from northwest Brooklyn, introduced the proposal. It is co-sponsored by Public Advocate Jumaane Willaims and 26 other current members, several of whom are term limited in December. Council Member Julie Menin, an Upper East Side Democrat and the presumptive next speaker, did not sign onto the bill, but has indicated she is open to Mamdani’s concept.
“There’s a lot of agreement, though, in terms of mental health issues, that we’re asking NYPD officers to do too much,” she said when asked about Mamdani’s plan at a talk at New York Law School on Dec. 10. “There is a lot of support within the council to address that and to move some of those functions away.”