Two days before a maniac stabbed to death a veteran EMT lieutenant and grandmother in Astoria on Thursday, defund-the-police-promoting Queens Councilwoman Tiffany Caban and Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani released a “public safety” guide discouraging merchants from calling the cops.
The guide from the two Democrats urges small business owners to dial 311, seek mental health services for people with mental illnesses, and engage in “community mediation” instead of calling 911 to summon the police when there is trouble in many cases.
It also advises merchants to “give the person causing harm the chance to correct their behavior” before seeking intervention.
“Say `no’, `Stop”’, or `That is not Okay,'” the guide says.
“We’re distributing them to local businesses, so our neighborhood is equipped with better ways of solving problems than simply summoning police every time a challenge arises,” Caban tweeted on Sept. 27 while circulating the “Small Business Public Safety Resources Guide.”
Caban said her office “collaborated” with Mamdani, who retweeted her tweet about the guide the same day.
Merchants in the Long Island City-Astoria area and law enforcement advocates slammed the “public safety” guide as irresponsibly endangering lives.
“At a time when we just lost an FDNY member and crime is still rampant, we should be supporting the police — not pushing them away,” said Eric Benaim, CEO, of Modern Space Realty.
Giana Cerbone, owner of Manducatis Rustica restaurant on Vernon Boulevard in Long Island City said: “Are you kidding me?!… Who does she want us to call, Ghostbusters [reference to 1984 comedy film].?!”
“Look at the EMS worker who was killed. It’s a disgrace. We have to start working with the police department, not against it. We want to build a community not destroy it and the police have to be part of that,” said Cerbone, who is a business liaison to the 108th police precinct.
Wanted to share this Public Safety Resources poster @ZohranKMamdani and my offices collaborated on.
We’re distributing them to local businesses, so our neighborhood is equipped with better ways of solving problems than simply summoning police every time a challenge arises. pic.twitter.com/zvpMWDRdeL
— Council Member Tiffany Cabán (D22) (@CabanD22) September 27, 2022
EMT Lt. Alison Russo-Elling, a 61-year-old department veteran who responded to Sept. 11, 2001, World Trade Center terrorist attack, was stabbed to death in a gruesome unprovoked attack by Peter Zisopoulos Thursday afternoon near EMS Station 49, where she is based. Zisopoulos has been charged with murder.
In August, two brazen thieves on motorcycles robbed a group of people dining outside a fashionable Queens cafe — Under Pressure Espresso Bar — located across the street from Cabán’s district office on 31st Street in Astoria.
“Maybe she should have included a tip on ‘What to do when getting robbed while dining al fresco across the street from my office,’” said Joseph Giacalone, a former NYPD sergeant who is a professor at CUNY’s John Jay College of Criminal Justice.
Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa called it “complete insanity” to tell merchants and citizens to call 311 instead of 911 and the police.
“People are going to get hurt. People are going to get killed. It takes hours if not days to get a response from calling 311,” Sliwa said.
“If someone is having a psychological episode, you have to call the police. When the Guardian Angels engage with a mentally troubled person, we call 911. You’ve got to call the police.”
Mamdani and Caban, democratic socialists who both have campaigned on “defund the police” platforms, had no immediate comment on the criticism.
