Andrew Yang, other NYC mayoral candidates push for NYPD residency requirements

Daily Point

Frontrunners in NYC mayoral race want NYPD officers to live where they work

With three months to go before the Democratic primary for New York City mayor, businessman and former longshot presidential hopeful Andrew Yang continues to lead more established NYC politicians.

A new poll from Fontas Advisors and Core Decision Analytics found Yang at 16% and Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams at 10%, followed by a cluster of other candidates including former MSNBC analyst and mayoral counsel Maya Wiley at 6% and comptroller Scott Stringer at 5%.

For those wondering how the race will affect Long Island next door, look no further than the general agreement among these high-ranking candidates regarding the dicey issue of NYPD residency requirements.

Officers currently have to reside within NYC or Nassau, Suffolk, Westchester, Rockland, Orange, or Putnam counties, and a substantial chunk choose Long Island. The state’s public officers law governs this issue and there are various proposals floating around to change the rules. But broadly, the frontrunners support change.

In January, Yang said on WNYC that a caller was "correct that new officers should be required to live in the city," adding, "You should be of the community, certainly when you start on the force."

Adams details his proposal further. A spokesman for the longtime NYPD officer said the Brooklyn Democrat supports a state change to require NYC residency for current as well as future officers, though "of course there would have to be a process for current officers that’s fair and practical."

Until a state change could be made, he supports a city change to incentivize residency with exam points, said Adams’ spokesman, Evan Thies.

Wiley also backs residency requirements, according to her campaign, and in a February public safety report, Stringer proposed that all NYPD management go through a special academy and "all those who graduate from the Management Academy must be residents of New York City." On Wednesday, Stringer’s campaign sent The Point a more specific statement adding "all new NYPD officers should live in the five boroughs."

Unsurprisingly, police union leader Patrick Lynch has decried talk of officer residency requirements, arguing, "Requiring them to live in the city and shoulder its sky-high cost of living on a below-market salary will hurt NYPD recruitment efforts, not improve them."

The Fontas/CODA poll surveyed 800 NYC Democratic primary likely voters, with a margin of error of +/-3.46%. But the poll found that 50% of likely voters were undecided, suggesting plenty of room for shakeups in issues and rankings down the stretch.

—Mark Chiusano @mjchiusano

Talking Point

Placing bets on the future of Belmont Park

As work continues on the new arena for the New York Islanders at Belmont Park, there is renewed attention on redeveloping the rest of the massive property, including the grandstand, track and infield, sources with knowledge of the talks told The Point.

Plans being considered include a new, possibly smaller grandstand, a winterized track able to handle racing year-round, additional green space that could be used by the public, and an infield open to fans and the public year-round, with picnic areas, ballfields and more. Sources told The Point that the additional green spaces and new infield uses were particularly important since some of Belmont’s previous open space was lost in the construction of the Islanders’ arena.

New York Racing Association officials have briefed community leaders and elected officials, including State Sens. Todd Kaminsky and Anna Kaplan and State Assemb. member Michaelle Solages, on the initial plans for the site.

None of the plans are finalized, the sources said. And it’s unclear how much the redevelopment effort would cost, how it would be financed and whether all of these ideas are contingent on the future of Aqueduct Racetrack.

The plans for remaking Belmont, and in particular adding year-round racing to the property, are part of a far bigger game plan, one that involves the approval for three downstate casino licenses that has been part of ongoing budget discussions in Albany. The long-discussed casino locations always included Aqueduct as one of the moving pieces. Many gambling and racing supporters hope that Aqueduct's racing could be moved to Belmont, to make way for a potential casino at Aqueduct.

"I’m in favor of improving the racing experience at Belmont, but it needs to fit into a larger context of what’s going to happen with downstate racing, in particular with Aqueduct," Kaminsky said. "And the discussions with neighbors in the community need to happen first as well."

Kaminsky and Solages also suggested that remaking Belmont was critical to making it more of an entertainment destination for the region.

"On its face, I think it’s high time that we actually start looking at making racing more attractive at Belmont Park… It could make Belmont really the gem of Long Island, the gem of downstate New York State, when it comes to racing, and also hockey and entertainment," Solages told The Point. "It could create a synergy that supports not only what happens at that location but also the surrounding community, but the community has to be involved in the process."

Perhaps unsurprisingly, especially given some past vocal opposition to the arena-related development at Belmont, all three legislators echoed that need for community input.

"As with every discussion around changes to the Belmont property… I’ve been insistent that there needs to be extensive, proactive community outreach," Kaplan said in a statement.

NYRA spokesman Patrick McKenna said those conversations were already underway.

"Every major stadium or arena in the metro area has been built anew or completely renovated since 2009, and the time has come to modernize a facility that has not seen significant upgrades since 1968," McKenna said. "A revitalized Belmont Park would create jobs, promote tourism and expand the economic impact of thoroughbred racing in Nassau County and throughout New York State."

—Randi F. Marshall @RandiMarshall

Pencil Point

No more mass shootings

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Final Point

Don Lemon to discuss new book in Newsday Live event

Don Lemon is the guest in the latest Newsday Live event Wednesday evening, talking about his new book "This is the Fire." The memoir and current affairs volume is about the modern challenges of racism and the CNN host’s experience at the center of a national conversation.

The book provides an inside look at Lemon’s time on TV in the era of President Donald Trump and COVID-19, from developing "armadillo" skin in order to handle social media to telling civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump to adjust his camera during an interview.

But Lemon also includes snapshots of life at his home in Sag Harbor, including an uneasy interaction, with possible racial overtones, he had while shopping for cutting boards at a new "upmarket kitchenware boutique." Sign up for the virtual book talk here.

—Mark Chiusano @mjchiusano