As a Council Member, Shahana has taken a holistic approach to public safety, working closely with local precincts, community members, and grassroots organizations to address violence and keep our neighborhoods safe. She has fought for proactive investments in mental health, gun violence prevention, and re-entry programs that are proven to stop harm from occurring. When violence happens, she works with the NYPD to support victims and ensure they have the resources they need to recover and pursue justice.
Shahana’s Accomplishments:
In 2024, in response to harassment reports in Park Slope, Shahana took decisive action. She advocated for increased police patrols with the 78th Precinct, launched a comprehensive awareness campaign to prioritize women’s safety in the neighborhood, and organized a series of initiatives, including a self-defense class, to empower and equip community members.
The City Council passed Shahana’s bill, Local Law 45, which codified the Home+ program and provides survivors of domestic and gender-based violence with free lock changes, personal safety alarms, and window and door repairs. This helps survivors stay safely in their homes.
Shahana was also a vocal supporter of the Survivor Support Package, a collaborative effort with Queens Council Member Tiffany Cabán, which introduced a housing stability grant program for domestic violence survivors.
Shahana has worked closely with organizations like Sakhi for South Asian Survivors and the Asiyah Women’s Center to help women begin new lives after escaping abusive situations.
She helped Justice Innovation secure a $1 million federal grant to expand their restorative justice programs across schools in the John Jay complex. She knows that stopping and repairing violence at the student level is critical to building a safer New York.
Shahana has been a consistent advocate for substantive police reform and accountability. As Progressive Caucus Co-Chair, she played a key role in passing the How Many Stops Act, holding the NYPD accountable for discriminatory practices.
She has also opposed NYPD’s biased use of surveillance and spoken out against corruption within the department under Mayor Adams’ leadership. Shahana continues to stand with families grieving loved ones lost to police violence and will keep holding the NYPD accountable for its actions.
Shahana has fought to root out the most inhumane aspects of the carceral system including championing Public Advocate Jumaane Williams’s law to ban solitary confinement.
Shahana has secured important safety improvements for pedestrians, cyclists, and public transit riders as explained in the Street Safety, Transportation, and Open Spaces section below.
Shahana’s Vision:
Shahana believes that true public safety requires a fundamental shift in how we allocate resources and approach community safety. Instead of prioritizing police force and brutality, we must recommit our resources to community-based safety programs and effective responses, including fully funding social services and investing in violence prevention, interruption, and response programs.
As co-chair of the Progressive Caucus she has launched the Crisis to Care budget campaign to invest in mental health treatment, supportive housing, and holistic crisis response.
Shahana recognizes that the NYPD needs major reform from the top down. The department suffers from insufficient external accountability, rampant abuse of power, and the return of harmful practices like racist stop-and-frisk and Broken Windows policing. She strongly supports disbanding units like the Strategic Response Group and the Vice Squad, which have terrorized communities rather than protected them.
Shahana will continue working in close partnership with local precincts, local businesses, community members, and grassroots organizations to address safety concerns in our neighborhoods, ensuring that any changes to policing are responsive to the needs and desires of the community.
Shahana will continue to support anti-domestic violence organizations, with a particular focus on those that assist immigrant and limited-English proficient survivors, ensuring that these communities have the resources and support they need to rebuild their lives.
Shahana will keep pushing to improve safety for detained people and corrections staff through legislation like her Intro. 206, which would increase access to Narcan in jails to combat the epidemic of drug-related deaths on Rikers Island.
Shahana will continue urging the Mayor to follow the City’s legal mandate to close the jail facilities on Rikers Island by 2027. While the facilities remain open, she supports appointing an independent federal receiver to take over operations.
