Despite the fact that roughly 200 people have been killed in New York City in the last five years while jaywalking, the city has now legalized jaywalking — outlawed since 1958 — with supporters claiming the laws against jaywalking were racist.
The city council passed a bill last month permitting jaywalking. Democratic Mayor Eric Adams never vetoed the bill, and it became law and will go into effect in roughly 120 days. Prior to the law being abolished, a violation could cost as much as $300, The New York Times noted, adding, “Jaywalking laws, historically used to target Black and Latino residents, were not evenly enforced in New York, and the Council bill was primarily a racial justice measure.”
Brooklyn Councilwoman Mercedes Narcisse, who introduced the bill, stated, “Let’s be real, every New Yorker jaywalks. People are simply trying to get where they need to go. Laws that penalize common behaviors for everyday movement shouldn’t exist, especially when they unfairly impact communities of color.”
“We’re seeing discriminatory enforcement of this, but the other thing is that it’s not keeping us any safer,” said Democrat Councilwoman Tiffany Cabán, a sponsor of the bill.
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“Jaywalking is not genuinely associated with traffic safety and instead is often used as a pretext to stop black and brown individuals,” Mike McGinn, executive director of America Walks, stated.
“Decriminalizing jaywalking in New York City is long overdue and eradicates a mechanism that the New York City Police Department (NYPD) has, for decades, employed as a pretext to stop, question, and frisk New Yorkers, especially those from communities of color,” the Legal Aid Society declared.
“It’s part of a broader decriminalization of everything,” Joseph Borelli, the Republican Minority Leader of the NY City Council, stated. Fellow GOP Councilwoman Vickie Paladino echoed that the move would “promote chaos and make streets far more dangerous.” GOP Councilwoman Joann Ariola of Queens said, “How can anyone imagine this is a good idea considering the [amount] of pedestrian deaths we continue to have each year? It would only put more pedestrians in danger.”
