A New York Democrat councilman criticized New York Mayor Eric Adams’s (D) new communication policy as being a “boondoggle.”
Councilman Lincoln Restler (D), who represents the 33rd District, which includes Greenpoint, Northside Williamsburg, South Williamsburg, Brooklyn Heights, and Downtown Brooklyn, among others, blasted being instructed by two agencies to “fill out a Google doc” in response to concerns about high lead levels at a local park, Restler told the New York Daily News.
“I reached out to the leadership in the Parks Department and the Health Department and they told me to fill out a Google doc,” Restler told the outlet. “I reached out to City Hall, and they told me to fill out a Google doc. This is an embarrassing, bureaucratic boondoggle.”
Adams and his administration recently rolled out a new webpage for elected officials and councilmembers to fill out to get into contact with the department heads of agencies, such as the New York City Council, City University of New York, the Commission on Gender Equity, and several top officials in Adams’ administration.
The form consists of questions such as, “City Agency you are requesting to engage,” “Elected Official’s Office you represent,” and “What type of request is this?”
“We recognize collaboration is essential, but we don’t want to be tied up in pages and pages of needless bureaucracy,” Councilwoman Shahana Hanif told Politico in an interview.
In response to Adams’ new policy, City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams has instructed councilmembers to ignore the mayor’s new directive, according to Spectrum News NY1.
Adams pointed out that the web form is the same system he used while serving as the Brooklyn borough president, adding that it was “not new.”
“This is not new. For 10 years, I had the same system,” Adams explained. “Someone stops me on the street, they say, ‘Mayor, I would like to meet with you.’ I give them a link. They fill out that link. I look over in the morning and determine who is going to solve that problem.”
