Melissa Mark-Viverito, Speaker of the New York City Council, addresses the 124th CityLaw Breakfast. Image credit: CityLand

On Friday, April 10, 2015 the Center for New York City Law at New York Law School, in conjunction with the Center for Real Estate Studies, hosted a City Law Breakfast featuring Melissa Mark-Viverito, Speaker of the New York City Council, as the guest speaker.

Speaker Mark-Viverito was welcomed by Anthony Crowell, Dean and President of New York Law School and introduced by Ross Sandler, Professor of Law and Director of the Center for New York City Law.  The Speaker addressed the need for criminal justice reform in New York City, calling for an expansion of desk appearance tickets and a public bail assistance fund for low-level nonviolent offenders, rather than incarceration in City jails.  Speaker Mark-Viverito also called for an increase in resources for the New York Police Department to bring about “true” community policing, stating the demand for NYPD reform and the demand for NYPD resources  were not mutually exclusive.  The Speaker also described the newly-created role of the Civil Justice Coordinator, improving New Yorkers’ access to civil legal services as a whole, and took questions from the capacity audience.

Click on the link below for the full video from this CityLaw Breakfast.

VIDEO LINK: Watch the speech here.

VIDEO: