Can the City Council rein in the Strategic Response Group?

Amid increasing pressure for the New York City Police Department to rein in the Strategic Response Group, a controversial unit that is often deployed to respond to protests, two City Council members are publicly butting heads.

Council Member Chi Ossé, sponsor of a bill to rein in the Strategic Response Group and limit its response to protests, has shared several messages on X, alleging that Council Member Oswald Feliz is blocking the bill from having a hearing in the Committee on Public Safety, which Feliz chairs. In one short-form video, Ossé asks viewers who don’t see their council members on the bill’s list of sponsors to urge them to sign on. “Democrats should not be standing in the way of the democratic process,” Ossé, a democratic socialist, says of Feliz, a Democrat.

Feliz, meanwhile, responded on X denying that the bill is being blocked from a hearing. 

City & State broke down what you need to know about the bill, known as the CURB Act, the police unit it aims to rein in, and where it stands now. 

What is the Strategic Response Group? 

The Strategic Response Group was established as a new NYPD unit in 2015 with specialized training and equipment, aimed at strengthening the force’s counterterrorism response, and used to respond to mass mobilizations, shootings, and often protests. It has been criticized for years – most notably during Black Lives Matter protests in 2020 – for using aggressive tactics against protesters, sometimes resulting in lawsuits.

While recent calls to eliminate the unit aren’t new, they were re-upped last week following the shooting by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents of an immigrant New Yorker in Marble Hill. The shooting immediately drew protests by lawmakers and immigration advocacy groups. In videos that soon went viral online, NYPD officers were seen shoving protesters as they attempted to enforce barricades – including Democratic congressional nominee Darializa Avila Chevalier, who called for the SRG to be disbanded. The NYPD said the unit didn’t actually respond to that protest, but was on standby – the incident has brought new attention to the SRG nonetheless.

What is the CURB Act?

Ossé has introduced the CURB (Communities United to Reject Brutality) Act twice before its most recent reintroduction this year. The most recent version of the bill would significantly limit the powers and scope of the SRG, prohibiting them from responding to “any first amendment event or for the purpose of conducting crowd control,” as well as prohibiting the NYPD at large from using controversial tactics like kettling and tear gas in responses to First Amendment activities or for crowd control. The act also requires the NYPD to submit quarterly reports detailing officer deployments in response to activities protected in the First Amendment.

Didn’t Mamdani say he was going to disband the SRG?

Yes. Mamdani promised on the mayoral campaign trail to disband the unit, and has said more recently that he is committed to separating it from protest response. “We will have more to share soon,” Mamdani said when asked about it last week, though he’s yet to share what’s coming. 

Politico reported last month that a policy put into place early in Mamdani’s term grants him the ability to have the final say on whether or not SRG is deployed, according to an NYPD spokesperson. The spokesperson declined to answer if the mayor has ever rejected an NYPD request for SRG intervention. 

City Hall spokesperson Sam Raskin said in a statement that the mayor’s office will review the CURB Act. “Our administration shares its goal: disbanding the Strategic Response Group and ending the practice of policing protests through the same unit responsible for counterterrorism,” he said.

Mamdani was more definitive in response to calls to fire Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch, which also emerged from allies including Avila Chevalier and the New York City Democratic Socialists of America following the ICE shooting. “Jessica Tisch is the police commissioner, I have no plans to change that,” he told reporters on Tuesday. 

Where do City Council leaders stand on the CURB Act?

Oswald, the chair of the council’s Committee on Public Safety, has not yet called a hearing for this legislation, to Ossé’s outrage. 

Feliz, who has not taken a public stance on the bill, suggested that Ossé’s strategy and process is lacking. “Even if we pass a bill prohibiting SRG from responding to protests, the unit could be recreated the same day, under a different name, leaving the underlying issues unresolved,” Feliz said in a statement to City & State. “This is an issue that requires action from our city’s executive branch, if we are to achieve meaningful reform. … My understanding is that these are issues being discussed by our city’s executive branch.”

Feliz also said Ossé’s allegation that he is blocking the bill was false. “No one is blocking your bill. Stop the rage-bait. There are roughly 60 bills under my committee. Bills move when sponsors do the legislative work, not when they prioritize the political theater,” he wrote in an X post on Wednesday.

Council Speaker Julie Menin hasn’t taken a direct stance on the CURB Act. In a New York Times article from March, a source familiar with Menin’s thinking said she didn’t support the CURB Act, citing concerns about how the NYPD would navigate incidents, like the alleged attempted bombing outside Gracie Mansion that month or the 2025 Midtown Manhattan shooting, if the SRG’s abilities were limited. Menin also seems to be facing pressure to preserve the SRG. This week, she was pictured in a post on X with political commentator Shabbos Kestenbaum, who wrote, “We must keep the NYPD Strategic Response Group.” 

City & State asked Menin if she’d be in support of removing the SRG from protest responses, where she stood on the CURB Act, and about Ossé and Feliz’s feud. While all questions weren’t answered, a spokesperson shared the following statement: “The administration is conducting a review of its use-of-force policies and practices, which the council will review upon completion. The mayor can make these types of internal changes unilaterally,” Henry Robins said.

Where does the CURB Act go next?

While the past two attempts to pass it were unsuccessful, Ossé has gained significantly more traction this time around, with advocates including the New York Civil Liberties Union boosting it too. On Wednesday, Ossé gained a 26th sponsor on the bill, Council Member Shirley Adelbol, representing a majority of members the bill would need to pass the council.

But until a hearing is held in Feliz’s committee, no vote can take place.