The New York City Council has overwhelmingly rejected Mayor Eric Adams’ veto of the controversial NYPD bill that will force cops to document nearly every interaction with the public — something Hizzoner and other critics have argued will drown officers in paperwork and threaten public safety.
Adams, who fought the “How Many Stops Act” tooth-and-nail in recent weeks, failed to sway the two councilmembers he needed to beat the override — with the final vote to force the through the bill passing 42-9 on Tuesday afternoon.
In another blow to the mayor, the Democrat-led council during the same vote also rejected Adams’ veto of a second piece of legislation that will see a ban on solitary confinement in Big Apple jails.
Under the How Many Stops Act, officers will have to record details on the apparent race, gender and ages of people they stop — even in low-level encounters where cops are asking for information from someone who could just be a potential witness to a crime.
Adams has been adamant the bill will only bog cops down in a sea of unnecessary paperwork and could lead to cops just guessing demographic information about the people they’re speaking to in the low-level stops.
Meanwhile, supporters of the bill — led by Speaker Adrienne Adams — insisted the additional reporting system would, in part, hold cops accountable for unlawful stops and help keep a handle on racial profiling.
“Today’s over-ride is one more step toward the city council goal: destroy the world’s best police department,” NYPD Detectives Endowment Association President Paul DiGiacomo said.
“Thanks to the politicians the divide between the police and citizens will grow. And so will retirements of our best most experienced detectives. Heartbreaking.”
Ahead of Tuesday’s vote, Hizzoner had needed to convince just two councilmembers into his own column after he vetoed the bill when it passed with a 35-9 majority back in December, with seven councilmembers abstaining.
As part of his public campaign to kill the legislation, Adams got nine councilmembers to join him on an “eye-opening” NYPD ride-along in Harlem and the South Bronx on Saturday night. Ultimately, though, it did little to change minds.
He was still making the media rounds early Tuesday, appearing alongside Yanely Henriquez – a heartbroken mom whose 16-year-old daughter, Angellyh Yambo, was killed by a stray bullet in 2022.
“You judge response time and public safety in seconds and minutes. Every second and every minute should go to finding bad people — not doing paperwork,” Adams said during a CBS appearance.
“This is not a police stop bill, this is a police interaction bill, which is a bit different and I don’t think that’s what the council people had in mind when they introduced this.”
But some council insiders have since ripped Adams for not doing more to sway on-the-fence votes amid the bruising fight, arguing he opted to launch a publicity blitz instead of just getting councilmembers on the phone.
“If the mayor can’t take 10 minutes out of his day to call members, I’m wondering how serious he is about this,” one council source told The Post ahead of the vote.
When pressed, Adams insisted he had reached out to councilmembers personally to help sway their vote.
Separately, councilmembers also voted Tuesday to nix solitary confinement in city jails — meaning an inmate will only be separated from the general population now if they’ve engaged in a violent incident while in custody.
That legislation will allow Department of Correction guards to isolate inmates for four hours at a time in a so-called “de-escalation” unit.
Additional reporting by Carl Campanile