by Ben Feuerherd
Gothamist
May 12, 2026

… [Brownsville Safety Alliance] At least twice a year since 2020, nonprofit workers from the neighborhood spend a week calming disputes and responding to most 311 and 911 calls on certain blocks in the neighborhood.

This year’s April installment took on a special significance, because organizers’ approach is similar to what Mayor Zohran Mamdani has vowed do across the city: have trained professionals respond to a range of 311 and 911 calls, and limit police intervention to the most serious cases.

… Safety experts who spoke to Gothamist said they are encouraged by the event, but said scaling it up across the city could face red tape issues common in government.

“ It’s an effective way of organizing neighborhoods and raising consciousness about public safety so that people start thinking about public safety as a community responsibility,” said Jeffrey Butts, a John Jay College professor who has studied the effect nonprofit groups have on public safety.

But, he added, it would be an enormous task to create sustainable infrastructure to expand an event like this across the city and have it throughout the year.

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