Astoria's Tiffany Cabán Pressed On Crime, Rikers On Brian Lehrer

ASTORIA, QUEENS — Astoria's primary City Council representative fielded questions from neighborhood residents and one of the city's most beloved broadcasters on Tuesday, when she appeared as a guest on WNYC's Brian Lehrer show.

Tiffany Cabán, who represents most of Astoria, spoke to Lehrer Tuesday morning as the latest guest in his series, "51 Council Members in 52 Weeks," which aims to interview all of the city's lawmakers over the course of 2022.

Cabán, who took office in December after the resignation of Costa Constantinedes, faced tough questions about public safety, conditions at Rikers Island — and her favorite park in the neighborhood. Here's a recap.

Rising crime is spotlighted

The first New Yorker to call in with questions was an Astoria resident named R.A., who began by listing a spate of recent crimes in the neighborhood — including the firing of gunshots on Ditmars Boulevard last week.

Saying he sympathized with Cabán's stated vision of one day abolishing the city's police department, R.A. asked Cabán to lay out her short-term safety goals.

"What's the relationship you have with the local department, the 114th? Is there something moving?" he asked. "Myself, going to the community affairs meetings, I haven't seen much movement."

Calling the question "really important," Cabán noted that the city's crime levels remain lower than in past decades — but stressed that "one incident of harm is one too many."

Cabán said the city should "do the hard work to dig deep into root causes of violence" rather than investing more in policing, noting that the recent NYCSpeaks survey showed New Yorkers believe building more affordable housing would be the best way to ensure safety. Cabán also cited violence interrupters and better-paying jobs as means of reducing violence.

Still, Cabán said she communicates with the 114th Precinct after an act of violence, and works to provide resources for crime victims.

"I want to make sure that my office and myself [are] there to support survivors victims of harm."

A Rikers prisoner calls in

A subsequent caller, identified as Ansumana, said he was a current prisoner at Rikers Island — the troubled jail complex that is also part of Cabán's district.

Ansumana said he had been arrested while addicted to crack cocaine, which "made me do a lot of crazy things." Now, inside Rikers, he has asked authorities to "give me programs — it's better for me than incarceration," he said.

"My life is not safe. This place is understaffed right now, there's fighting every day," he said. "I fear for my life here."

Cabán, in response, said Ansumana "shouldn't be there," and offered to connect with his family to offer support.

"I certainly support access to programming over incarceration," she said.

A definition for abolition

Also during the interview, Lehrer asked Cabán to respond to potential critics of the police and prison-abolition movement, pointing to frightening crimes like Sunday's unprovoked killing on a Q train.

"I think a lot of people would say, you’re out of touch if you say just disband the NYPD," Lehrer said.

Cabán reiterated that disbanding the department was a "long-term vision," adding that "nobody is saying that police, prosecutors, jails and prisons are going to disappear tomorrow."

"Accountability and punishment are not synonymous," she said.

Astoria show-and-tell

Last, Lehrer posed the same question to Cabán that he has asked each incoming Council member so far: to "bring" one item from her district to present, show-and-tell style.

Cabán's item of choice was Ralph Demarco Park, the narrow green space just north of Astoria Park.

"I love it so much because it is right on the water; you can see my favorite bridge, the Hell Gate Bridge," Cabán said, adding that Astoria's North African residents can often be found playing music or smoking hookah there.

"It's just a very good, communal, chill vibe," she said.