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Speaker backs legislation to codify 'safe perimeters' around houses of worship and schools
Summary
During a press Q&A, Speaker 1 said the council is drafting legislation to create safe perimeters around houses of worship and schools, supported the mayor's Executive Order 2 establishing an Office to Combat antisemitism and said the policy should be codified rather than left to executive discretion.
Speaker 1 told reporters the council is working on legislation to establish safe perimeters around houses of worship and schools while protecting First Amendment rights to peaceful protest.
"We're gonna create a safe perimeter around all houses of worship and all schools," Speaker 1 said, describing the measure as a balance between protecting worshippers and preserving the right to protest. Speaker 1 said such protections should be codified so they do not depend on personnel or administration changes.
Responding to questions about the mayor’s executive actions, Speaker 1 said they had spoken with the mayor about Executive Order 2, which Speaker 1 described as having recreated an Office to Combat antisemitism and directed the NYPD commissioner to examine security at houses of worship. Speaker 1 said that codifying a safe-perimeter law would provide continuity "so it's never dependent on who the speaker is or who the mayor is."
Speaker 1 also described education as a tool to combat hate, citing a Museum of Jewish Heritage initiative they launched to bring public school eighth-graders to a Holocaust exhibition and noting a statistic they cited that 34% of young people believe the Holocaust is a myth or exaggerated.
The Speaker said the council will try to balance protection of religious institutions and schools with First Amendment rights, and that legislation has been in development for months.
