Comptroller Stringer Calls on Mayor de Blasio to Transfer Press Credential Issuance Away from NYPD and Create New Application Standards that Reflect the Diversity of New York City Reportage

(New York, NY) – Today, New York City Comptroller Scott M. Stringer called on Mayor Bill de Blasio to strip the New York City Police Department (NYPD) of the authority to issue press credentials and transfer that responsibility to the Office of the Mayor, the highest level of government set out in the City Charter. Comptroller Stringer also urged the Mayor to lift the arbitrary restrictions that the NYPD now applies to applicants and create new standards that reflect the diversity of New York City’s reportage.

In the letter, Comptroller Stringer spotlights deep concern regarding the NYPD’s recent decision to suspend applications for new press credentials, numerous reports of NYPD officers threatening to confiscate the press passes of journalists covering the ongoing civil demonstrations, and multiple complaints from reporters – especially those from smaller, community-based, and ethnic-focused publications – that their applications for credentials are summarily rejected by the NYPD.

The Comptroller underscored that a free, unfettered press is central to our democratic values and that New York City’s press corps should be reflective of our city’s cultural diversity.

The full letter is as follows and can be found here:

Dear Mayor de Blasio:

I am writing to demand that the New York City Police Department (NYPD) be stripped of an important responsibility it has long held but never aptly warranted – its role as arbiter of who and who does not deserve to be issued an official New York City press credential. I am concerned that after days of mass protests over the killing of George Floyd – protests that the NYPD have repeatedly used to beat and jail peaceful demonstrators – the department has decided that it is summarily shutting down the issuance of new press credentials to all applicants. The move serves to underscore once again why the NYPD is exactly the wrong agency to be endowed with the critical task of safeguarding our rights as New Yorkers and Americans to a free and unfettered press corps.

To be clear, press credentials serve an important public purpose and should be maintained. Reporters have a vital function in our democracy and very often need a heightened level of access to do their jobs – to cross police and fire lines, to gain access to press conferences and other public and private events, to identify themselves as reporters to members of the public in myriad settings, and yes, to cover police demonstrations without fear that they will be arrested or detained in the service of doing their jobs. That said, it’s clear that for years, the NYPD has taken a very narrow and outdated view of who deserves to be issued a credential. The official NYPD application requires applicants to submit six stories that speak to the following types of situations:

“Emergency, spot or breaking news events and/or public events of a non-emergency nature, where police, fire lines or other restrictions, limitations, or barriers established by the City of New York have been set up for security or crowd control purposes, within the City of New York; or (2) events sponsored by the City of New York which are open to members of the press.”

Such a limited scope of reportage may have been appropriate once upon a time, when many news organizations had the luxury of maintaining large, dedicated staffs devoted solely to the coverage of crime and the goings-on in City Hall. But that is no longer the case, as today most reporters must be adept at covering all kinds of stories, every day, and cannot be expected to produce such an antiquated and prescribed list of stories to meet the NYPD’s current requirements. My office is aware of complaints from reporters – especially those from smaller, community-based, and ethnic-focused publications – that their applications for credentials are summarily rejected by the NYPD.

Beyond this flawed application process, it is important to note the authoritarian, heavy-handed language that the NYPD chooses to imprint on the back of every single press credential it issues. It notes that in exchange for receiving the card, the bearer must agree: “1) This card is the property of the New York City Police Department,” and “2) “It may be taken away by competent authority at any time.” I question the utility of a press pass if it can be stripped without cause by any “competent authority,” up to and including any member of the NYPD who may object in the moment to a reporter doing his or her job. At a time when your Administration has gone out of its way to classify reporters “essential” workers who deserve to cover recent events in an unfettered manner, such overbearing language is offensive to the concept of a free press and the values upon which this city is founded.

Starting immediately, I believe the responsibility for issuing press credentials should be stripped from the NYPD and shifted instead to the Office of the Mayor, the highest level of government set out in our City Charter. At the same time, the arbitrary restrictions that the NYPD now applies to every applicant should be lifted, and new standards created that better speak to the diversity of reportage that so many journalists bring to their work in this day and age, whether online, in print, or over the airwaves. At the end of the day, what’s important is protecting the ability of reporters to do their jobs in a free and unfettered manner, and to make sure that the diversity of opinion that is so central to New York City’s broader culture is reflected in its accredited press corps.

Theodore Roosevelt once wrote, “Free speech, exercised both individually and through a free press, is a necessity in any country where the people are themselves free.” Roosevelt was of course not only the 26th President of the United States – and the first to formally recognize the White House Press Corps – but he was also a former commissioner of the New York City Police Department. At this time of enormous anguish for our nation, when the importance of maintaining a free and fair press is underscored daily, I would urge you to consider those wise words from history and take immediate steps to strengthen and uphold not only our local press corps, but the First Amendment ideals upon which our nation was founded.

Sincerely,

Scott M. Stringer
New York City Comptroller

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