On August 18, 2025, the Park Hill Houses basketball court in Clifton, Staten Island became the stage for a significant announcement: New York City Mayor Eric Adams and NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch unveiled the expansion of the NYPD’s Quality of Life Division to Staten Island, marking the final step in bringing this initiative to all five boroughs. The move, city officials say, is already yielding results in the ongoing battle to curb everyday nuisances and restore a sense of order and safety to neighborhoods across New York.
Flanked by borough leaders, community advocates, and a crowd of residents, Mayor Adams opened the press conference with words that resonated deeply with Staten Islanders. “It is clearly not the forgotten borough under this administration. You are always in our hearts,” Adams declared, as reported by Advance/SILive.com. He emphasized Staten Island’s vital role in the city’s fabric, describing it as “the gateway to our city's success and prosperity.”
The Quality of Life Division, first launched as a pilot in April 2025, is designed to tackle everyday issues that erode the sense of security and pride in communities—problems like midnight noise, rogue scooters, abandoned cars, and illegal dumping. Adams made it clear that the program’s reach and effectiveness have been unprecedented. “Since then, we have expanded the program to Manhattan, the Bronx, Brooklyn, and Queens, and the results continue to get even better,” he said. According to Adams, the Quality of Life Teams have answered more than 41,000 calls for service and slashed average response times by 50 minutes, a metric he believes speaks volumes about the program’s impact.
But the mayor didn’t stop at statistics. He painted a vivid picture of what quality of life means to everyday New Yorkers: “When I walk out my door at Gracie Mansion, I don’t see abandoned cars. I don’t see loud music playing. I don’t see illegal dumping. If it’s not outside the home of the mayor, it should not be outside the home of the mailman, the messenger, the person that’s a cook, the person that works in city government. They deserve the same quality of life.”
The expansion comes at a time when Staten Island, like much of the city, is seeing a historic drop in major crime. According to Commissioner Tisch, “Major crime is down 6 percent year to date with shooting incidents and shooting levels at their lowest levels in recorded history, as it is throughout the entire city.” July 2025 saw the lowest number of shooting incidents and shooting victims ever recorded in New York City, and the first seven months of the year marked the fewest shooting incidents and homicides in city history. Adams credited the NYPD’s use of CompStat and the new QStat model for these achievements, noting that precision policing has led to a 5.6 percent drop in major crimes citywide.
Still, Adams and Tisch acknowledged that public safety is about more than just crime statistics. Tisch explained, “The car that’s been sitting in the same spot for months. Scooters cutting through crowds on the sidewalks. Corners and crosswalks taken over by unlicensed vendors. Music shaking windows long past midnight. Tents and makeshift shelters in public spaces. When those problems go unaddressed, they add up and they create a sense of chaos and disorder.”
Calls to 311 for quality of life issues have doubled from 2018 to 2024. Homeless encampment calls have surged by over 500 percent, illegal parking complaints have climbed more than 200 percent, and noise complaints have nearly doubled. In response, the Quality of Life Teams have towed more than 700 abandoned vehicles and seized nearly 350 illegal mopeds, scooters, and e-bikes in pilot communities since April. As the program expanded, these numbers only grew, with Q-Teams handling more than 23,000 calls, towing over 570 abandoned vehicles, and seizing 325 more illegal scooters and bikes across the city.
Commissioner Tisch was quick to address critics who have characterized the initiative as a return to zero-tolerance or “broken windows” policing. “This isn’t about broken windows, it’s about building trust,” she insisted. “The way to do that is quite simple, by listening to what people are actually calling about, showing up and fixing their problems. That starts today on Staten Island.”
Community leader Minnie Graham, a fixture in Park Hill for decades, spoke passionately about the difference this initiative could make. “Living in Park Hill over the past three decades has made me very familiar with the community and the hardworking New Yorkers that live here. Back in the 80s and 90s, you could hear gunfire in the streets and around the neighborhood. Gratefully, much has changed since then. But the issue of improving the quality of life here remains as important as ever.” Graham, who founded the Empowerment Zone to bridge the digital divide and support local families, described the expansion as a long-awaited answer to years of community advocacy. “We are thrilled to be here for the expansion into our borough, and we’re happy that help has finally arrived to address the quality of life issues that our communities have had to put up with on a daily basis for far too long.”
Staten Island Borough President Vito Fossella and State Assemblyman Sam Pirozzolo both expressed gratitude to Adams, Tisch, and the NYPD, underscoring the importance of quality of life improvements for all residents. Fossella joked about Adams’ frequent visits qualifying him for a local residency discount, then turned serious: “Our job is to improve the quality of life for the people we represent every day. That’s the focus.” Pirozzolo echoed similar sentiments, stating, “Quality of life, peace, safety, love knows no religion, knows no race. It’s something that’s cherished by everyone.”
The press conference also touched on recent tragic events, including a shooting in Crown Heights that left 14 victims. Tisch provided details on the ongoing investigation, noting that two of the shooters were killed and two remain at large. Mayor Adams reaffirmed the city’s commitment to removing illegal guns from the streets, highlighting that 23,000 illegal firearms have been confiscated citywide in 2025 alone, including 3,400 this year. “You can’t do a shooting if you don’t have a gun. So each one of those guns we remove prevents shootings from taking place,” Adams said.
Addressing questions about federal involvement and the pace of the program’s rollout, both Adams and Tisch emphasized the city’s self-reliance and the rapid expansion of the initiative. Tisch described it as “the fastest rollout of anything that I have experienced in my 17 years in government.”
For residents like Minnie Graham, the day’s announcement was more than just another city program—it was a recognition of community voices long unheard. “It gives me great joy to be here today and see that the work I started so long ago is now receiving the support that will help us accomplish our mission. The mission to build a stronger, inclusive, and safer New York for our children, seniors, and families.”
With the NYPD’s Quality of Life Division now active in every borough and community leaders energized by the city’s commitment, Staten Island’s neighborhoods look poised for a new chapter—one where everyday concerns are met with swift action, and every resident can take pride in calling New York City home.
