Council members used the FY26 executive budget hearing to press DYCD about the Office of Neighborhood Safety (ONS), Cure Violence contractors, and summer safety preparations as the city reported rising gun violence in some neighborhoods.

DYCD said it has expanded Cure Violence coverage across precinct catchments and provided performance metrics in testimony: in FY24 Cure Violence providers reported more than 65,000 canvassing hours, roughly 9,000 de‑escalations, more than 6,700 mediations, over 7,200 referrals to wraparound services and hundreds of shooting response events. The department reported that program caseload averages and responses are increasing in FY25, and stressed these providers' role in rapid post‑shooting response, mediation and prevention.

Council members pushed for systematized coordination with NYPD and requested clearer, site‑level mapping that matches Cure Violence presence, Cornerstone/Beacon programming, and NYPD deployment. Members also asked how DYCD ensures coverage during weekends and holidays and called for more predictable rapid‑response models in neighborhoods that have seen recent clusters of shootings. One council member described a recent local incident and said she did not see sufficient Cure Violence or grief‑response coverage on the ground, urging better integrated deployment with NYPD and community providers.

DYCD said Cure Violence teams conduct canvassing, mediations and weekly caseload work and that ONS partners with community providers to coordinate therapeutic responses, hospital outreach, and neighborhood events. DYCD also said it will provide a detailed report on specific incident responses and how ONS and Cure Violence teams were deployed, and that it plans to expand partnerships with Cornerstone and other community programs as part of the summer safety plan.

Council members said they will hold a follow‑up oversight hearing to review ONS and Cure Violence metrics and to get detailed site‑level plans for the summer.