Lincoln Restler is a Democratic member of the New York City Council who has held the District 33 seat in Brooklyn since January 2022. The district includes Greenpoint, Williamsburg, Brooklyn Heights, Downtown Brooklyn, DUMBO and Boerum Hill, and he chairs the Council's Committee on Contracts after earlier chairing its Committee on Governmental Operations. Before his election he worked in the Bloomberg and de Blasio administrations, including as Deputy Chief of Staff to Mayor Bill de Blasio, and was executive director of the New York City Employment and Training Coalition.
Case
Six people died after medical emergencies in NYPD custody in 2026. Public defenders blame systemic neglect; the NYPD says it investigates every death and most detainees were seen by doctors first.
Role at the time: New York City Council member for District 33, at a Public Safety Committee hearing
Statement summary
Council Member Lincoln Restler told NYPD officials that 45 deaths in NYPD custody over two years was a phenomenal and disturbing number.
“Forty-five deaths in NYPD custody over the last two-plus years. It's a phenomenal number, disturbing number.”
The reference point is whether the NYPD and the city are failing people who fall ill in police custody. Restler calls the 45 deaths in NYPD custody he cited over two years "a phenomenal number, disturbing number" and pressed NYPD officials on medical care at Brooklyn Criminal Court. That treats the deaths as a problem the department must answer for, so we labeled it Condemned. The closest competing label is Mixed or conditional, which would fit a request for information alone; he characterizes the toll and presses for changes.
Statement dates: September 22, 2025
Statement dates: September 22, 2025
Statement dates: September 22, 2025
Statement dates: September 22, 2025
