Tina Luongo, Attorney-In-Charge of the Criminal Defense Practice at The Legal Aid Society, joined Errol Louis on NY1’s Inside City Hall to discuss the ongoing crisis in City jails and what the newly signed Less Is More act means for New Yorkers held on parole violations.

Luongo hailed Governor Hochul for her swift enacting of the Less Is More legislation, noting that 191 individuals would be immediately released from Rikers Island as a result of the new parole reform bill. While many provisions of the new bill cannot go into effect immediately, Luongo saw a clear message in the Governor’s actions.

“I think that is a call to action, to have all of the parole revocation matters reviewed and moved very quickly to release those who should be released, to programs, back to their homes, back to their jobs,” they said.

In contrast, Luongo decried inaction by Mayor de Blasio, who has yet to act in any way to remove New Yorkers from a dangerous situation.

“He struggles with calling it exactly what it is: a humanitarian crisis, he’s struggling with releasing people who are in on a city sentence, who have 90 days or less to serve, so in three months or less they will be home,” said Luongo.

“We have 10 dead people just this year, we have people defecating in plastic bags, sitting in intake for hours upon hours, no food, not being produced to court, not getting to medical appointments, people with underlying mental illness not getting their medication to stabilize them. He can’t admit it’s a humanitarian crisis and he can’t release these 200+ people.”

Watch the full segment here.