Late last week, a Brooklyn city councilman heard something alarming. An organization had discovered lead levels in a heavily used park in his district that exceeded, by “multiple times,” the levels recommended by the state Department of Environmental Conservation.
The councilman, Lincoln Restler, immediately drafted an email to senior officials at New York City’s parks and health departments.
The response, he said, was dispiriting.
“We were told they would not meet with us, speak with us, engage with us in any substantive ways if we didn’t complete a seven-page Google doc,” Mr. Restler, the chair of the committee on governmental operations, said on Thursday.
Mayor Eric Adams has issued a new directive that is causing consternation among the ranks of elected officials and agency workers who share the obligation of running the nation’s largest city.
Mr. Adams declared that any elected official — including powerful members of Congress — seeking to engage with city agency staff members must now fill out a lengthy online request, which would be directed to his City Hall intergovernmental team.
The mayor’s office would then review the form and grant the request, or deny it. The new procedure, which was earlier reported by Politico and The City, a nonprofit news organization, was outlined by Mr. Adams in a video call with agency leaders last Friday.
