In the Media

What George Floyd Protestors Around the Country Want in Order to End Demonstrations

06/04/2020
Newsweek

Crowds took to the streets nearly a week ago in a rage after the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man, but as the protests move into their next phase, the question of what it will it take to quell them—what exactly that would look like—is gaining new urgency.

The answer is both simple and complicated. Above all, the protesters say they are looking for justice. But what justice looks like varies by city, by incident, and according to the community's history with police.

Police Misconduct Records Are Secret. Protests May Finally Change That.

06/04/2020
New York Times

At some point, history may show us that after years of aggression, after so much brutality that suggested so little fear of consequence, it took the looting of Chanel and the reversion of SoHo to a wasteland to disable a law that has made real police accountability so difficult in New York City. It required a political class moved by fear — of disorder and desecration — rather than compelled by the logic of justice, which had been obvious for so long.

Meet the men who scared de Blasio away from police reform

NYPD officer unions taught the NYC mayor a lesson in 2014. He hasn’t forgotten it.
06/02/2020
City & State

The chant was hard to decipher through a bullhorn on a Tribeca street Sunday night, all the more so because the message was a bit unfamiliar. But, listen to the video posted online enough times, and you can make out what the protester was yelling: “Fuck the PBA!” 

This legislative package on police reform is aimed at fixing the NYPD

The Safer NY Act would make it harder for the police to hide misconduct claims, force them to report demographic data about arrests, and legalize marijuana.
06/02/2020
Fast Company

As people protested around the country in response to the death of George Floyd, the nation has seen video after video of police tear gassing, shoving, and shooting at protestors. At massive protests in New York, a police van drove through a protest, and one officer even pulled a handgun on protestors in Manhattan’s Union Square.

Opinion: Homeless New Yorkers Need Housing, Not Policing

06/01/2020
City Limits

Homeless New Yorkers can’t stay home. And many are right to fear the danger of living on the streets, where they are subject to sweeps and other abusive policing, or in crowded shelters, which have become hotspots for coronavirus transmission.  

Without adequate options for housing or safe shelter, more homeless New Yorkers have been driven to the transit system in recent months, as a safer option than the alternatives.

Activists and elected officials question NYPD’s recent social distancing enforcement

05/21/2020
Amsterdam News

Last week, a group of Orthodox Jewish people gathered at a lot located at 55th Street between 14th and 15th avenues in Crown Heights to celebrate Lag B’Omer, a Jewish holiday. There were dozens in the area dancing, with loud music blaring and no masks being worn. They were openly flouting social distancing rules. Police officers eventually showed up and cleared the area without incident.

NYPD Defends Its Massive Budget As Social Services And Youth Programs Are Cut

05/15/2020
Gothamist

With New York City facing a $10 billion shortfall in tax revenues due to COVID-19, Mayor Bill de Blasio last month unveiled his plan for “painful” cuts to city services. His executive budget, set to be finalized with input from the City Council next month, calls for sweeping and immediate retrenchment — freezing new teacher hires, hobbling environmental initiatives, and cancelling the widely popular youth employment program.

Half of all Brooklynites are white, but 97.5% of the borough's social distancing arrests were of people of color

05/08/2020
Business Insider

In the six weeks since March 17, police officers in Brooklyn have arrested 40 people for violating social-distancing rules.

Thirty-five of the people arrested were black and four Hispanic. Just one is white, even though 49.5% of Brooklyn residents are white, according to the US Census Bureau.

That means that 39 out of 40 — or 97.5% — of the arrests were for people of color.

All 40 cases have been dropped.

Half of Queens residents are white, but 90% of social distance arrests just this week were of people of color

05/08/2020
Business Insider

In the Queens borough of New York City, which is 47.9% white, police officers have arrested at least 20 people over social-distancing issues since May 3.

Out of those 20 people, 16 were black or Hispanic, two were Asian, and two were white, a representative for the Queens District Attorney's Office told Business Insider. That means 90% of those arrested were people of color.

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