New York City - Miscegenous Mayor 'Comrade' Bill De Blasio in the news

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https://nypost.com/2020/06/09/nyc-to-paint-rename-streets-to-honor-black-lives-matter/

De Blasio: NYC will paint, rename streets to honor Black Lives Matter
By Julia Marsh and Natalie Musumeci
June 9, 2020 | 11:41am | Updated

The city will paint its roadways and rename streets in each borough to honor the Black Lives Matter movement, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Tuesday.

“It’s time to do something officially representing this city to recognize the power of the fundamental idea of Black Lives Matter :bow:, the idea that so much of American history has wrongly renounced, but now must be affirmed,” de Blasio said during his daily City Hall press briefing as he was surrounded by a group of social justice activists.

The mayor said that the city proposal calls for the Big Apple to “name streets in each borough, and to paint the words on the streets of this city in each borough at a crucial location, one of which will be here near City Hall.”

De Blasio said his administration will work with city leaders, advocates and the City Council to identify the four other locations in the Big Apple to support the movement.

“What will be clear [is] the street name and on the streets of our city is that message that now this city must fully, fully deeply feel, and this nation must as well, that black lives matter,” said de Blasio.

The announcement comes after thousands of demonstrators have taken to the streets of the city for more than a week to protest the May 25 killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis cop, as well as police brutality.

Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer told The Post that she proposed the idea to the mayor about two days ago to paint the roadway in front of the municpal copmplex at 1 Centre St. with the words “Black Lives Matter.”

“We actually have the paint and we have people ready to paint. I called the mayor’s office and I said we’d like to do it,” said Brewer. “I said ‘I got paint, I got artists, I got architects, I got volunteers, I even got a picture of what it looks like.’”

Brewer said the painted street will look like the “Black Lives Matter” paint job that Washington, DC, Mayor Muriel Bowser had done last week.

Bowser had “Black Lives Matter” painted in large yellow letters on the street that leads to the White House, and also designated the square in front of Lafayette Park as Black Lives Matter Plaza.

Iesha Sekou, the founder and CEO of Street Corner Resources, an anti-violence organization, said during de Blasio’s press briefing, “We don’t want to have to name a street, but I’m glad that we are.”

Sekou added, “We also want to make sure that police are not allowed to act the way we’ve been seeing.”

“We’re looking very much forward to holding the police accountable for their behavior,” she said.

 

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https://nypost.com/2020/06/11/chirlane-mccray-says-nypd-free-new-york-city-would-be-nirvana/

Chirlane McCray says NYPD-free New York City would be ‘nirvana’
By Yaron Steinbuch
June 11, 2020 | 8:43am

New York City First Lady Chirlane McCray – whom Mayor Bill de Blasio has credited for his executive decision to jump on the “defund the police” bandwagon – said no cops patrolling the streets would be a “nirvana,” according to a report.

“That would be like a nirvana, a utopia that we are nowhere close to getting to,” McCray told Time magazine on Tuesday.

On Sunday, Hizzoner pledged to shift an unspecified amount of the NYPD’s $6 billion budget to “youth initiatives and social services,” just two days after rejecting calls from activists and their City Council allies to slash funding for the city’s 36,000 cops.

His about-face came amid widespread speculation that McCray plans to enter next year’s race for Brooklyn borough president.

McCray’s comments during a TIME100 Talks discussion came days after Minneapolis lawmakers pledged to dismantle the city’s beleaguered police force in the aftermath of George Floyd’s death while in custody.

When asked whether the Big Apple could also disband its police department, McCray laughed.

“They’re a small city,” she said of Minneapolis. “They can do things that would not be possible in a large city like New York.”

De Blasio agreed that such a dramatic move would be unrealistic in a city of about 8.6 million residents.

“Could the human race evolve to a point where no guardians, no structures are needed? I guess in theory, but I don’t see that in the future we’re going to live the next few generations,” the mayor said.
see also
Youth programs say de Blasio plan to reallocate NYPD funds is nonsense

He added: “You’re going to have police in New York City because it is needed for safety, but that doesn’t mean you can’t change policing.”

The couple said the solution isn’t necessarily to put fewer cops on the streets but to improve their ties to the communities.

“It’s good-policing. It’s not no-policing,” McCray said. “It’s having a different kind of culture than what we have now that is not so punitive and harsh and abusive.”

McCray also mentioned the recent arrest of their daughter, Chiara, 25, during a Manhattan protest after she allegedly blocked traffic on Broadway and refused to move.

“I didn’t know that she was out there,” McCray said, adding that she only found out after her daughter was released from jail.

 

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https://nypost.com/2020/06/11/de-blasio-pulls-race-card-to-fight-critics-over-wifes-role/

De Blasio pulls race card to defend wife Chirlane McCray’s administrative role
By Julia Marsh
June 11, 2020 | 4:33pm

Mayor Bill de Blasio pulled the race card to defend wife Chirlane McCray’s prominent role in his administration on everything from the city’s coronavirus response to slashing the NYPD’s budget.

“There have been critics from the beginning,” de Blasio said during his daily briefing Thursday when asked about concerns that he’s crediting her with the decision to shift money from cops to youth services to boost her future political career.

“I don’t know if they’re uncomfortable because she’s a woman or an African American or an African American woman,” he said.

McCray, who was at the briefing trumpeting her new plan to help mom-and-pop restaurants in minority communities recover from the coronavirus pandemic, said she actually doesn’t enjoy the public platform.

“I’m not someone who thrives in the limelight. I don’t, like, need the attention of both being in front of the cameras. In fact, it’s very difficult for me,” she said.

“I do what I do because I care about people. I care deeply about these brown and black communities that have been affected disproportionately by the COVID-19 virus,” McCray said.

Before the coronavirus pandemic hit the city McCray said she was considering running for Brooklyn borough president and began launching city-funded initiatives in Kings County.

One of her most vocal critics is Councilman Antonio Reynoso (D-Brooklyn), who’s also running to become the next Brooklyn borough president.

Reynoso, who is of Afro-Caribbean descent, blasted the couple.
Enlarge Image
Bill de Blasio speaks alongside his wife Chirlane McCray during a memorial service for George Floyd at Cadman Plaza Park in the Brooklyn, NY.
Bill de Blasio speaks alongside his wife Chirlane McCray during a memorial service for George Floyd at Cadman Plaza Park in the Brooklyn, NY.AP

“While the mayor continues to play politics with his family and ignores the demands of New Yorkers, I have been on the steps of City Hall since I took office, standing side by side with New Yorkers of good conscience, demanding repeal of 50-A, demanding the firing of Daniel Pantaleo, demanding the passage of the Right-Know-Act and the chokehold bill.

“The mayor fought us at every turn and Chirlane stayed silent,” Reynoso said.

A council source, who asked for anonymity because he was afraid of making McCray an underdog in the race, called de Blasio’s use of race to answer the question “ridiculous.”

“If you look at where the loudest criticism has come, I don’t think that’s true,” the source said.

He noted that Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, who is also black, accused the mayor of using his biracial family as a political shield last week.

“This is me talking, like, you can no longer hide behind your black wife and children, not anymore,” Williams said during a press conference live-streamed on Facebook Friday. Williams’ rebuke came a day after de Blasio was booed off the stage at a George Floyd memorial in Brooklyn for his handling of anti-police brutality protests in the Big Apple.

Female minority members of de Blasio’s staff recently penned a letter lobbing similar attacks on the mayor.

“Several of de Blasio’s ex and current staffers said that he has a penchant for naming his black wife and children in staff emails and public statements when he wants to shield himself from criticisms from people of color on his staff,” according to The Root, which obtained an exclusive copy of the missive.

 

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https://nypost.com/2020/06/11/bill-de-blasio-robert-e-lee-street-must-be-renamed-immediately/

De Blasio says Brooklyn’s General Lee Avenue must be renamed ‘immediately’
By Julia Marsh and Lia Eustachewich
June 11, 2020 | 12:35pm | Updated

Mayor Bill de Blasio said he’d renew efforts to change a street named after Robert E. Lee in Brooklyn’s Fort Hamilton military base — as one of his deputy mayors revealed his ancestors were slaves on the Confederate general’s family plantation.

“Nothing should be named after Robert E. Lee at this point in history,” de Blasio said at his daily press briefing Thursday. “Anything named after him has to go in this city.”

The mayor was fielding a question about the existence of General Lee Avenue, a stretch of road within the military base in southwest Brooklyn.

An emotional Deputy Mayor Phil Thompson chimed in to share his family history with Lee.

“I just wanted to say that my father’s family, the Thompsons on both sides, were enslaved on the plantation of Robert E. Lee’s father, Henry Lee, and one of my ancestors is named Sarah Lee,” Thompson said.

“This issue is an emotional issue for many people like me and it’s really hard for us to feel fully part of this country that celebrates our enslavement with names like that on military bases all across this country.”

In 2017, the US Army turned down a request to change the name of that street and one named after Stonewall Jackson, who like Lee was stationed at the base in the 1840s.

At the time, the Army said the streets were named after the two generals “in the spirit of reconciliation” after the Civil War.

But de Blasio on Thursday vowed to fight a war of his own.

“We will go right back at the military … I will reach out to them and let them know how important it is to remove the name of Robert E. Lee not only in Fort Hamilton but everywhere else,” he said.

Staten Island Congressman Max Rose, an Army combat veteran, and Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke sent a letter to Secretary of Defense Mark Esper on Thursday, calling for the renaming of the two streets.

“While we were encouraged by news this week that the Army might consider renaming military installations named after Confederate generals, men who violated that oath to our country, we are similarly disturbed by recent social media posts suggesting that these names are part of a ‘Great American Heritage’ and are ‘Hallowed Ground,’” Rose and Clarke wrote.

“Shiloh, Antietam, and Gettysburg are hallowed ground, places where Americans gave their lives to end the practice of slavery in our country; bases named after men who sought to keep their fellow men and women in bondage are not. We hope that you will act swiftly to rename the streets in Fort Hamilton and all places named after Confederate figures.”

The issue resurfaced in New York City amid a global movement against racial injustices following the Minneapolis police-involved killing of George Floyd.

General Lee Avenue in Brooklyn, NYHandout


In Virginia on Wednesday, a judge blocked Gov. Ralph Northam from removing a Lee statue. Statues of Christopher Columbus have also been torn down or defaced in recent days in Virginia and Boston.

Columbus is viewed by some as a hero and others as a vicious conqueror for his discovery of North America.

Confederate memorials were also targeted in 2015, after white supremacist Dylann Roof killed nine black churchgoers in South Carolina, and two years later following a violent white supremacist protest in Charlottesville that left one counter-protester dead.

 

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https://nypost.com/2020/06/12/de-blasio-seriously-declares-to-be-nations-greatest-mayor-ever/

De Blasio seriously declares himself the nation’s greatest mayor
By Julia Marsh and Nolan Hicks
June 12, 2020 | 12:37pm | Updated

Mayor Bill de Blasio’s own staff have excoriated him in public letters and with an unprecedented march across the Brooklyn Bridge over his handling of citywide protests — but that didn’t stop Hizzoner from declaring Friday that he’s the nation’s greatest mayor.

“This is the strongest mayoralty in the country, in every sense, and the strongest city in the country, in every sense, and we can persevere through all sorts of challenges and we will. So I’m quite confident in what we can do in the next year and a half,” the term-limited mayor boasted at his daily City Hall press briefing.

And he said anyone who doubts that doesn’t have a firm grasp on reality.

“I think anyone who questions the ability of this city government to do what we’re here to do — and my ability as mayor to use all the tools of city government even in a time of crisis — doesn’t really understand the reality of New York City,” de Blasio claimed.

The mayor was responding to a tsunami of criticism from former allies — including two of the city’s most prominent black politicians, Public Advocate Jumaane Williams and City Councilman Donovan Richards — over his handling of protests in the wake of the Minneapolis police-custody killing of George Floyd.

“It’s been a very difficult few weeks, a lot of passions, a lot of deep feeling, a lot of strong views. I don’t take any of it lightly,” de Blasio said of the criticism — before dismissing it.

Richards, a lifelong resident of southeast Queens who chairs the council’s public safety committee and is running for Queens borough president, quickly fired back on Twitter.

“Check your privilege, Mr. Mayor,” wrote Richards (D-Queens).

He later added: “I was born and raised in Southeast Queens with multiple NYPD encounters. Including being stopped and frisked at 13 years old with guns drawn on me. Name your first NYPD experience @NYCMayor.”

“Is it time to remove this white man from office? #askingforafriend,” Councilman Carlos Menchaca (D-Brooklyn) tweeted.

Williams, a Brooklyn native who last week accused the mayor of hiding behind his black wife and children, tweeted: “Oh, please do splain to us kind Mr. Mayor sir. For the record: I am city-wide elected official, after serving on the @NYCCouncilI was educated in the NYC Public School System, Pre-school to MastersAnd, BTW, I was born, raised and spent my entire life here….how about you?” Williams wrote.

De Blasio, a devoted Boston Red Sox fan, was born in Manhattan but raised in Massachusetts. He returned to New York to attend NYU and then Columbia University.

De Blasio’s latest dismissal of criticism comes just days after current and former de Blasio staffers marched from City Hall to Brooklyn’s Cadman Plaza — the scene of a bloody confrontation between cops and protesters last week — to upbraid the man many of them still call boss.

That march came days after a largely black crowd of mourners turned their backs on de Blasio as he spoke at a Cadman Plaza memorial for Floyd.

De Blasio spokeswoman Freddi Goldstein insisted the mayor “was referring to the power of the executive branch in this city — something he’s talked about before — and the ability to use it to create change. It’s unparalleled.”

 

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https://nypost.com/2020/06/16/de-bl...nt-to-sow-division-over-shake-shack-incident/

De Blasio blasts NYPD union for engaging in ‘racist activities’
By Joe Tacopino
June 16, 2020 | 2:00pm | Updated

Mayor de Blasio labeled one of the city’s largest police unions as “racist” on Tuesday while discussing that the NYPD found “no criminality” behind the tainted milkshakes that sickened three cops.

“The SBA leadership has engaged in racist activities so many times, I can’t even count,” de Blasio said of the Sergeants Benevolent Association at a City Hall news conference, on Tuesday.

“I’ve been fighting with these unions from day one. These police union leaders, not all of them, but too many of them, stand in the way of progress.”

The mayor claimed that the SBA and other union leaders have failed to help unite the city amid recent unrest and protests in the city.

The comments came as it was revealed the shakes from Shake Shack that sickened NYPD cops in Lower Manhattan on Monday night were apparently tainted as a result of improper rinsing of a cleaning solution.

“After a thorough investigation by the NYPD’s Manhattan South investigators, it has been determined that there was no criminality by [Shake Shack’s] employees,” Chief of Detectives Rodney Harrison tweeted.

The result of the probe led the Police Benevolent Association and the Detectives’ Endowment Association to retract statements suggesting that the three cops were intentionally poisoned.

That’s when De Blasio praised Harrison “for so rapidly getting the truth out” and blasted the unions for jumping to conclusions.

“I would think the unions would trust the NYPD to find the truth,” de Blasio said.

“But the unions, these *union leaders don’t want the truth, they just want to sow division and we have to figure out what the limits are on their right to do that.”

 

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https://nypost.com/2020/06/17/defaced-posters-in-nyc-urge-mayor-de-blasio-to-resign/

Defaced posters in Brooklyn urge Mayor de Blasio to resign
By Lia Eustachewich
June 17, 2020 | 12:10pm | Updated

The boarded-up exterior of Black Iron Burger in Brooklyn is covered in posters of Mayor Bill de Blasio that have been defaced. Annie Wermiel


Photos of Mayor Bill de Blasio plastered on a plywood-covered Brooklyn restaurant window were defaced with the words “RESIGN” and “YOU GOTTA GO BRO!”

The messages were scrawled on a series of images of de Blasio’s smiling face that were slapped on plywood covering the front of Black Iron Burger on Flatbush Avenue in Park Slope — where Hizzoner owns two homes.

“YOU ABOUT TO LOSE YOUR JOB!!” and “RESIGN” were written across his forehead in two of the pictures, while others included devil horns.

Victor Ortega, the co-owner of Black Iron Burger which has other locations across the city, said the Brooklyn eatery has been closed since March 20 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“We had no idea they posted those posters,” he said Wednesday, adding that the landlord was going to take them down.

Ortega said the shop put up plywood over its windows as a precautionary measure amid the recent protests over George Floyd’s police-involved death that routinely marched down Flatbush Avenue between the Barclays Center and the Manhattan Bridge.

 

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https://nypost.com/2020/06/19/chirlane-mccray-will-judge-nyc-washington-jefferson-statues/

Chirlane McCray to decide fate of NYC statues of Washington, Jefferson
By Julia Marsh and Nolan Hicks
June 19, 2020 | 12:11pm | Updated

Not even the Father of Our Country is safe.

First sheboon Chirlane McCray will put statues and structures honoring historic figures tainted by slavery — including George Washington and Thomas Jefferson — under the microscope as part of a new “Commission on Racial Justice and Reconciliation,” Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Friday.

Hizzoner’s move comes a day after five city lawmakers — including City Council Speaker Corey Johnson — sent a letter requesting the statue of Jefferson be removed from the council’s chamber, as leaders across the city and nation struggle to respond to weeks of protests over racism that followed the death of George Floyd.

“This is exactly the kind of thing that this new commissions needs to examine,” de Blasio told reporters during his morning briefing, announcing his wife’s latest assignment. “I think it is the time to evaluate the entire look and feel of this city and a commission that’s focused on justice and reconciliation can really think about a bigger approach.”

He added: “I’m going to charge them with that task.”

De Blasio said that would include examining City Hall’s statue of Washington and the name of the mayoral residence, Gracie Mansion, which was built and owned by a slave owner, Archibald Gracie.

When pressed by reporters, de Blasio acknowledged he was not sure how far the review should go, but said it was time to examine the “profound contradictions” of the city and nation’s forefathers.

“I don’t have a foregone conclusion for you now as to what names should be kept, what names should be changed,” he added. “But I think this commission is the right way to do it.”

Chirlane McCray
James Messerschmidt


The purview of McCray’s new panel will be expansive, de Blasio said, examining ties between racism and virtually every facet of the city, even making mention of Robert Moses — the “power broker” and city construction czar who historians say ran roughshod over poor and minority neighborhoods to build freeways and other amenities that benefited white New Yorkers.

It’s the city’s third plunge — and McCray’s second — into the tricky issue, which critics say is a slippery slope toward sanitizing history altogether.

De Blasio ordered a commission in 2017 to reexamine memorials to controversial figures — including Christopher Columbus statue in Columbus Circle.

That panel closed up shop in January 2018 recommending that officials relocate just one statue — controversial 1800s gynecologist Dr. J. Marion Sims, who perfected his surgical techniques by operating on black slaves without anesthesia.

https://nypost.com/2018/01/11/de-blasios-monuments-panel-decides-to-remove-only-one/

McCray previously led a commission to build statues of historical women figures, which came under intense criticism after it snubbed sainted Italian-American nun Mother Cabrini.

The reconciliation commission is the second task force that McCray has been named to in recent weeks after Hizzoner selected her to co-chair a panel examining how racial inequities helped to fuel the coronavirus outbreak.

Critics have slammed City Hall for using the high profile posts as a way to boost McCray’s profile as she eyes a possible run for the Brooklyn Borough presidency in 2021.

 

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https://nypost.com/2020/06/19/locations-of-nycs-black-lives-matter-murals-unveiled/

De Blasio unveils locations of NYC’s Black Lives Matter murals
By Julia Marsh and Lia Eustachewich
June 19, 2020 | 11:19am | Updated

Mayor Bill de Blasio on Friday unveiled the locations where “Black Lives Matter” will be painted along city streets across the five boroughs.

The massive murals will be designed along Centre Street between Worth Street and Reade Street in Lower Manhattan, Richmond Terrace between Hamilton Avenue and Ferry Terminal Viaduct on Staten Island, Joralemon Street between Adams and Court streets in Brooklyn, 153rd Street between Jamaica and Archer avenues in Queens and Morris Avenue between 161st and 162nd streets in the Bronx.

They will be completed over the next three weeks.

The streets will also be renamed to honor the Black Lives Matter movement, which will have to be approved by the City Council.

“I ask all New Yorkers to recognize the power of this moment — that the city of New York is saying loudly, clearly, consistently black lives matter and we will back up that belief with action after action after action ,” de Blasio said.

A similar Black Lives Matter mural was painted in Bedford-Stuyvesant over the weekend, with the roadway becoming a pedestrian-only plaza for the summer.

De Blasio announced plans for the giant murals and renamings earlier this month amid raging protests in the city over the Minneapolis police-involved death of George Floyd and racial injustices.

"Black Lives Matter" painted on a Brooklyn street
Paul Martinka


Some of the streets that will get a revamp have names rooted in history.

Joralemon Street in Brooklyn Heights was named after Teunis Joralemon, a prominent landowner who opposed the opening of streets, like Clinton Street, through his property, according to the book “Brooklyn by Name” by Leonard Benardo.

The name Morris Avenue hails from brothers Richard and Lewis Morris, who bought the property now known as Morrisania. Richard’s son was the first governor of New Jersey.

Richmond Terrace, meanwhile, is a nod to Richmond County — named in 1683 after King James II of England, who was the Duke of Richmond.

The mural announcement Friday comes the same day de Blasio designated Juneteenth — which commemorates the official end of slavery — a holiday beginning next year.

 

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https://nypost.com/2020/06/19/de-blasio-says-juneteenth-will-be-a-holiday-in-nyc-next-year/

Juneteenth will be an NYC holiday next year, de Blasio says
By Julia Marsh and Lia Eustachewich
June 19, 2020 | 10:52am | Updated

Juneteenth will be an official holiday in New York City beginning next year, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Friday.

“Starting next year, Juneteenth will be an official holiday and an official New York City schools holiday,” the mayor said at his daily press briefing.

Juneteenth is a day commemorating the official end of slavery.

“It’s a celebration of a liberation that never really came. The fact is it’s also a day of reckoning,” Hizzoner continued. “Four hundred years of American history tell us one simple thing … for 400 years, one group of Americans :bongo: has been treated profoundly unequal.”

Many states, including New York, have made Juneteenth, which falls on June 19 each year, an official holiday.

The Emancipation Proclamation freed slaves in 1863, but it wasn’t fully enforced until after the end of the Civil War two years later.

On June 19, 1865, Union troops led by Gen. Gordon Granger rode into Galveston, Texas, to deliver the news to slaves there that the Confederates had lost the war — and they were free.

 

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https://nypost.com/2020/06/23/chirlane-mccray-currently-only-person-judging-nyc-monuments/

Chirlane McCray still the only member of panel that will decide fate of NYC monuments
By Julia Marsh
June 23, 2020 | 7:32pm

Mayor Bill de Blasio was quick to announce that his wife Chirlane McCray would lead a new Racial Truth and Reconciliation Commission amid fallout last week over his handling of the George Floyd protests — but he’s taking his time to add anyone else to the panel that will have the power to decide the future of historical city monuments.

A City Hall spokeswoman told The Post “members and leadership will be named in the coming weeks.” She added that the mayor is “not being prescriptive with what actions the commissions will ultimately call for” in terms of a monuments review.

Critics have accused de Blasio of using city resources to boost his wife’s political future as she’s expressed interest in running for Brooklyn borough president next year.

Democratic City Councilman Robert Cornegy Jr., who is campaigning for the Brooklyn post, blasted the mayor’s handling of the commission.

“To make this one appointment and then leave it open-ended doesn’t suggest the level of commitment that I’d like to see not only as a council member but as a black man in this city who is counting on a solid turn and pivot and not one that is celebratory,” Cornegy said.

He added that there are more qualified people to lead the commission than McCray.

“I’d rather see someone who has a deep historical context and has some connection to academia,” he said, noting there are many prominent professors at the City University of New York who would fit the bill.

Rev. Kevin McCall, a civil rights leader who helped organize the George Floyd rally in Brooklyn’s Cadman Plaza where de Blasio was booed by participants earlier this month, said he’s advising City Hall about the commission.

“I’ve been in conversation with their office to determine who should be a part of that and what the direction should be,” McCall said.

“Many times we have been screaming at the mayor and protesting at them, but now we at the table being an ally and not just screaming at them,” he said. In an recent New York Times article McCall accused the mayor of turning his back on black constituents.

He told The Post it’s “good to have the mayor’s wife” on the commission “because she has his ear, but now there should be someone else who’d be able to co-chair with her who’d be in the community trenches.”

“Your wife is your wife in terms of the head of it, but let the people decide because this is a time when the people need their voice at the table,” McCall added.

Last week, de Blasio said McCray’s commission will review city statues and structures honoring historic figures tainted by slavery — including George Washington and Thomas Jefferson — in addition to examining ties between racism and virtually every facet of the city.

“How many committees and commissions has he assigned his wife to?” quipped a council source, referring to the mayor appointing McCray to head the coronavirus racial inequality task force in April and the She Built NYC project in 2018.

The later, established to balance the male-female mix of statues of prominent New Yorkers, came under fire for ignoring the results of a poll of New Yorkers who overwhelmingly voted to erect a monument to Catholic Saint Mother Cabrini.

 

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https://nypost.com/2020/06/23/de-blasio-says-nyc-will-crack-down-on-illegal-firework-activity/

De Blasio says NYC will crack down on illegal firework activity
By Julia Marsh and Lia Eustachewich
June 23, 2020 | 11:25am | Updated

The city will begin cracking down on illegal firework activity that has ramped up in recent weeks — but pyromaniacs themselves won’t be targeted because it’s “not a good use of police’s time and energy ,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said Tuesday.

De Blasio announced the formation of a task force — comprised of NYPD Intelligence Bureau officers, FDNY fire marshals and officers from the Sheriff’s Bureau of Criminal Investigation — that instead will go after suppliers and distributors of fireworks.

“I think the more profound issue is going to the root of the cause, cutting off the supply,” the mayor said at his daily press briefing.

Asked why authorities won’t be going after individuals setting off the fireworks, the mayor said, “A lot of cases you can’t intervene when someone shoots off fireworks and they’re gone. It’s just not a good use of police’s time and energy.”

De Blasio said he’d rather the NYPD focuses on the recent spate of shootings and “the most fundamental issues of public safety.”

“If any NYPD officer thinks something needs to be intervened on, that’s part of their professional discretion,” he added. “But the focus right now is on dealing with serious and violent crime.”

Complaints of illegal firework use have skyrocketed, with 8,967 reported to the city’s 311 system from June 1 through Sunday, compared to just 28 complaints logged in the same period last year.

 

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https://nypost.com/2020/06/24/de-blasio-plans-to-install-blm-mural-in-front-of-trump-tower/

De Blasio plans to install Black Lives Matter mural in front of Trump Tower
By Larry Celona and Julia Marsh
June 24, 2020 | 10:06am | Updated

Mayor Bill de Blasio is planning to install a massive Black Lives Matter mural right outside Trump Tower in Manhattan, The Post has learned.

Plans for the mural — which will be painted in yellow block letters along Fifth Avenue between 56th and 57th streets — come as the city grapples with troubling surges in gun violence and illegal firework activity.

“Obviously he is doing it to antagonize the president,” a source said. “This is what he is concerned about while the city burns. What an amateur politician.”

The source said the mayor’s office reached out to the Department of Transportation about the feasibility of the mural — but it was mentioned that de Blasio wanted it done.

The idea had originated from a June 7 meeting with community leaders and activists, including the Rev. Kevin McCall and Gwen Carr, the mother of fat nigger Eric Garner, a source said.

De Blasio hatched the idea a few days after Washington, DC, Mayor Muriel Bowser had “Black Lives Matter” painted along a street leading to the White House, according to a second source. The plan was finalized last week — after locations for the other murals across the five boroughs were announced on Juneteenth, the source said.

The slogan will be stenciled outside Trump Tower, where President Trump stays when he’s in town, sometime before July 4th weekend.

The installation is one of seven that will pop up across all five boroughs. Three are now planned for Manhattan — along Centre Street in Lower Manhattan, Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard in Harlem and in front of Trump Tower.

Hizzoner’s plan comes as the Big Apple has been rocked by an unprecedented amount of shootings this month — including 53 incidents from June 15 through Sunday, the highest mark for a single week since de Blasio took office.

Residents have also been rattled by incessant firework activity, prompting some fed-up drivers to honk their horns near Gracie Mansion on Monday.
A spokeswoman for the mayor explained what motivated de Blasio to have the slogan painted in front of Trump Tower.

“The President is a disgrace to the values we cherish in New York City,” Julia Arredondo said. “He can’t run or deny the reality we are facing, and any time he wants to set foot in the place he claims is his hometown, he should be reminded Black Lives Matter.”

 

[The Bobster]

https://nypost.com/2020/06/27/272-nypd-cops-file-for-retirement-since-floyd-protests/

272 uniformed NYPD cops file for retirement after George Floyd death
By Dean Balsamini
June 27, 2020 | 8:43am

Cops are hanging up their handcuffs in huge numbers.

The flurry of Finest farewells began after the police-involved killing of George Floyd on May 25, with 272 uniformed cops putting in retirement papers from then through June 24, the NYPD says.

That’s a 49 percent spike from the 183 officers who filed during the same period last year, according to the department.

An NYPD source suggested the recent departures could signal a coming crisis for the 36,000-member department, which also faces a $1 billion budget reduction amid the “defund the police” furor.

“We are worried about a surge in attrition reducing our headcount beyond what we can sustain without new recruits, and are afraid the City Council has not taken the surge into account,” he said.

Police Benevolent Association president Patrick Lynch said cops are “at their breaking point, whether they have 20 years on the job or only two. We are all asking the same question: ‘How can we keep doing our job in this environment?’ And that is exactly what the anti-cop crowd wants. If we have no cops because no one wants to be a cop, they will have achieved their ultimate goal.”

Ed Mullins, president of the Sergeants Benevolent Association, said an “exodus” from the NYPD has begun. He said nearly 80 of his members have recently filed for retirement, and that morale is “at the lowest levels I’ve seen in 38 years.”

The fiery union leader added, “People have had enough and no longer feel it’s worth risking their personal well-being for a thankless position.”

“There is no leadership, no direction, no training for new policies,” he said. “Department brass is paralyzed (and) too afraid to uphold their sworn oath in fear of losing their jobs. Sadly, the people of this city will soon experience what New York City was like in the 1980s.”

Outrage over Floyd’s death sparked nationwide protests, and some NYPD officers see themselves as collateral damage.

“It’s an all-out war on cops and we have no support,” said one veteran Brooklyn cop, who is retiring next month. “I wanted to wait for my 30th anniversary in October, but the handwriting is on the wall.”

Many men and women in blue are fed up, feeling targeted and frustrated that they are expected to fight crime with fewer tools than ever, while getting no backing from politicians, injured in protests, and constantly scrutinized, according to agitated officers and angry police unions.

The weary rank and file also wonder if one bad decision on the job could get them arrested and charged with a crime.

“If you have your time in and have an opportunity to do something else, get out while you can,” advised Joseph Giacalone, a retired NYPD sergeant and adjunct professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in Manhattan.

Giacalone said he’d received three emails in “the past week or so” from students asking for advice about changing their career choice. Giacalone said he has not gotten “these kinds” of emails since the Michael Brown killing in Ferguson, Missouri, in August 2014.

He said he “never discourages anyone” about the job, he just “lays out the pros and cons” and also reminds students there are federal law enforcement jobs.

On Thursday, The Post exclusively reported that Bronx NYPD precinct commander Richard Brea is quitting to protest the department’s handling of police reform and anti-brutality protests. The Deputy Inspector, who led the Bronx’s 46th Precinct, will retire after nearly three decades on the force.

NYPD Sgt. Joseph Imperatrice, founder of Blue Lives Matter, which formed after NYPD officers Wenjian Liu and Rafael Ramos were assassinated in 2014 , claims close to a dozen cops per day are putting in their papers. Imperatrice believes the number is “noticeably higher” than usual and due to the “anti-police and anti-criminal accountability” climate.

Imperatrice contends the number of cops leaving the job since the end of March is “approaching the 700 to 1,000 range between COVID and the anti-police narrative.”

“I feel sorry for the cops who just began their career and have 20 years to go,” Imperatrice said. “Morale across the nation for anybody who puts on that uniform is at an all-time low … Officers are showing up to work putting on their uniform and within a few days thereafter being put into handcuffs.”

He said one “fed-up” Manhattan detective, a 22-year-veteran with a wife and kids, is just waiting to hear back about a new job and then he’s putting in his papers and moving to Arizona. He believes the city is “going down the tubes quick and it’s not going to turn around anytime soon.”

Imperatrice said the heartbroken mom of an anti-crime unit cop killed in the line of duty recently contacted him, “beside herself” because the NYPD disbanded the unit and thus “disbanded the legacy of her son.”

“The politicians are spitting in the faces of families of cops killed in the line of duty and now they’re handing over the keys to the city to these criminals. This is insane,” Imperatrice fumed.

“Of course, if a police officer is acting criminal or abusing their authority, they should be held accountable. But the majority of incidents we are seeing do not warrant officers losing their job and being locked up.”

Said John Jay professor Giacalone: “We are living in the Twilight Zone — where the good guys are the bad guys and the bad guys are the good guys. No bail, no jail, selective prosecution — unless you’re a cop, then game on.

“People have lost their collective minds.”

 

[The Bobster]

https://nypost.com/2020/07/03/city-hall-demoralized-by-de-blasio-as-staffers-jump-ship/

City Hall ‘demoralized’ by de Blasio as staffers jump ship
By Julia Marsh and Nolan Hicks
July 3, 2020 | 6:01am | Updated

City Hall employees have been “demoralized” by Mayor Bill de Blasio’s refusal to listen to his staff, leading to bungled administration responses to what are arguably the biggest issues of our time — the coronavirus pandemic and the George Floyd protests, sources told The Post.

“A lot of the office is pretty demoralized,” a source said.

“Were it not for the fact that it’s hard to guarantee a paycheck right now, I think a lot more people would be headed for the exits,” the source added, referring to the sudden joint departures of two longtime senior advisers.

Press Secretary Freddi Goldstein and Communications Director Wiley Norvell, who have a combined 13 years with Hizzoner, both said Wednesday they are stepping down but not moving on to other jobs.

“In a situation like right now with COVID, with the George Floyd protests, his style has to be especially grating [to staffers],” the source explained, noting de Blasio is “especially bullheaded,” and “convinced of his own best way to handle things.”

The Post reported this spring that de Blasio was micromanaging the city’s coronavirus response and ignoring the advice of health experts who work for him.

“People feel like they can’t do their jobs and can’t voice their opinions, even internally,” said a City Hall insider.

“He often perceives internal disagreements as potentially undermining or coming from people incapable of seeing the bigger picture.”

“It’s left people frustrated and exhausted,” the insider said.

Added to that, staff who thought they’d gone to work for a progressive mayor were dismayed when de Blasio backed use-of-force by the NYPD during the demonstrations last month. Current and former employees wrote open letters to the mayor expressing their disappointment and even marched across the Brooklyn Bridge in an unprecedented public display of disgust with the mayor they serve.

Another source said Goldstein, who was promoted to press secretary in April 2019 after serving more junior roles in the administration, “is fed up” with her boss.

“I know she’s totally burnt out and that she’s over him and she’s over all of it.

“She’s not taking a new job so that tells you all you need to know,” that source said.

Rebecca Katz, a former de Blasio confidante, slammed the mayor at the time for hitting his favorite Brooklyn gym in March just hours before the governor closed the state’s fitness facilities because of the pandemic.

“No current or former staff member should be asked to defend this. The Mayor’s actions today are inexcusable and reckless,” Katz tweeted at the time.

Goldstein was left to try to explain the head-scratching move, telling The Post in a statement in March, “The YMCA has been a huge part of his and his family’s life…it’s clear that’s about to change and before that, the mayor wanted to visit a place that keeps him grounded one last time.”

Goldstein confirmed to The Post Thursday she’s taking time off after leaving her position next week, but disputed claims that she’s leaving because she’s fed up with the mayor.

She said it’s a “natural time to transition” because “the city is at a turning point, reopening after the crisis.”

“It’s been a long few months, and we’ve both been here a long time,” she said, referring to herself and Norvell.

Norvell did not return a message from The Post about his departure. He also doesn’t have another position lined up.

Emma Wolfe, de Blasio’s chief of staff, praised Goldstein’s tenure.

“The mayor and the entire team have leaned on Freddi more than ever these past four months. She’s been fierce, effective and good-humored through the toughest days this city has ever faced. There’s nothing but admiration and respect for her amazing service in this crisis,” Wolfe said.

De Blasio hasn’t named Norvell’s replacement but Goldstein’s successor is Bill Neidhardt, the former spokesman for Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders’s presidential campaign.

Remaining staff grumbled that de Blasio chose a white male outsider, instead of a person of color already working for his administration, given his stated commitment to racial inclusion.

Asked during Thursday’s press briefing about his choice to name Neidhardt as his next press secretary, de Blasio said vaguely that the former Sanders spokesman was the right person for the high-profile job given his “particular combination of experiences.”

The mayor also boasted that his is the most diverse administration in the city’s history.

 

[The Bobster]

https://nypost.com/2020/07/03/de-blasio-installs-blm-mural-in-harlem-after-trump-tower-cold-feet/

De Blasio installs ‘BLM’ mural in Harlem a day after bailing on Trump Tower event
By Lorena Mongelli and Nolan Hicks
July 3, 2020 | 5:26pm

Mayor Bill DeBlasio spoke at the Black Lives Matter installation on Adam Clayton Powell Jr . Dan Herrick


Mayor Bill de Blasio showed up at a Black Lives Matter mural installation in Harlem on Friday, just hours after he bailed on his much-talked-about plans for a similar event in front of President Trump’s Midtown tower.

Hizzoner did not mention his 11th-hour case of cold feet on the mural plans for Trump Tower — for which 16 police officers and several commanders had been paid overtime Wednesday night, NBC-4 New York reported — or the president as he helped to paint the civil rights mantra ‘Black Lives Matter’ onto Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard.

“This was the place where the message of black America was spread all over the country, all over the world. So this is a place where we must have this mural,” he told the small group of community activists.

De Blasio also didn’t let an exploding political controversy over claims he misled the City Council about Police Department budget cuts stop him from again touting his spending plan for the NYPD.

“We don’t need to just police. Policing is not enough. You don’t police your young people, you reach them, you uplift them, you support them,” de Blasio told the uptown gathering.

His office promised that the painting event set for Trump Tower in Midtown would be rescheduled for sometime next week, but declined to provide any additional details.

Meanwhile, the political storm downtown continued to grow after officials quietly disclosed that one of the biggest changes de Blasio promised to make to the NYPD — transferring the $326 million-a-year school safety division to the Department of Education — won’t take effect this year.

That move alone accounted for nearly one-third of the $1 billion in spending that de Blasio promised he would cut or move from the NYPD’s $6 billion a year budget in response to intense pressure from city lawmakers and Black Lives

The push to ‘defund’ the NYPD was a central demand of the protests that erupted in New York City and across the nation in the aftermath of George Floyd violent death at the hands of police in Minneapolis

“We have a commitment from the de Blasio Administration that school safety will be moved out of the NYPD budget this fiscal year, and we will hold the Mayor to his word,” tweeted Speaker Corey Johnson, who was steamed over the switcheroo.

Instead, soon-to-depart Press Secretary Freddi Goldstein argued on Twitter that the $326 million transfer was never supposed to be booked into the 2021 budget and said that it would be included in the non-binding spending guidelines for future years, which have not yet been made public.

“The mayor said on live TV (@InsideCityHall w/ @errollouis) Monday night – a full 24 hours before the City Council voted – that this transition would be multi-year,” Goldstein tweeted.

However, that defense appeared to contradict de Blasio’s own statements from his June 30th press conference announcing the budget deal with the City Council.

“I am confident that this budget does exactly that — $1 billion is shifted away from the NYPD in a variety of manners,” de Blasio said, clearly referencing the city’s 2021 budget.

“We will be canceling the upcoming recruit class that would have started in July,” he added, before referencing the coming transfer: “And we’re going to make sure that patrol strength is consistent by reassignments from administrative duty to patrol duty, by ensuring that the NYPD will make revisions in some of the functions it performs, ceding certain functions to civilian agencies.”

De Blasio was even asked during that press conference about what the transition period for the school safety division from the NYPD to the DOE would entail.

He never once mentioned any delay in transferring its funding.

 

[The Bobster]

https://nypost.com/2020/07/08/nypd-limits-retirement-applications-amid-411-surge-this-week/

NYPD limits retirement applications amid 400 percent surge this week
By Craig McCarthy, Tina Moore, Larry Celona and Bruce Golding
July 8, 2020 | 6:05pm | Updated

New York’s Finest are putting in for retirement faster than the NYPD can handle — while citing a lack of respect and the loss of overtime pay, The Post has learned.

A surge of city cops filing papers during the past week more than quadrupled last year’s number — as the city grapples with a surge of shootings — and the stampede caused a bottleneck that’s forcing others to delay putting in their papers, officials and sources said.

The NYPD said Wednesday that 179 cops filed for retirement between June 29 and Monday, an astounding 411-percent increase over the 35 who filed during the same time period in 2019.

The astonishing rush for the door came as 503 cops filed for retirement between May 25 — the day George Floyd was killed in Minneapolis, sparking anti-cop protests around the country — and July 3, the NYPD said.

That number represents a 75-percent increase over the 287 who filed for retirement during the same time last year, the NYPD said.

Sources said that the deluge of applications had overwhelmed the department — due to cancellation of overtime for the workers who process them — and that the number of daily applicants was being limited as a result.

On Tuesday, The Post spotted a line of cops waiting outside the office at One Police Plaza where retirement papers get filed.

“Apparently, the pension section is only taking a certain amount of people per day and I think they are backed up till late July, early August,” one cop said.

“That’s why you don’t see like 100 a day, because they are only doing like 35 to 40 a day, by appointment.”

A spokeswoman for the NYPD confirmed the “surge in the number of officers filing for retirement.”

“While the decision to retire is a personal one and can be attributed to a range of factors, it is a troubling trend that we are closely monitoring,” the spokesperson added.

An NYPD spokeswoman noted that the department is not turning down any applications for officers retiring in the next 30 days — but has told cops putting in to retire after that to come back when a month out due to the increased activity.

Sources blamed the situation — which comes amid an alarming spike in shootings — on growing anti-cop sentiment, coupled with a pending city law that would make it a crime for cops to use chokeholds while trying to subdue violent suspects.

“There’s just droves and droves of people retiring. But there’s no surprise here, who the hell wants to stay on this job?” one cop said.

“Why would you want to stay on this job when people don’t appreciate what you do?”

Sources also said the flood of overtime tied to last month’s protests — which will boost pension payouts for eligible retirees — and the expected loss of overtime due to the recent $1 billion cut to the NYPD’s budget were also factors.

“This is the best time to leave,” one cop said.

“You’ve padded the numbers as high as you can pad them.”

Another cop noted, “When they cut the OT, a lot of people were done.”

“Also, there’s another class hitting their 20th year in September, so that will be another group leaving,” the source added, noting that cops often retire once they hit the minimum requirement for pension vestment.

A Brooklyn cop said the NYPD was facing a “perfect storm,” noting that “cops made the most overtime they will for a long time — at least until next year” and citing rumors that “grade promotions” for detectives and “special assignment money” for sergeants and lieutenants will be canceled.
see also
272 uniformed NYPD cops file for retirement since George Floyd death

“You have to be crazy to stay on a job where you are losing money, abused by the people you are trying to protect and not appreciated by the politicians,” the source said.

A Manhattan detective also noted the impact of controversial criminal justice and bail-reform laws.

“It is frustrating — you work on a case and then the suspect is let go,” the 25-year veteran said.

“Why put your job on the line, when no one appreciates you or has your back?”

In a prepared statement, the head of the Police Benevolent Association blamed lawmakers for having “completely dismantled our justice system” and called the rash of retirement applications “one answer to the question on every police officer’s mind: how are we supposed to do our job in this environment?”

“And now that crime is out of control, they want to blame us for that, too,” PBA President Pat Lynch said.

“Whether we have twenty years on the job or only two, police officers are tired of trying to sort out these mixed messages. Many of us are looking elsewhere.”

Lieutenants Benevolent Association president Lou Turco said cops feel “demoralized and abandoned” by politicians.

“Overtime plays a part, it happened in 2008 and 2009 and after 9/11 but this is not about overtime now,” he claimed. “They feel abandoned by the silent majority and they are leaving. They don’t feel appreciated.”

 

[The Bobster]

https://nypost.com/2020/07/08/nyc-to-start-painting-black-lives-matter-mural-outside-trump-tower/

NYC to start painting Black Lives Matter mural outside Trump Tower
By Nolan Hicks and Vincent Barone
July 8, 2020 | 10:38pm

New York City will begin painting a large Black Lives Matter mural along Fifth Avenue outside Trump Tower on Thursday, sources told The Post.

Mayor Bill de Blasio plans to attend the project at some point as well, the sources said. The lettering will stretch between 56th and 57th streets right in front of Trump’s Manhattan high-rise.

The mayor had planned to start work on the mural last week but postponed the painting a day after President Trump condemned the idea as a “symbol of hate.”

“NYC is cutting Police $’s by ONE BILLION DOLLARS, and yet the @NYCMayor is going to paint a big, expensive, yellow Black Lives Matter sign on Fifth Avenue, denigrating this luxury Avenue,” Trump wrote in a series of tweets last Wednesday morning.

“Maybe our GREAT Police, who have been neutralized and scorned by a mayor who hates & disrespects them, won’t let this symbol of hate be affixed to New York’s greatest street,” Trump went on. “Spend this money fighting crime instead!”

De Blasio pushed back later that morning, tweeting, “The fact that you see it as denigrating your street is the definition of racism.” :bow:

“Black people BUILT 5th Ave and so much of this nation ,” the mayor added. “Your “luxury” came from THEIR labor, for which they have never been justly compensated. We are honoring them.” :crazy:

WNBC first reported the new start date for the Trump Tower mural Wednesday night.

The mural is among several the city has committed to painting around the five boroughs and comes after identical murals were completed in Flatbush, Brooklyn, and St. George, Staten Island.

 

[The Bobster]

https://nypost.com/2020/07/09/de-blasio-heckled-painting-blm-mural-outside-of-trump-tower/

De Blasio heckled as he paints ‘Black Lives Matter’ mural at Trump Tower
By Khristina Narizhnaya and Lia Eustachewich
July 9, 2020 | 12:50pm | Updated

Mayor Bill de Blasio was greeted with a few jeers as he showed up to help paint a giant Black Lives Matter mural on Fifth Avenue outside Trump Tower on Thursday — with a couple of angry onlookers shouting “douchebag de Blasio” upon his arrival.

The mayor joined first lady Chirlane McCray, the Rev. Al Sharpton, Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams and Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) to fill in the letter “L” with yellow paint for what some critics, including President Trump himself, have called a political stunt.

When he arrived around 11:30 a.m., two or three men shouted “douchebag de Blasio” at Hizzoner as he crossed the street.

“This is such an important moment for our city,” de Blasio told volunteers, who chanted, “Black lives matter!” while holding paint rollers. “We are making a statement today of what we value in New York City.”

De Blasio left about 20 minutes later.

The rest of the mural — which reads “Black Lives Matter” in massive block letters along Fifth Avenue between East 56th and East 57th streets — was painted by more than 20 local artists with the youth-focused organization Street Corner Resources.

As they worked, some passersby shouted at them, “Shame on you!,” with one woman yelling, “Hitler told us all lives didn’t matter, too!”

De Blasio privately commissioned the mural last month as part of several planned across New York City — despite warning of mass layoffs if the city doesn’t get a federal bailout and assistance from Trump due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Last week, the president tore into de Blasio over the planned painting, calling it a “symbol of hate” — and kicking off a squabble between the two leaders.

“NYC is cutting Police $’s by ONE BILLION DOLLARS, and yet the @NYCMayor is going to paint a big, expensive, yellow Black Lives Matter sign on Fifth Avenue, denigrating this luxury Avenue,” Trump wrote in a series of tweets.

Sources previously blasted de Blasio for taunting Trump as the city grapples with a troubling spate of gun violence.

“Obviously he is doing it to antagonize the president,” the source told The Post when the plan was first announced.

“This is what he is concerned about while the city burns. What an amateur politician.”

 

[The Bobster]

https://nypost.com/2020/07/09/nyc-allows-black-lives-matter-marches-despite-ban-on-large-events/

NYC Black Lives Matter marches can continue despite large-event ban, de Blasio says
By Vincent Barone
July 9, 2020 | 11:29pm | Updated

Mayor Bill de Blasio is permitting Black Lives Matter protesters to continue marching through city streets while canceling all large events through September.

Speaking on CNN Thursday night, de Blasio said the demonstrators’ calls for social justice were too important to stop after more than a month of demonstrations have not led to an outbreak of coronavirus cases.

“This is a historic moment of change. We have to respect that but also say to people the kinds of gatherings we’re used to, the parades, the fairs — we just can’t have that while we’re focusing on health right now,” de Blasio told host Wolf Blitzer.

The exception came as New York’s rate of infections has remained consistent through the civil unrest over the Minneapolis police killing of shovel-nosed St. George Floyd.

A late-June study from the National Bureau of Economic Research found no evidence that coronavirus cases jumped in 315 cities in the weeks after the first protests. Researchers determined that protests may have been offset by an increase in social distancing among those who decided not to march.

Researchers reasoned the protests may have been offset by an increase in social distancing among those who decided not to march.

The City Hall shutdown will include big parades like the West Indian American Day Carnival in Brooklyn Labor Day weekend, the Dominican Day Parade in midtown Manhattan and the San Gennaro festival in Little Italy.

Mayor de Blasio, first lady Chirlane McCray, the Reverand Al Sharpton and many other people helped to paint “Black Lives Matter” on 5th Avenue in front of Trump Tower today.
Gregory P. Mango


The de Blasio administration will also deny all permits for events in parks it believes will “unreasonably diminish public use” as well as street fairs and events stretching larger than one block or for gatherings that require a sound system.