De Blasio’s Time Is Just About Up

Some call it funny math and others chalk it up to budget tricks, no matter how you slice it, New Yorkers are being gaslit as Mayor Bill de Blasio and his entourage of City Hall harlequins continue down a destructive path of appeasing the Defund the Police movement and stripping the New York Police Department $1 billion; a sixth of its annual budget as the City sets to iron out its budget amid a $9 billion deficit..

In September of 2011, the action group Occupy Wall Street (OWS) with their slogan “We are the 99%,” overtook privately-owned Zuccotti Park in NYC’s financial district for two and half months raising awareness for social issues and overall economic inequalities. For well over a week, an encampment akin to those of OWS, chose the archway of Mayor Bill de Blasio’s office, City Hall, and its adjacent City Hall Park. The cry to divest from the NYPD is heard loud and clear on these pathways 24/7, since the first hundred protesters began to set up shop on June 23 for their crusade, Occupy City Hall. The site that began with blankets on the grass and sporadic speeches now boasts hammocks and tents, a voter registration drive, community library, a free food drive and of course a smartphone charging station alongside an organized effort to make signs depicting a clear message; the NYPD must be abolished, and the community must be funded. Organizers of the occupation have assembled internet, laundry services, a de-escalation team in addition to medics, around the clock. A Jewish activist who visited the location noted, “The protestors are not there to voice a peaceful message; they want to tear things apart.” The community library, The People’s Library for Black Lives, displays radical literature highlighting the ideas of Black indigenous authors and hosts various reading groups throughout the day.

Demonstrators depict all backgrounds and classes of society as is evident from their attire and musical exhibitions. A pronounced Palestinian flag flew beside a lighted projection of a fist and the infamous Defund the Police slogan plastered above the City Hall Park archway showcasing the motives of the group. The area has self-imposed security enforcement and sporadically blocks out the media, but police are never allowed. Early Tuesday morning, June 30, just hours ahead of the release of the mayor’s budget plans and the ultimate City Council vote, a tense standoff with law enforcement ensued. With batons in hand, officers pushed back with force causing tensions to quickly rise as cries of pain and anguish were heard from protestors.

The space dubbed the City Hall Autonomous Zone has round the clock speeches begging for elected officials to listen and occasional bouts with police as organizers call the origins of our police regulations to be from the Black Codes and slave patrols. The police stand guard in riot gear and many of the protestors are also clad in military-grade attire. Expletives are commonplace in all messaging and the unwillingness of the mayor to approve their demands has drawn the bulk of the protestors to call for the mayor’s immediate resignation. The opposition realizes that the local government has fallen victim to the mob and is ruled by government-by hashtag, referring to the social media trends for #BlackLivesMatter, #DefundNYPD among others.

At his visit to the scene, the Jewish activist recalled how those gathered were not satisfied with the impending close of Rikers Island, the East River island that houses NYC’s largest jail, and called for no new detention facilities to be erected. For those concerned about COVID-19, hand sanitizer stations are readily available, and masks are worn by most.

After the budget plan was announced by the mayor, the crowd whose hatred for the NYPD knows no bounds called the plan a bait and switch and a paper-thin excuse for the meaningful change desired. The mayor’s plan would benefit public housing and youth centers as roughly a half-billion dollars would be transferred from the NYPD’s construction and major projects budget. Other cuts aim to undo the work of the late 90’s under Mayor Rudy Giuliani and bring back school safety agents and traffic enforcement to the division they were once under, Department of Education and Department of Sanitation, respectively.

The NYPD reform of $1 billion proposed by the mayor includes reductions to overtime, contracts and non-personnel expenses and the cancellation of the July cadet class and move the funds to other needs and approaches. The Homeless Engagement Unit is proposed to be transferred out of NYPD control along with Crossing Guards as previously mentioned. Some officers will be reassigned from administrative to patrol duties. Summer youth programming will gain from the mayor’s proposal with a variety of programming for over 100,000 children costing $115 million, $116 million for education and $134 million for family and social services. The public housing and parks program will be granted $450 million, taken from a planned 116^th Precinct in Southeast Jamaica, Queens and instead be given to a youth recreation center in Roy Wilkins and a separate $87 million will be allotted for expanding broadband capabilities in City housing. The mayor noted that his redistribution vision was heavily influenced by the George Floyd protests that continue to rock NYC and that civilians and community groups will have a prominent role in enforcing new measures.

The encampment’s website, www.peoplesbudgetnyc.com, encourages all to reach out to the mayor, City Council Speaker Cory Johnson, and your local Council Members to voice hatred for the proposed backdoor divestment deal. With gun violence rampant around the City and marchers intent on ruining our police department and with $87 billion at stake, the City Council has quite a bit of work ahead.

 By Shabsie Saphirstein