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Seven years ago, candidate de Blasio campaigned on police reform and vowed to end New York’s notoriously racist “stop and frisk” program. Fast forward to today—Mayor de Blasio is defending the NYPD’s bloated budget and using his power to block efforts to defund the NYPD. He’s also praising police, even as they’ve reacted to recent demonstrations by beating up peaceful protestors and using even more excessive force.
Under his tenure, the NYPD’s budget has ballooned 20%, by over $1 billion—money that’s been used to target Black and low-income New Yorkers for fare evasion, expand police presence in schools, and arm our police with chemical weapons and military grade gear. The NYPD sucks up more funding than the City’s total budget for our housing, health care, homeless services, and youth development departments.
It’s time to cut the NYPD’s budget and put our money in programs that keep ALL New Yorkers healthy and safe.
We are outraged by the murder of our Black brothers and sisters across the country, and the Black New Yorkers who are killed by the police at a rate five times higher than white residents. We are outraged by the cruelty of a public health system that has led to the deaths of twice as many Black and Latinx people in New York City during the pandemic. We are outraged by the exclusion of millions of noncitizens from COVID-19 relief programs. We must rise together to challenge these injustices and transform our institutions.
New Yorkers demand real change now. Send Mayor de Blasio a message today and demand that he cut the NYPD’s budget by at least $1B and reinvest the funding into resources our communities actually need.
People power won the Repeal of 50-a. People power won the passage of the Police STAT Act. And people power will #DefundNYPD.
In solidarity,
Steve Choi,
Executive Director
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