Diaz, Clark and local offi cials call for
peaceful protests after Fordham Road riots
BY JASON COHEN
After rioters and looters
burned and destroyed
Fordham Road and Burnside
Avenue Monday night,
elected offi cials gathered
Tuesday afternoon to call
for an end to the madness.
On June 2, Borough
President Ruben Diaz Jr.
was joined by District
Attorney Darcel Clark,
Speaker Carl Heastie,
elected offi cials, community
groups and clergy to
call for peaceful protests
following a night of vandalism.
Businesses in the Fordham
Road Shopping District
and the nearby Burnside
Avenue retail corridor
were targeted in the overnight,
the seventh straight
night that protesters faced
off with the police nationwide
since George Floyd
was murdered by Minneapolis
police on May 25.
“Last night was bad,
not just for the Bronx, but
for all of New York City,”
Diaz said. “Last night
was a tough night for law
enforcement, small businesses,
for this community
but most of all, last night
was a devastating blow to
our pursuit of justice.”
The press conference
took place on Grand Concourse
and Fordham
Road.
Earlier in the day, Diaz
joined several elected offi -
cials and community leaders
to help clean up debris
at Bronx Optical Center,
an eye-care business on
Burnside Avenue, which
had been looted during the
overnight unrest.
Diaz returned to Burnside
Avenue after the press
conference to tour the area
with Mayor Bill de Blasio
and other elected offi cials.
“I know that people
are angry and scared, but
this cannot be the way forward,”
Diaz said. “What
happened on Fordham
Road and Burnside wasn’t
justice and George Floyd
would not have wanted
this done in his name. We
call for peaceful protest,
for everyone to come together
against systemic
racism and inequality
without hurting those who
are right here living in our
own communities.”
BP Diaz holds a a rally after the Fordham Road riots Photo Courtesy of the Offi ce of the BP
10 BTR
Volunteers help to clean
up Fordham Road following
the June 1 protest
Photo by Miriam Quin
(left) Bronx Borough President
Ruben Diaz Jr. helps in
the clean up effort after the
Fordham Road protest
Photo Photo by Miriam Quin
Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr., District Attorney Darcel Clark and
Councilman Fernando Cabrera call for peaceful protests on June 2
Photo Photo by Miriam Quin
BRONX TIMES REPORTER, JUNE 5-11, 2020