Reclaim Pride announces route for third
Queer Liberation March, set for June 27
BY MATT TRACY
The Reclaim Pride Coalition’s third
annual Queer Liberation March on
June 27 will kick off at Bryant Park
and conclude with a rally at Washington
Square Park, organizers announced on
May 10.
The annual march — which does not
allow police, politicians, or corporate fl oats
— will begin at 3 p.m., though marchers
are encouraged to gather at 2:30 p.m. at
Sixth Avenue and West 41st Street.
Marchers will step off there and head
west on West 41st Street to Seventh Avenue
before marching south to Sheridan
Square and the Stonewall Inn, according to
organizers. Marchers will then head east on
West Fourth Street to Washington Square
Park. The rally will feature speakers and
performers.
The march and rally will be livestreamed.
Organizers say the broadcast
will include pre-recorded clips stemming
from Reclaim Pride’s panel discussions
with the Bureau of General Services –
Queer Division.
On the scene at the Reclaim Pride Coalition’s first annual Queer Liberation
March in 2019.
It is the third straight year of a march
that formed in response to the corporate
and police presence at Heritage of Pride’s
(HOP) annual march. Because of the
pandemic, HOP did not have an in-person
march last year, but tens of thousands of
people participated in Reclaim Pride’s
PHOTO BY DONNA ACETO
Queer Liberation March for Black Lives
and Against Police Brutality. This year,
HOP’s march will have “to-be-determined
in-person elements.”
Last year’s Queer Liberation March
started earlier in the afternoon at Foley
Square and proceeded to Washington
Square Park, where marchers were pepper
sprayed by police offi cers in a chaotic
scene.
“I see the Queer Liberation March as the
antidote to the proliferation of those overbaked
parades,” Jay W. Walker, a Reclaim
Pride Coalition volunteer said in a written
statement. “People are hurting right now,
and have been for decades. Enough of the
corporate use of our fl ags and identities to
pinkwash their crimes. Enough of the NYPD
violently attacking protests. And enough of
the politicians benefi ting off our communities’
pain to boost their vote count. We need
them to do their damn jobs.”
The 2019 march, which took place on
the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall
Uprising, resembled the route taken during
the 1970 march. The 2019 march
concluded with a rally at Central Park.
Earlier this year Reclaim Pride stressed
that hand sanitizer and masks will be
available at the march and along the route.
Spare wheelchairs will be available for
those who need them and American Sign
Language will be on hand. Medics will also
be at the march.
Shocking 30% spike in citywide crime in April: NYPD
BY EMILY DAVENPORT
Crime made some major
spikes in New York City
last month, statistics from
the NYPD revealed.
Overall, crime rates throughout
the fi ve boroughs increased
30.4% year-over-year in April
2021. With the exception of
burglaries, which saw a 26% decrease
with 855 crimes compared
to April 2020’s 1,155 crimes,
each area of major crimes saw
increases last month.
“The NYPD is relentless in its
mission to maintain public safety
for all New Yorkers,” said Police
Commissioner Dermot Shea.
“The selfl ess work our offi cers
carry out – day after day, night
after night – is one important
part of the entire criminal justice
system’s process, a process where
all pieces must work together to
be wholly effective.”
One major difference in the
crime fi gures is due in part to
the state of the city between
April 2020 — in which most
New Yorkers stayed home due
to the height of the COVID-19
pandemic — and this past April,
which saw continued increases in
social activity.
According to the statistics, the
overall spike was primarily driven
by the number of grand larcenies,
which saw a 66.1% jump from
1,601 crimes in April 2020 to
2,659 crimes in April 2021.
The next driver of the spike was
FILE PHOTO/DEAN MOSES
the felony assault count, which
increased from 1,202 crimes in
April 2020 to 1,630 in April 2021,
a 35.6% spike year-over-year.
Incidents of auto theft increased
from 558 in April 2020
to 749 in April 2021, a 34.2%
increase, while robberies saw
a 28.6% increase compared to
April 2020 (885 last month compared
to 688 in 2020). The number
of rape cases increased from
72 last year to 110 in April 2021,
a 52.8% increase — however, the
NYPD acknowledges that rape
continues to be underreported.
The number of murders last
month increased year-over-over
from 38 in April 2020 to 44, a
15.8% change. Despite this, the
number of shooting incidents saw
a huge uptick last month with 149
compared to 56 in April 2020, a
166.1% increase year-over-year.
From the start of January 2021
to May 2, the NYPD has tallied
180 hate crimes, a 73% increase
compared to that same time
period last year. The majority
of those crimes were directed
towards Asian American New
Yorkers with 80 logged crimes
— compared to 16 this time
last year, this marks a 400%
increase in hate crimes against
this community.
10 May 13, 2021 Schneps Media