Thanking God for justice at St. John the Divine
BY DEAN MOSES
The Cathedral of St. John the Divine
held a special prayer service on
April 21 to refl ect on the Derek
Chauvin guilty verdict for the murder of
George Floyd.
The dean of St. John the Divine, Reverend
Clifton Daniel, sees the steps of
the historic Cathedral located on 1047
Amsterdam Ave. at 112th Street as “the
community’s porch,” where parishioners,
locals and police offi cers gathered on April
21.
The cathedral’s clergy have held numerous
services standing in solidarity with
the Black and Brown community and the
Black Lives Matter cause, so the noon
gathering continued a long lineage of
supporting vulnerable persons. Speakers
evoked memories of the last 12 months and
beyond, reading aloud newspaper articles
that fi rst reported Floyd’s murder and the
subsequent protests.
The dean also called April 21 a day of
celebration in a step toward equal justice
and applauded the jury for the conviction
of the former police offi cer on murder and
manslaughter charges.
“It was a watershed step on the long
march toward justice, justice for George
Floyd and justice for so many other victims
of brutality,” Daniel said.
Onlookers clutch their chest.
Bishop Andrew Dietsche concurred.
“It may be that, while yesterday’s actions
are unlikely to make a permanent change
in anything, they can be the beginning of
something new born in America because
we saw people gathered yesterday prepared
for public demonstration and protest,” the
bishop said. “There was an expectation
that if the verdict had been an acquittal,
our cities would be on fi re today. Before
PHOTO BY DEAN MOSES
we went to bed last night, I said to my wife
there are people sleeping in peace in their
beds tonight who might have been dead.
The fruits of what we saw yesterday of the
just decision played itself out for the rest of
the day and into the night as peace.”
However, as much as the spiritual event
was intended to help with the healing
process going forward, faith members
acknowledged that nothing changed
overnight, and more than likely, there will
be additional gatherings rife with sorrow
over injustice.
Revered Terrence Alexander Lee spoke
about Ma’Khia Bryant, the 16-year-old girl
who was shot and killed by an offi cer in
Ohio 30 minutes before the verdict was
read. But he also lifted up those he called
angels who witnessed and recorded Floyd’s
murder.
“We will forever thank God for them,
the eyewitnesses who were there. I call
them the rams in the bush, the angels
dispatched by God to carry the message of
truth and to tell the story,” Lee said.
As the ceremony came to a close and
the clergy members prayed for a brighter,
unifi ed future, some almost did not want
to hear the verdict.
“I was trying avoid listening to the verdict
because for so long there has been so
much injustice, so to hear it again I don’t
know if my soul would have been able to
handle it,” Gale Felix told amNewYork
Metro.
But even though she believes justice was
served, she still feels sad.
“I feel numb because even though he
is going to go to jail, it is another family
affected by this unseen thing of racism, so
now his family is going to have trauma for
him going to jail — now it’s two families,”
Felix said.
A ‘ferry’ big problem on the East Side
BY DEAN MOSES
One NYC Ferry boat wound up
being stuck between a rock and
a hard place — or at least a hefty
current and a wooden pier — on April 23.
A Friday evening rush hour voyage
swiftly turned into a watery fi asco when the
commuter ferry became wedged between a
dock and the esplanade on East 34th Street
at around 6:30 p.m. on April 23.
The Cyclone Shark’s trip back and forth
across the East River was disrupted when,
according to an NYC Ferry worker, the
boat was abruptly caught up in the current
and jackknifed. Riders aboard the
vessel were instructed to remain seated,
as staff frantically scrambled to rectify the
situation.
Members of the FDNY, NYPD, and EMS
swarmed the scene, with some fi refi ghters
decked out in wetsuits. First responders
remained on standby while a second ferry
approached, preparing a hefty line. The
rope was cast and following a 45 minute
battle, the Cyclone Shark was tugged free,
Members of the FDNY assess the situation.
allowing it to dock safely.
Passengers emerged a little shaken, but
otherwise unharmed.
PHOTO BY DEAN MOSES
“We just got stuck. The current apparently
was really strong so I guess it pushed
us and we were not at the dock at all,”
Elissa Castles said after being trapped on
the ship for almost an hour.
“They kept trying to get a rope to pull
us out and they couldn’t because of the
tide,” added Castles, a fl ight attendant who
knows what it’s like to experience travel
delays.
For Nora and Frederick, it was more an
entertaining inconvenience than a daunting
experience.
“We don’t even really know what happened.
They didn’t give us any information,
they just told us to say inside,” Frederick
said upon exiting the ship. “I think they
probably just bumped the pier. I really don’t
know. Maybe the walkway wasn’t down,”
he added.
Nora simply smirked; she is well
acquainted with ships, as a sailor and is
certifi ed to drive boats in New York.
“We weren’t given any information as
to what was going on. I thought it was
amusing and very confusing,” Nora said,
adding, “So I kind of had fun just watching
them drive around and I probably could
have taken care of it.”
4 April 29, 2021 Schneps Media