Marching for justice in Manhattan on
anniversary of MLK’s ‘I Have a Dream’ speech
BY TODD MAISEL
Hundreds marched over
the Williamsburg and
Ed Koch-Queensboro
Bridges on Aug. 28 in support
of the rally held in Washington
D.C. for the anniversary of Martin
Luther King’s “I Have A Dream”
speech and to continue the Black
Lives Matter movement against
racial inequality in America.
The marches was peaceful;
there were no arrests or reports of
looting or violence related to any
of the protests Friday night. Organizers
were quick to discourage
any illegal activity to prevent their
message from being undermined
by violence.
The 57th anniversary of March
on Washington, which included
MLK’s famous address, comes
amid a summer of nationwide
protests and civil unrest following
the death of George Floyd, an
unarmed black man who died after
a Minneapolis police knelt on
his neck for nearly nine minutes,
sparking national outrage and
violent demonstrations.
Tensions fl ared again this week
Taking a knee mid-span on the Queensboro Bridge.
after Kenosha, Wisconsin police
shot an unarmed Black man,
Jacob Blake, seven times in the
back as he headed to his vehicle.
Blake is now paralyzed from the
waist down.
Long lines of police vehicles
followed the protestors into Manhattan,
but did not interfere with
the two groups who unlike past
demonstrations, did not cause
any signifi cant issues other than
minor traffi c snarls.
The most ly young
PHOTO BY DEAN MOSES
demonstrators held signs and
shouted Black Lives Matter
slogans as diners in Little Italy
waved and cheered.
“I think they are okay to
demonstrate as long as they
aren’t causing damage or hurting
anyone,” said Francine Gomez,
dining with friends at a Little
Italy restaurant. “I support their
right to protest, but they need
to be peaceful, and these people
seemed to be.”
The protesters converged at
Madison Square Park with groups
that walked from McCarren Park
across the Williamsburg Bridge,
and from Queensbridge Park
across the Ed Koch Queensboro
Bridge.
Earlier in the day, about 100
protestors from CUNY schools,
organized by Mobilize NYC,
marched across the Brooklyn
Bridge footpath to Foley Square
where they held a rally in support
of the Washington rally
to commemorate the “I Have a
Dream,” speech. Mobilize NYC
is a collective of non-profi t attorneys,
activists, artists who
they say, “just want to make a
difference.”
They marched past City Hall
Park, still surrounded by metal
barricades a month after it was
cleared of demonstrators and
homeless who had been camped
out there for more than a month.
BY ROBERT POZARYCKI
Detectives arrested a
Bronx man who allegedly
attempted to rape
a woman at a Upper East Side
subway station on Aug. 29, only
to be stopped when a group of
passengers intervened.
Jose Reyes, a Bronx resident,
was picked up by members of
the 23rd Precinct at 12:29 p.m.
on Aug. 30 at the corner of Lexington
Avenue and East 105th
Street in East Harlem, according
to Chief of Detectives Rodney
Harrison.
Three tips to the NYPD’s Crime
Stoppers hotline proved instrumental
in helping police locate
Reyes, Harrison said during a press
conference Sunday afternoon. He
also touted the use of the NYPD’s
facial recognition program, which
matched an image of Reyes’ face
on the video to his mugshot from a
prior criminal mischief arrest.
Law enforcement sources
said the attempted sex assault
Bronx man cuffed for brazen rape attempt
at Upper East Side train station
happened at 11 a.m. on Aug. 29
at the Lexington Avenue-63rd
Street station.
According to Harrison, the
25-year-old female victim had
originally encountered Reyes
while on board an F train prior
to its arrival at Lexington Avenue-
63rd Street. The chief said Reyes
allegedly acted in a disturbing
manner, including laughing at
himself and making weird noises,
while looking at the victim.
Upon arriving at Lexington
Avenue-63rd Street, both the
victim and Reyes departed the
train. Harrison said Reyes then
began following the victim as
she moved down the platform,
eventually catching up with her
and going on the attack.
Reyes allegedly punched the
woman in the face, then knocked
her to the ground, climbed on top
of her and attempted to rape her.
The suspect who attempted to rape a woman at the Lexington
Avenue-63rd Street station on Aug. 29, 2020.
But other passengers nearby
began forming a crowd; some
began screaming at Reyes to
stop, Harrison said. One of the
individuals pulled out their cellphone
and recorded the suspect,
PHOTO COURTESY OF NYPD
while on top of the victim, being
startled.
“Some good Samaritans pulled
out the cellphones to video his
face, which was very informational,”
the chief said. “A couple
of them started screaming at him
to get off her, which was helpful
in scaring him away.”
The incident was reported to
the 19th Precinct and the NYPD
Transit Bureau. Cops said the
victim suffered minor injuries,
but refused medical attention at
the scene.
On the morning of Aug. 30, the
NYPD released video footage of
Reyes. Upon receiving tips from
the Crime Stoppers hotline, and
confi rmation through the facial
recognition program, the 23rd
Precinct moved to pick up Reyes
in East Harlem Sunday afternoon.
Harrison said Reyes was taken
without further incident and
brought to the 23rd Precinct for
questioning. The suspect allegedly
admitted to detectives that
he committed the crime, and was
found to have narcotics in his
possession, the chief noted.
4 September 3, 2020 Schneps Media