COURIER L 10 IFE, JUNE 26-JULY 2, 2020
DE BLASI-NO!
City lawmakers introduce resolutions
calling for mayor’s removal from offi ce
Councilmen Carlos Menchaca (D-Sunset Park) and Eric Ulrich (R-Queens) introduced resolutions
on June 18 that call on Gov. Andrew Cuomo to remove Mayor Bill de Blasio from offi ce.
Offi ce of Mayor Bill de Blasio
BY ROSE ADAMS
Local lawmakers introduced two resolutions
into the City Council on June 18
calling on Gov. Andrew Cuomo to remove
Mayor Bill de Blasio from offi ce.
One resolution, introduced by the
progressive Sunset Park councilman
Carlos Menchaca, argues that the mayor’s
unwillingness to slash the NYPD’s
budget prevents meaningful police reform.
“New Yorkers have realized that the
Mayor represents the single greatest obstacle
to peace and justice in New York
City, and to passing a fair and just people’s
budget,” Menchaca wrote in a Medium
post on June 18. “I am calling on
this body to express a loss of confi dence
in the Mayor and for the Governor to remove
him from offi ce.”
The other resolution, introduced by
Queens councilman Eric Ulrich, a Republican,
argues that the mayor has
failed “to maintain public order and
safety during this period of persistent
social unrest.”
Should Cuomo heed the calls, Public
Advocate Jumaane Williams would become
the interim mayor for the remainder
of de Blasio’s term.
The resolutions come as critics have
lambasted de Blasio for his tepid response
to the George Floyd protests and
his hesitancy to condemn incidents of
police brutality at the marches — even
when reporters raised questions about
fi rst-hand accounts.
“I believe that you believe what
you’re saying,” De Blasio told Gothamist
reporter Jake Offenhartz after Offenhartz
asked him about police violence at
a June 4 protest in the Bronx. “We had
observers from City Hall who saw a very
different reality.”
De Blasio’s defense of the police’s tactics
infuriated many longtime supporters
and staffers, who initially backed
him because of his campaign platform
advocating for police reform.
“I felt grateful to work for an administration
that shared my values,” said
former de Blasio staffer Catherine Almonte
at a June 8 protest led by de Blasio’s
current and former aides. “I believed
that you de Blasio we’re going to
make meaningful change from the inside
… that’s what’s made this week so
painful.”
Following pressure for the city to cut
the NYPD’s budget, de Blasio has vowed
to make some cuts — but resists slashing
the budget by $1 billion as reformers
have proposed.
“I do not believe it is a good idea to
reduce the budget of the agency that is
here to keep us safe,” he said during a
briefi ng on June 5. “The bigger problem
is we may not have a choice. We may
be defunding all city agencies if things
don’t go right.”
De Blasio has since rolled out a series
of police reforms that would establish
a database of cases involving police
abuses and speed up the disciplinary
procedure against cops, among other
changes — but Menchaca does not believe
they go far enough.
“New Yorkers are demanding nothing
short of a complete re-imagining of
public safety to ensure a just and equitable
recovery,” the councilman wrote.
“Only by defunding the NYPD and reinvesting
that money back into our communities
will we achieve a fair and just
people’s budget, and ensure a just and
equitable recovery from COVID-19.”