WWW.QNS.COM RIDGEWOOD TIMES DECEMBER 24, 2020 15
brutality looked like in Queens
prevailed in Queens, there were
instances of police force and tense
encounters between community
members.
In Whitestone, protesters who
hung signs in support of the BLM
movement were met with racist and
menacing attacks from a 54-yearold
Flushing resident, who not only
brandished a claw-like weapon, but
also allegedly tried to mow down protesters.
The man was later charged
by Queens District Attorney Melinda
Katz.
Right before a large pro-police rally
at Bayside’s Crocheron Park began,
rally attendees clashed with a small
group of BLM demonstrators. The
short, yet heated encounter resulted
in one BLM demonstrator getting
tackled by police and arrested while
a woman with the BLM group got
slapped across the face by an older
white man wearing an NYPD shirt.
Witnesses told QNS the unidentifi ed
man also spit at BLM protesters, but
police didn’t make any attempts to
detain him.
Attempts to get the 111th Precinct to
respond to the woman’s complaints,
however, went unanswered.
Following the New York Police Benevolent
Association’s (PBA) endorsement
of former President Donald
Trump, Bayside’s BLM group staged
a surprise protest outside the home
of PBA President Pat Lynch. About
four dozen demonstrators were met
with barricades blocking Lynch’s
home and other streets near it, with
a heavy police presence following
them from start to fi nish.
One of the last large-scale protests
in Queens took place in Maspeth,
where several dozen demonstrators
marched through the mostly conservative
neighborhood to protest
Photo by Angélica Acevedo/QNS
police unions and QAnon. The protest
ended after flags were taken
from private homes and burned on
the street — which many residents
and local electeds objected to.
A resounding message of the
monthslong protests was to defund
the police.
In order to see concrete results,
activists and elected offi cials called
for at least a $1 billion cut from the
NYPD’s budget, which has an overall
budget of about $10 billion, as the city
negotiated its budget for the 2021
fi scal year. Many felt those funds
should be directed toward public
services that directly help communities
of color and are oft entimes
underfunded or the fi rst to be cut
during a budget crisis, like the one
the pandemic brought onto the city.
In anticipation of the fi nal budget,
the city and state passed some reforms:
a ban on chokeholds and the
repeal of 50-A, which stopped the
public from uncovering an offi cer’s
disciplinary record.
While de Blasio said he’d cut $1
billion from the NYPD’s budget, later
comments from City Council members
and reports noted that amount
wasn’t actually cut. Most Queens
Council members voted in favor of
it, while the few who voted “no” cited
the NYPD’s cuts as either too much or
not enough.
“The people have demanded a real,
$1 billion cut to the NYPD, but also a
reimagining of public safety in this
city,” said Long Island City Councilman
Jimmy Van Bramer, who voted
“no” on the budget. “Sadly, the most
historic part of this budget is how it
fails to meet the moment.”
Throughout the months of protests,
de Blasio announced task forces to
address the inequalities that persist
in NYC and followed in Washington
D.C.’s footsteps by painting a “Black
Lives Matter” street mural in big,
bold yellow across some city streets,
including in Jamaica.
But the mayor appeared to have
a hard time fully condemning the
police’s forceful response that hundreds
of protesters experienced
and even more watched online from
protest footage.
Attorney General Letitia James
conducted an investigation of the
summer’s protests, under the direction
of Gov. Andrew Cuomo, which
concluded that the NYPD needs more
reform. A report by the New York
City Department of Investigation,
which de Blasio asked for, found the
NYPD did use excessive force during
the summer protests, affi rming
the accounts by many activists and
protestors across the city. In a video
statement, de Blasio agreed with the
results.
A culmination of circumstances
added to the historic civil unrest
that took place in cities across the
U.S. and the world, from a deadly
virus to record unemployment
rates — but it was the continuous
killing of innocent Black individuals
by those meant to protect the public
that forced the country to once again
face the systemic racism that makes
up the fabric of its history and present
day.
And while the protests slowly diminished
in the winter months, the
conversations continue to challenge
policy makers, artists, educators and
many more to eff ectively address
inequality everywhere it exists.
2020 YEAR IN REVIEW
Photo by Dean Moses
/WWW.QNS.COM
