‘This must end’: Lower East Side rally blasts
lack of action in police brutality case
BY ROBERT POZARYCKI
Nearly four months ago,
cops confronted Donni
Wright in front of a
Lower East Side business after
he was allegedly observed failing
to follow social distancing
guidelines. That led to a violent
confrontation caught on camera
that quickly went viral.
The video taken on May 5
showed one offi cer, identifi ed as
Francisco Garcia, kneeling on
Wright’s neck while attempting
to arrest him. It happened just
20 days before another offi cer,
in Minneapolis, put his knee on
the neck of George Floyd for nine
minutes, leading to his death —
and sparking nationwide protests
demanding justice and an end to
police brutality.
Wright, however, survived his
experience with Garcia — yet, as
elected offi cials pointed out at an
Aug. 21 press conference, the offi
cer has yet to be prosecuted for
his actions. Moreover, the NYPD
Internal Affairs Bureau recommended
departmental charges
against Garcia, but to date, none
have been presented.
Sergeant Jessica McRorie,
an NYPD spokesperson, told
amNewYork Metro on Saturday,
“The offi cer’s current duty status
is modified. The disciplinary
process is ongoing.”
“We shouldn’t have to stand
here almost four months later
demanding justice from a system
that’s supposed to protect our
community,” said City Councilwoman
Carlina Rivera during
Friday’s press conference at the
corner of East 9th Street and
Avenue D, where Wright’s arrest
occurred.
Standing with justice advocates
and elected offi cials, Rivera called
on the NYPD to fi re Garcia, and
for Manhattan District Attorney
Cy Vance Jr. to pursue criminal
charges against the offi cer over
the brutal act. She slammed
Vance, Mayor Bill de Blasio and
Police Commissioner Dermot
A video still of the arrest of Donni Wright on the Lower East
Side on May 5, 2020.
Shea for apparently dragging their
feet on the matter.
“When we ask for the fi ring
and criminal charges for Offi cer
Garcia, we are asking for the bare
minimum from Mayor de Blasio,
Commissioner Shea, and DA
Vance,” Rivera charged. “We’re
asking them to make it clear that
police abuse is unacceptable in
any form. It’s a disgrace that six
PHOTO VIA TWITTER/@JBLASCONYC
years after the death of Eric Garner
and his denied justice, the de
Blasio administration continues
to deny justice black and brown
communities. This must end.”
Rivera said that neither the
NYPD nor the Manhattan DA’s
offi ce have provided recent updates
on the Garcia case. The Legal
Aid Society reported that Garcia
has been named in at least seven
misconduct lawsuits fi led over the
past fi ve years, leading to settlements
and/or judgments against
the city totaling nearly $200,000.
The Wright arrest was another
sign of rampant police misconduct
and brutality on the Lower
East Side, according to activist
Shaheeda Yasmeen.
“The unfortunate event that
happened to Donni Wright, amplifi
ed how police misconduct and
brutality is alive and well here,”
she said. “There are so many
incidents that were not recorded.
But the community trauma that
lives in the memories of many of
the residents of this community
and so many others like it have
created a barrier between us and
those who are paid to protect us.”
Several other elected offi cials
— including Congresswoman
Carolyn Maloney, Manhattan
Borough President Gale Brewer,
state Senator Brad Hoylman and
Assemblyman Harvey Epstein —
further called for action against
Garcia.
Judge tosses lawsuit, paving way for
burial and rebuilding of East River Park
BY RACHEL HOLLIDAY
SMITH
THE CITY
The path’s been cleared for a
huge burial — and rebuilding
— of Manhattan’s East
River Park.
New York Supreme Court
Judge Melissa Crane on Thursday
dismissed a lawsuit challenging
the East Side Coastal Resiliency
project, a multi-year effort to
overhaul a stretch of the Lower
East Side’s shore to protect the
area from future fl ooding and
storms.
The suit, brought by East River
Park Action (ERPA), argued that
the project should go through
an extra layer of environmental
review known as “parkland
alienation” — a state process
triggered when city park space is
discontinued.
Part of the plan calls for East
River Park to be buried and
East River Park.
rebuilt eight feet higher.
“ERPA is saying that installing
the fl ood protection system to
fl ood the park is not park use,”
said Trever Holland, an attorney
and chair of Manhattan Community
Board 3’s waterfront committee
who watched the proceedings
on Thursday.
Crane, however, ruled from the
bench that the resiliency project
PHOTO BY BEN FRACTENBERG/THE CITY
won’t permanently alter the use
of East River Park.
Closures will be staggered,
and the park will be rebuilt and
reopened after construction is
complete. “The entire system
is designed to protect the park,
and to protect the neighborhood
behind it,” Holland said.
Foes Predict ‘Dire’
Consequences
But Pat Arnow, a ERPA leader,
said the consequences of the
ruling are “dire for the park.”
Without the alienation process,
she fears the city will not be held
to account to meet their own
deadlines.
“The city says the project will
be done in fi ve years. There’s nothing
to hold them to that schedule,”
Arnow said in an email. “We
think there’s little chance they can
complete such a big, complicated
project within that time.”
Tight deadlines, however, are a
big part of why the project is moving
ahead now. Much of the funding
for the $1.45 billion project comes
from post-Superstorm Sandy allocations
made by the U.S Department
of Housing and Urban Development,
which must be spent by 2022.
Chelsia Rose Marcius/DNAinfoThe
East River waterfront along
the Lower East Side while Hurricane
Sandy approached the city.
Amy Chester of Rebuild By
Design, the resiliency group
that led the design competition
from which the East Side project
emerged, said other grantees across
the country who also received
Sandy-related federal dollars are
applying for deadline extensions.
“But it’s very unclear if they’re
going to get the extension from
Congress,” she said. “If the lawsuit
happened, it could have put
the entire project in jeopardy.”
The fi rst phase of construction
is set to begin this fall, according
to the timeline the city Department
of Design and Construction
most recently presented to the
community board.
Plans call for rebuilding much
of the bank of the East River from
East 25th Street to Montgomery
Street, raising the height of the
shore and creating fl ood barriers
as a measure against the effects
of climate change: more extreme
storms and fl ooding.
This story was fi rst published
on Aug. 21, 2020, by THE CITY,
an independent, nonprofi t news
outlet dedicated to hard-hitting
reporting that serves the people
of New York.
Schneps Media August 27, 2020 3