CPR Advocacy Day at City Hall

On Thursday, September 27, CPR organized an Advocacy Day for NYPD Accountability and Community Safety at New York City's City Hall. Close to one thousand New Yorkers came together to demand an end to the discriminatory and abusive practices of the NYPD and call for passage of the Community Safety Act. Those affected by abusive policing and their families, community organizations, legal, and advocacy groups, were joined by national civil rights leaders, labor unions and artists in a joint call for the NYPD to end discriminatory practices, including stop and frisk abuses, that have violated the human and civil rights of hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers -- primarily people of color, including LGBT people, youth, Muslims, immigrants, homeless people, and those living in public housing. These daily abuses have grown in the last decade of the Bloomberg Administration and Ray Kelly’s tenure as Police Commissioner.

Guest speakers included Ben Jealous, President of the NAACP, Tamika D. Mallory, Executive Director of the National Action Network, Kyle Bragg of 32BJ SEIU, Stuart Applebaum of RWDSU and hip hop star Talib Kweli. Rapper Jasiri X also perforned his song “10 Frisk Commandments” to the crowd rallying in front of City Hall.  City Council Members Jumaane Williams, Brad Lander, Melissa Mark-Viverito, Danny Dromm, Leticia James, Robert Jackson, Ydanis Rodriguez spoke and signed a pledge to support the pass of the Community Safety Act. They were joined by Vince Warren, Executive Director of the Center for Constitutional Rights, Maria Masonaite of NY Communities for Change, Udi Ofer of the NYCLU, Miguel Adams of VOCAL-NY, Mitchell Mora of Streetwise & Safe, Djibril Toure of Malcolm X Grassroots Movement, Naz F. and Fahd Ahmed of Desis Rising Up and Moving, Jean Rice of Picture the Homeless, Divay Mendez of Make the Road NY, Rashad Robinson of Color of Change and Steve Kohut of the Justice Committee. 

The rally was held at City Hall Park, across the street from the offices of New York City council members, was followed by visits to individual council members’ offices by New Yorkers from throughout the city, to encourage their support of the Community Safety Act to bring reform, accountability and transparency to the NYPD.

Hip hop star Talib Kweli addresses the crowd. 

Photos by Sabelo Narasimhan.