NYC Budget Justice

Drug Arrests Still Costing NYC Millions As Residents Beg For Aid, Freedom For City Families

06/26/2020

Forbes

As nationwide talks and protests continue around the nature and future of US police, a new brief from drug reform advocates reveals that New York City — where many of the country’s biggest protests have occurred — remains a hotbed for low-level drug arrests of mostly Black and Brown residents, costing city coffers millions.

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As US cities cut police budgets, the nation's largest force faces financial reckoning

06/27/2020

CNN

New York (CNN)At a time of intense scrutiny of law enforcement since George Floyd's death, a movement to slash police department budgets nationwide is gaining momentum in the midst of police reform efforts and an uptick in violent crime in some major cities.

The New York Police Department, the nation's largest police force, faces its financial reckoning this week, with its 2021 budget due before Tuesday.

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June 29, 2020

CPR Slams Mayor de Blasio & Speaker Johnson for Playing Budget Tricks to Protect NYPD Budget Instead of Social Safety Net & Programs in Pandemic: New Yorkers Won’t Accept Anything Less Than a True $1 Billion NYPD Cut & True Reinvestment in Communities

New York, NY (June 29, 2020) – Communities United for Police Reform (CPR), the unprecedented campaign uniting New York’s organizing and advocacy organizations to end police violence and imagine a future of safety without relying on the police - and the coordinator of the coalition of almost 200 organizations demanding #DefundNYPD for #NYCBudgetJustice, today issued the following statement responding to reporting on Mayor Bill de Blasio and City Council’s anticipated budget announcement:

Read more about CPR Slams Mayor de Blasio & Speaker Johnson for Playing Budget Tricks to Protect NYPD Budget Instead of Social Safety Net & Programs in Pandemic: New Yorkers Won’t Accept Anything Less Than a True $1 Billion NYPD Cut & True Reinvestment in Communities

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June 23, 2020

In Letter to Mayor de Blasio and Speaker Johnson More than 170 Community Organizations Endorse Campaign to #DefundNYPD For #NYCBudgetJustice

NEW YORK, NY — Today, more than 170 local & national organizations, brought together by Communities United for Police Reform (CPR), released a follow-up to their April letter calling on New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and City Council Speaker Corey Johnson to cut at least $1 billion directly from the NYPD expense budget by the June 30th deadline and redirect resources for FY21 to core social programs that are essential for Black, Latinx and other communities hit hardest by the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Budget Letter 6-23-20

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June 18, 2020

NY Actors & Activists Release Video Call on Mayor de Blasio and City Council to Cut At Least $1B from NYPD Budget & Redirect Funds to Black, Latinx & other Communities of Color

New video features Billy Porter, Mark Ruffalo, John Leguizamo, Tituss Burgess, Claude Copeland, Brandon Victor Dixon, Kathy Najimy, Fisher Stevens, and frontline activists

Hollywood and Broadway actors from New York teamed up with activists in a new video calling on Mayor Bill de Blasio and the New York City Council to defund the NYPD’s FY21 expense budget by at least $1B and redirect those monies to crucial services, programs and infrastructure in Black, Latinx and other communities of color. In the video, they call on Mayor de Blasio and the City Council to take at least $1 billion out of the NYPD’s bloated almost $6 billion expense budget and invest it instead in the city’s youth and communities of color – to reduce police violence and help ensure an equitable recover from COVID-19 for NYC’s Black, Latinx and other communities of color. The video was created in partnership with Communities United for Police Reform (CPR), Working Families Party, About Face and We Stand United.

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Battered de Blasio finding friends after ‘#DefundNYPD’ splits progressives

New York mayor had faced a left-flank insurrection over his response to Black Lives Matter protests.

06/10/2020

Politico

NEW YORK — For the past few weeks, Mayor Bill de Blasio has struggled to communicate his alliance with New Yorkers troubled by police misconduct — marooning himself on a lonely island between the NYPD he oversees and a growing movement demanding it be reformed.

Now he appears to be finding some footing.

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What $1 Billion of the NYPD’s Budget Could Do for Housing

Investing in NYCHA and permanent affordable housing for low-income New Yorkers are just some of the suggestions.

06/12/2020

Curbed

As New Yorkers protested against racism and police brutality over the past few weeks, the NYPD was caught on video clashing with demonstrators several times: shoving a 20-year-old woman against the pavement, hitting individuals with batons, and driving into a crowd with an SUV.

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How the U.S. could reform police in response to protests against brutality and racism

06/11/2020

CNBC

Repeated police killings of black Americans have sparked the widest push for law enforcement reform in years.

The nationwide movement fueled by George Floyd’s death last month has already kick-started change in cities and states. The coming months will help to determine just how far officials go in reshaping departments — and whether Congress will join state and local lawmakers in taking steps to overhaul policing.

Policymakers across the country have targeted several major areas in their reform discussions, including:

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NYPD Eliminated Their Plainclothes Officer Unit — But This Disguises A Larger Problem

06/16/2020

Refinery 29

Following weeks of protests around the country, and non-stop protests in all boroughs of New York, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced on Monday that the New York Police Department (NYPD) will be disbanding its anti-crime unit of plainclothes officers. Going forward, according to the announcement, officers will not be on active duty wearing civilian clothing and instead will be in uniform.

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