It hasn’t been easy for Mayor De Blasio this past year. Within the last month he’s had to maintain order among protests denouncing the killing of Eric Garner and the officer responsible Daniel Pantaleo was not indicted.
Now, whether you believe the officer should have faced charges is not my issue. De Blasio has been treated like a persona non grata and has been disrespected by the NYPD multiple times. There were the three times they publicly turned their backs on him and now they are not reporting to work and refusing to issue traffic tickets. What else makes this so bad, old crony Rudy Guilani and Patrolmen Benevolent Association Leader Pat Lynch have led the charge against the mayor.
The real sad story is that fact that De Blasio is in good company with another mayor who was also disrespected by the NYPD. Mayor David Dinkins became the first and only African-American mayor from 1990-1993.
What makes De Blasio and Dinkins so comparable breaks down into two components: They both had issues dealing with race relations and the NYPD and they both were blatantly disrespected for even discussing race. Back in 1992 thousands of off duty NYPD rallied against Dinkins idea to create an independent civilian agency that aimed to identify and handle police misconduct (sound familiar). Dinkins was met with over 10,000 protestors in front of city hall and yet to become mayor Rudy Guilani.
Ironically, the protestors that day blocked the Brooklyn Bridge, jumped barricades and trampled and stomped on cars. The protestors were even encouraged by on duty police. It just seems so paradoxical that the protestors today were denounced and have been met with such opposition, when just the idea of looking into police misconduct and implication of racism was entertained. I just hope this mayor has enough impertinence to stay the course and address the NYPD accordingly.
