New York, NY – On the early evening of June 1, around 1500 people gathered in the Lower East Side. This was one gathering out of dozens happening throughout the five boroughs.

This rally, in particular, was called to bring attention to the injustices of New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) housing and to demand the firing of Officer Garcia. On May 2, footage was released that showed an incident of police brutality. Two individuals were targeted by the cops, namely Officer Garcia, because they weren’t social distancing. However, the footage shows them 6 feet apart and following state guidelines.

The speakers of the protest echoed the sentiments that we’ve been seeing for the last few days since the murder of George Floyd. The speakers also highlighted the horrific housing situations affecting New Yorkers, and how they largely affect Black and brown people.

One of the speakers said mentioned, “There are 400,000 NYCHA residents. About 2% of the residents caught COVID-19, which equals to about 8000 people. Of those 8000, 1241 died, which equals approximately to 19%, which is double the 8% death rate of the rest of New York.”

The crowd was loud and angry as they heard these statistics. They began chanting “Black lives matter” and “Hell no, we won’t go.” Off to the side was a sorry group of officers holding zip-ties at the ready.

The march began with the chant “NYPD suck my dick!” Bystanders, cars, bus drivers and shopkeepers cheered the march. The protesters made a right on Delancey and headed towards the Manhattan bridge, where countless NYPD cruisers began following them.

As the protesters crossed the Manhattan bridge, you could overhear some of them wonder of the oncoming curfew and then chants rang out “Fuck your curfew!”

The sentiment was echoed as earlier that day Governor Cuomo called for an 11 p.m. curfew that aims to curtail protesters for expressing their anger. This comes two days after Governor Cuomo said he’s on the side of the protesters.

As the curfew fast approached, protesters continued to gather, regardless of the violence promised by the NYPD.

There are countless of protests planned for the next few days and the NYPD, Mayor De Blasio, and Governor Cuomo should understand that a curfew will not deter the people.

#NewYorkCity #OppressedNationalities #PeoplesStruggles #AfricanAmerican #PoliceBrutality #NYPD #Antiracism #COVID19 #NewYorkCityHousingAuthorityNYCHA