Gotham Gazette

The Place for New York Policy and politics

Black Lives Matter

Black Lives Matter

  • A Black Agenda for New York City

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    Crystal Hudson, middle, with voters (photo: Crystal Hudson campaign)


    We’re nearing the end of Black History Month — a month of celebrating and honoring the Black people who have enriched and advanced our city. From Audre Lorde to Shirley Chisolm, we have no shortage of artists, entrepreneurs, and trailblazers to celebrate.

    We’re also nearing the end of another February in America. A month in which we continue to see Black people die at the hands of the police at alarming

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  • Daughters of the Movement, Carrying On

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    Stacy Lynch, the author (photo: @lynchfornyc7)


    Growing up in Harlem as the daughter of Bill Lynch, the mastermind behind David Dinkins’ campaign to become the first Black mayor of New York, public service is in my DNA. Watching him put together coalitions, something he began working with farm workers in the potato fields of eastern Long Island, has stayed with me throughout my career in law and government.

    That legacy carries with it the obligation to pay it forward in trying to improve the lives of all of our neighbors. It is why I

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  • 7 Months Later, No Sign of De Blasio's Promised 'Racial Justice and Reconciliation Commission'

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    Mayor de Blasio painting a Black Lives Matter mural (photo: Ed Reed/Mayor's Office)


    After weeks of mass demonstrations last June calling out police violence against Black people, New York city and state officials responded by passing and signing legislation for police reform and accountability that had seemed indefinitely stalled, ordering investigations into the policing of the protests themselves, and painting murals as a sign of government solidarity with its people.

    One of the commitments made by New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio was to establish a

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  • Dermot Shea's Rocky First Year as NYPD Commissioner

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    Mayo de Blasio & NYPD Commissioner Shea (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayor's Office)


    This past Wednesday, December 2, marked one year since Dermot Shea was sworn in as the 44th commissioner of the New York Police Department, the third commissioner to serve in the role under Mayor Bill de Blasio. Shea’s first year in the top-cop job has been tumultuous and punctuated with controversy; a trial by fire in unprecedented times, and he often came up short, as judged by critics on both his left and his right and those simply frustrated by police brutality and rising

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  • Renewed Scrutiny of Police Misconduct Includes Reexamination of Qualified Immunity for Officers

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    New NYPD officers are sworn in (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayor's Office)


    In the wake of the killing of George Floyd and other Black Americans at the hands of law enforcement, the Qualified Immunity Doctrine has come under increased scrutiny from activists and elected officials. Simply put, when applied to police officers, qualified immunity means that officers can rarely be subject to civil lawsuits in their individual capacities over allegations of excessive force, brutality, or other misconduct while on the job. In other words, they

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  • 'Break in the Dam': New York Sees Flood of Long-Stalled Police Reforms in Response to Outcry

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    Eric Garner's mother, Gwen Carr, at a recent press conference (photo: Emil Cohen/City Council)


    New York, and the nation, was teetering on the edge when it was suddenly and violently pushed over it on May 25, as George Floyd was killed in Minneapolis, Minnesota by police officer Derek Chauvin. It was an incident as shocking as it was familiar, an unarmed Black man dying at the hands of a police officer with the episode caught on video and broadcast to millions of people.

    “I can’t breathe,” Floyd cried out, as Chauvin knelt on his

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  • Black Business Owners Hang On Through Covid Crisis as Black Lives Matter Movement Surges

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    Mayor de Blasio & Chirlane McCray dine at Melba's in Harlem (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayor's Office)


    Miriam Milord, the Black owner of BCakeNY in Brooklyn, had to completely reimagine her custom dessert business when the coronavirus pandemic hit New York. She usually served events of around 75 to 100 people, but, with social distancing guidelines, customers cancelled those gatherings. All of her orders disappeared.

    “So that stopped, you know, from one day to the next pretty much,” said Milord. “So not only were we not selling cakes, we also were

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