Protesters at NYC's City Hall cover buildings in graffiti, barricade subways, leave piles of stinking trash and throw dirty clothes over railings as they celebrate $1billion being cut from the NYPD's budget
By Rachel Sharp
Daily Mail
July 3, 2020
New York City's
'Occupy City Hall' protest has seen demonstrators cover buildings with
graffiti, barricade subways, leave piles of trash and throw clothes over
railings.
Protesters have been
camped outside City Hall for more than a week now as calls for
widespread police reform and for the NYPD to be defunded have escalated
in the weeks following the Memorial Day 'murder' of black man George Floyd at the hands of white cop Derek Chauvin in Minneapolis.
Demonstrations
calling for an end to police brutality and systemic racism show no
signs of abating in the Big Apple where Floyd's killing reignited
outrage felt by New Yorkers following the death of black man Eric Garner
in NYPD custody back in 2014.
But at
the zone outside City Hall, dubbed 'Abolition Park' by it occupiers,
what started as a sit-in demanding change and police reform has now
descended into a rundown, smelly area after they celebrated $1billion
being cut from the NYPD's budget.
On Thursday, the campsite's image of an organized, occupied protest area was a thing of the past.
Clothing
and sheets were seen flung over railings in the street, while graffiti
demanding justice and slamming law enforcement was scrawled on the
pavements.
Brooklyn Bridge City Hall
subway station was barricaded with wooden crates, metal railings and
other debris blocking commuters coming and going into the city.
Some protesters were pictured looking
settled in on chairs while others perched on grass now littered with
rubbish bags and towels.
The City Hall building itself was barely recognizable compared to a week ago, with graffiti scrawled across its walls.
Signs reading 'Defund the police' and 'Abolish the police' were also seen plastered around the zone.
The
famous pro-Trump Naked Cowboy who ordinarily entertains tourists in
Times Square was once again thrown out of the area by protesters
Thursday - one day after they turfed him out Wednesday when he showed up
in underwear and holding a guitar covered in Trump stickers.
Late Tuesday, the City Council voted in
favor of slashing the NYPD budget by more than $1 billion, meaning it
is canceling the recruitment of 1,163 new officers, stripping
$484million from the overtime budget and transfering $354million to
other services.
The contentious budget
passed the City Council with 32 votes in favor and an unusually large 17
votes against just ahead of the midnight deadline following hours of
delays.
Protesters toasted their victory Wednesday with prosecco following the news of the cuts.
But
people continued to gather outside City Hall Thursday and showed no
signs of packing up and going home despite the mark of progress.
Food,
medical and information stations have been set up in the area as
protesters appear to be there for the long haul as they say the cuts do
not go far enough and the NYPD should be defunded entirely.
Officers
tried to clear barricades surrounding the park Wednesday and tried to
push back protesters who spilled over from the park and onto the street
in attempts to expand their 'cop free' zone.
Three people were arrested before the situation calmed down again.
Scenes of the city's decline Thursday come the same day Mayor Bill de Blasio temporarily called off the painting of a 'Black Lives Matter mural' just
feet from the US president's former home in Trump Tower, but promised
that the mural will go ahead next week.
De Blasio Thursday announced he was
postponing the painting of the Black Lives Matter mural outside Trump
Tower on Manhattan's Fifth Avenue Thursday.
No
explanation was given by City Hall as to why the painting was postponed
last minute and rescheduled to an unspecified time next week.
The postponement came after President Trump and de Blasio engaged in a Twitter
spat over the mural on Wednesday night with Trump branding it a 'symbol
of hate' and demanding the money for its creation be spent on the NYPD
instead.
Many of the luxury shops
close to where the mural is planned had barricades set up on Thursday
morning, and cops were seen guarding the entrance to Trump Tower.
'It has been postponed due to scheduling change,' a city spokesperson told the New York Post. 'We’ll be sending out more details in the coming days on a new date.'
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