Council Brings Garner Protests To City Hall

In an act of civil disobedience, more than half the City Council’s 51 members stood in a line blocking traffic across Broadway on Monday and then marched to City Hall.

They paused in the parking lot where Council member Andy King laid out their grievances.

“We’ve been violated. We’ve been discriminated and we’ve been shot and killed as dogs,” blasted King. He said that as legislators and New Yorkers, they would not stand for it any longer.

Then Council member Debi Rose of Staten Island led the now ubiquitous chant, “Black lives matter.”

That message of unity was repeated by Council member Rosie Mendez in Spanish and Margaret Chin in Chinese. Then the members took their protest through the security gates, up the steps and inside City Hall to attend their bi-monthly session.

As members filed into the second floor chamber, dozens of clergy continued protesting in the balcony outside the main doors. 

Dozens of clergy members gathered in the rotunda outside the Council chambers where they protested and sang. Dec 8, 2014

(William Alatriste/New York City Council)

While Mayor de Blasio has called for dialogue about the circumstances that led to Eric Garner’s death and the need to fundamentally change the relationship between police and community, he has stopped short of criticizing the actual grand jury decision.

City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito showed no such hesitation.

Inside the chamber, Mark-Viverito wore a red armband and a black and white t-shirt that read “I can’t breathe.” As the meeting started, she asked the members to rise to their feet.

“So 11 times, 11 times Eric Garner cried for help, and 11 times his cries went unheard,” said Mark-Viverito who then uttered his plea as members of the Council joined in 11 times, “I can’t breathe.”

Mark-Viverito said unequivocally that justice was not served in the Garner case. She added that the Council will propose new reforms for the NYPD soon. She also commented pointedly on the flaws she see in the system.

“We have seen this past month and throughout history the effects of the justice system that predictably buckles when a shield is involved and an unarmed black, Latino or Asian person is left dead,” said Mark-Viverito.

Pat Lynch, head of the police officers union, called the protest “reprehensible.”

In a statement, he criticized Council members for acting up in front of cameras, “instead of being the responsible body of government that works to solve problems in the communities that elected them.”