Politics

NYC Mayor Takes New Tack After Latest Grand Jury Decision

Published

12 years ago

February 18, 2015

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, center, address Police Academy graduates during their graduation ceremony, Monday June 30,2014 at Madison Square Garden in New York. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)

JONATHAN LEMIRE, Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — Eric Garner and Akai Gurley were black men killed by New York City police officers. Although both deaths provoked anger in the city’s minority communities and renewed debate about policing in the nation’s largest city, the grand juries in each case brought different outcomes, with one officer indicted, one not.

And there was another striking difference: the public reactions from Mayor Bill de Blasio.

De Blasio was emotional and pained in December after a grand jury declined to indict an officer for placing Garner in a fatal chokehold, but he was cool and restrained last week when the officer who shot Gurley in a darkened stairwell was charged with manslaughter. That measured response may have helped the mayor maintain the uneasy truce he has struck with a police force that recently rebelled against him.

“The change in strategy implies the mayor may be trying to avoid fallout similar to the prior incident,” said Costas Panagopoulos, a Fordham University political science professor. “If his previous response was judged to be problematic, the mayor may be learning from what he perceives to be mistakes.”

Garner’s death last July was captured on cellphone video shown around the world. It included his repeated cries of “I can’t breathe!” after Officer Daniel Pantaleo, who is white, wrapped Garner in a chokehold. Police maintain it was a legal takedown maneuver.

When the grand jury on Staten Island, the city’s only majority white borough, declined to indict Pantaleo on Dec. 3, it reignited a rage that had been simmering since a grand jury in Ferguson, Missouri, declined to charge a white officer in the shooting death of Michael Brown, a black unarmed 18-year-old.

The moment was precarious for de Blasio, who enjoyed the support of the city’s African-American community and centered his administration on mending relations between the nation’s largest police force and the communities of color.

With protests breaking out across the city, he traveled that night to a small church on Staten Island where the Garner family worshipped and addressed the moment by saying he understood black families’ despair, framing it in the context of his own biracial teenage son.

“I’ve had to worry over the years, (my wife) Chirlane has had to worry: Is Dante safe each night?” he said. “And not just from some of the painful realities of crime and violence in some of our neighborhoods but safe from the very people they want to have faith in as their protectors.”

Two weeks later, when a man who had ranted online about Garner and Brown killed two city police officers, de Blasio’s words were held against him by police union leaders, who blamed him for creating an anti-New York Police Department sentiment they believe led to the killings. Patrick Lynch, head of the Patrolman’s Benevolent Association, said the mayor had “blood on his hands,” and officers turned their backs to de Blasio repeatedly.

After weeks of tension, the rift faded, in part because public opinion turned against the police as de Blasio took the high road, largely refusing to criticize the union leaders.

That peace was endangered Feb. 10 when a Brooklyn grand jury indicted Officer Peter Liang, who is Asian-American, for shooting Gurley in a housing project stairwell. As minority activists applauded the indictment, police union leaders, who had called the shooting accidental, were quick to urge that Liang receive a fair day in court.

With his relations with police again in the spotlight, de Blasio took a very different tack than he did two months prior.

Instead of an emotional speech, his press office put out a three-sentence statement in which the mayor “urged everyone to respect the judicial process as it unfolds.”

The next day, de Blasio faced reporters and was careful not to say anything that could appear to antagonize the police or share in any satisfaction that minority communities may have felt about the indictment. He again deferred to the judicial process, warned against comparing the two cases and noted that the Garner case was particularly painful “because people watched every second of his death.”

His aides dismissed the notion that de Blasio changed tactics because he was second-guessing his comments after Garner’s death.

“He calibrates according to context and circumstances while always steadfast to the core principles of public safety and reform,” Peter Ragone, a senior adviser to de Blasio, said Monday.

The police unions, to this point, have declined to comment further. Liang could face up to 15 years in prison.

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Related Topics:Akai Gurley bill de blasio Eric Garner nypd police brutality

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Mayor Barbara Lee Holds Special State of the City Address in Deep East Oakland

In partnership with Rise East and the 40×40 Council, Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee held a special 2026 State of the City East Oakland community conversation on Oct. 14. The purpose of bringing a State of the City address directly to the community was to celebrate East Oakland, highli

Published

4 days ago

October 19, 2026

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Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee, left. moderated a community chat with (l.to r.) Selena Wilson, CEO of the East Oakland Youth Development Center; Carolyn “CJ” Johnson, CEO of the Black Cultural Zone; Dr. Noha Aboelata, CEO of Roots Health Center and Greg Hodge, CEO of the Brotherhood of Elders.

By Special to The Post

In partnership with Rise East and the 40×40 Council, Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee held a special 2026 State of the City East Oakland community conversation on Oct. 14.

The purpose of bringing a State of the City address directly to the community was to celebrate East Oakland, highlight the work underway, and look ahead to what neighbors, local businesses, youth, funders, community organizations, and partners can accomplish together.

Held at the Roots Community Health/Parker Elementary School Campus at 7929 Ney Ave., the event was emceed by special guest Mark Curry, Oakland native, comedian, and actor.

Lee shared how Rise East and the 40×40 Council have brought together the knowledge, relationships, and resources of people and organizations committed to East Oakland.

Residents bring lived experience, community organizations bring trusted relationships and philanthropy, and businesses bring resources and opportunity, she said, then turned to the government’s role: public investment, services and policy.

But, Lee intoned, City Hall has a responsibility to help connect those efforts.

“I am committed to listening to residents, working across departments and sectors, and helping open doors to opportunity. We must connect neighborhood priorities to the decisions we make about housing, economic development, safety, health and our young people.

City Hall “must be accountable for the results,” Lee said. “The measure of success is what families experience: greater stability, more opportunity and a stronger sense that they belong and have a future here.

“Tonight is an opportunity to listen to the leaders doing this work, learn what is making a difference and identify where we can do more together,” the mayor said.

Lee went on to moderate a ‘fireside chat’ on the theme: Building Oakland’s Future Together — From Neighborhood Investment to Community Empowerment with:

Selena Wilson, CEO, East Oakland Youth Development Center
Greg Hodge, CEO, Brotherhood of Elders
Carolyn “CJ” Johnson, CEO, Black Cultural Zone
Dr. Noha Aboelata, CEO, Roots Health Center

Mayor Barbara Lee’s media relations department provided this report.

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Opponents Smear Effective African American Transit Director as Election Nears

Incumbent Joel Young is defending his seat on the AC Transit Board against allegations of harassment stemming from a public interaction in 2026. Supporters of the director cite his record of securing $600 million for bus services and leading civil rights initiatives as evidence of his effectiveness. They argue the accusations regarding a group photo interaction have been politically weaponized by opponents to influence the Ward 3 election.

Published

4 days ago

October 19, 2026

Post News Group

By Kitty Kelly Epstein

I am an academic and a community activist. I take women’s issues, including workplace harassment and discrimination, seriously. I have been following the AC Transit Ward 3 election and have become concerned about what I believe is a serious injustice.

Joel Young is an effective AC Transit director. He has secured more than $600 million for local bus service and fare affordability. He led the Freedom Bus Project, integrating civil rights history, art and transit. He was presiding over the board of AC transit when it won the 2023 Outstanding Public System Award, and he raised $1 million for the hydrogen fuel cell bus program. These are just a few of his accomplishments.

I reviewed the allegations of unwanted physical contact and harassment made by AC Transit Director Sarah Syed against Director Joel Young, I believe the events of Sept. 24, 2025, have been characterized in a way that does not accurately reflect what occurred.

That interaction took place during a group photo after celebrating the life of a longtime Board member who passed away. From the video I reviewed, it appears that individuals were consoling one another and exchanging hugs in a public setting surrounded by numerous witnesses.

Young’s interaction with Syed appears consistent with those expressions of sympathy and it appears that Young was attempting to extend a gesture of goodwill toward Syed.

I am concerned by how this incident has been recently used as a political tool to influence the outcome of the AC Transit Ward 3 election and support Young’s opponent.

Syed and her supporters launched a targeted political campaign, first through the Alameda County Democratic Party and subsequently by organizing a letter from a group of majority-white elected officials who have endorsed Young’s opponent against Young, who is Africa American.
Furthermore, this manufactured controversy distracts voters from the critical issues facing AC Transit. The public deserves a substantive debate on service reliability, ridership recovery, passenger and operator safety, financial stability, regional equity, and future transportation infrastructure. The electorate should be evaluating which candidate possesses the judgment, experience, and vision to lead AC Transit forward – not reacting to a distorted personal interaction.

Regardless of one’s political views or preferred candidate, allegations of harassment should never be weaponized for electoral purposes. We all know that exaggerated or unsupported accusations can undermine public understanding of, and trust in, efforts to address genuine sexual harassment and violence.

Kitty Kelly Epstein