Politics

De Blasio: Garner’s Death Not in Vain

Published

9 years ago

July 15, 2015

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio pauses as he speaks during a memorial service for Eric Garner at the Mount Sinai United Christian Church in the Staten Island borough of New York Tuesday, July 14, 2015, just short of a year after Garner died while being taken into custody by New York City police officers. A $5.9 million settlement in Garner’s death, a black man who died after being placed in a white police officer’s chokehold, was reached with the city this week, days before the anniversary of his death. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle)

COLLEEN LONG, Associated Press
JONATHAN LEMIRE, Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — The death of an unarmed black man who was held in a police chokehold wasn’t in vain, and could help change the relationship between police officers and the communities they patrol, Mayor Bill de Blasio said at a church service in honor of Eric Garner.

De Blasio spoke Tuesday night, the day after the city reached a $5.9 million settlement with Garner’s family over his July 2014 death. His family said they would continue pressing for federal civil rights charges.

“This is a new chapter in our relationship between the police and our communities,” de Blasio said. “That will make us a better people. That will make us a more just city. That will make us a safer city.”

De Blasio, who is white and is married to a black woman, spoke at the church the night of the grand jury decision not to indict the police officer. At that time, he connected personally to Garner’s death, speaking of how he talked to his biracial son about being careful in his dealings with police.

Those comments sparked outrage from police unions, who accused de Blasio of fostering an anti-police sentiment. When two officers were killed by a gunman in December, some officers turned their backs on the mayor at the funerals.

De Blasio made sure to be inclusive in his remarks on Tuesday.

“All lives matter,” he said, before explicitly saying that while it should be self-evident, it must be still said that “Black lives matter” and, after he praised the police, “Blue lives matter.”

The settlement came nearly a year after the 43-year-old Garner died, having repeatedly pleaded “I can’t breathe!” as Officer Daniel Pantaleo took him to the ground with an arm around his neck. Garner lost consciousness and was pronounced dead later at a hospital.

He had refused to be handcuffed after being stopped on suspicion of selling loose, untaxed cigarettes on a Staten Island street.

The encounter, caught on an onlooker’s video, triggered protests. Coupled with police killings of unarmed black men elsewhere in recent months, Garner’s death became a flashpoint in a national debate about relations between police and minority communities.

“‘I can’t breathe’ spurred the national movement,” and it won’t end “until we change how policing goes,” the Rev. Al Sharpton said at a news conference Tuesday with Garner’s relatives.

“The victory will come when we get justice,” Eric Garner’s mother, Gwen Carr, said Tuesday.

“Justice,” added one of Garner’s children, Emerald Snipes, “is when somebody is held accountable for what they do.”

The city medical examiner found the police chokehold contributed to Garner’s death. But Pantaleo’s lawyer said the officer had used a permissible takedown maneuver known as a seatbelt — not a chokehold, banned under New York Police Department policy.

A grand jury declined to indict Pantaleo. The U.S. Justice Department and the U.S. attorney’s office in Brooklyn are investigating whether there’s evidence to warrant charges that the officer deliberately violated Garner’s civil rights. Such cases are rare after grand jury inaction or acquittal at the state level.

Police Commissioner William Bratton declined to comment Tuesday on the Garner case. The settlement came before any lawsuit was filed, though the family had filed notice of its intention to sue. The city did not admit any liability.

___

Associated Press writers Tom Hays and Jennifer Peltz in New York contributed to this report.

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Oakland Post: Week of April 24 – 30, 2024

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of April 24 – 30, 2024

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4 hours ago

April 26, 2024

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MAYOR BREED ANNOUNCES $53 MILLION FEDERAL GRANT FOR SAN FRANCISCO’S HOMELESS PROGRAMS

San Francisco, CA – Mayor London N. Breed today announced that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has awarded the city a $53.7 million grant to support efforts to renew and expand critical services and housing for people experiencing homelessness in San Francisco.

Published

6 days ago

April 20, 2024

Oakland Post

Mayor London Breed

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Wednesday, January 31, 2024

Contact: Mayor’s Office of Communications, mayorspressoffice@sfgov.org

***PRESS RELEASE***

MAYOR BREED ANNOUNCES $53 MILLION FEDERAL GRANT FOR SAN FRANCISCO’S HOMELESS PROGRAMS

HUD’s Continuum of Care grant will support the City’s range of critical services and programs, including permanent supportive housing, rapid re-housing, and improved access to housing for survivors of domestic violence

San Francisco, CA – Mayor London N. Breed today announced that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has awarded the city a $53.7 million grant to support efforts to renew and expand critical services and housing for people experiencing homelessness in San Francisco.

HUD’s Continuum of Care (CoC) program is designed to support local programs with the goal of ending homelessness for individuals, families, and Transitional Age Youth.

This funding supports the city’s ongoing efforts that have helped more than 15,000 people exit homelessness since 2018 through City programs including direct housing placements and relocation assistance. During that time San Francisco has also increased housing slots by 50%. San Francisco has the most permanent supportive housing of any county in the Bay Area, and the second most slots per capita than any city in the country.

“In San Francisco, we have worked aggressively to increase housing, shelter, and services for people experiencing homelessness, and we are building on these efforts every day,” said Mayor London Breed. “Every day our encampment outreach workers are going out to bring people indoors and our City workers are connecting people to housing and shelter. This support from the federal government is critical and will allow us to serve people in need and address encampments in our neighborhoods.”

The funding towards supporting the renewal projects in San Francisco include financial support for a mix of permanent supportive housing, rapid re-housing, and transitional housing projects. In addition, the CoC award will support Coordinated Entry projects to centralize the City’s various efforts to address homelessness. This includes $2.1 million in funding for the Coordinated Entry system to improve access to housing for youth and survivors of domestic violence.

“This is a good day for San Francisco,” said Shireen McSpadden, executive director of the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing. “HUD’s Continuum of Care funding provides vital resources to a diversity of programs and projects that have helped people to stabilize in our community. This funding is a testament to our work and the work of our nonprofit partners.”

The 2024 Continuum of Care Renewal Awards Include:

$42.2 million for 29 renewal PSH projects that serve chronically homeless, veterans, and youth
$318,000 for one new PSH project, which will provide 98 affordable homes for low-income seniors in the Richmond District
$445,00 for one Transitional Housing (TH) project serving youth
$6.4 million dedicated to four Rapid Rehousing (RRH) projects that serve families, youth, and survivors of domestic violence
$750,00 for two Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) projects
$2.1 million for three Coordinated Entry projects that serve families, youth, chronically homeless, and survivors of domestic violence

In addition, the 2023 CoC Planning Grant, now increased to $1,500,000 from $1,250,000, was also approved. Planning grants are submitted non-competitively and may be used to carry out the duties of operating a CoC, such as system evaluation and planning, monitoring, project and system performance improvement, providing trainings, partner collaborations, and conducting the PIT Count.

“We are very appreciative of HUD’s support in fulfilling our funding request for these critically important projects for San Francisco that help so many people trying to exit homelessness,” said Del Seymour, co-chair of the Local Homeless Coordinating Board. “This funding will make a real difference to people seeking services and support in their journey out of homelessness.”

In comparison to last year’s competition, this represents a $770,000 increase in funding, due to a new PSH project that was funded, an increase in some unit type Fair Market Rents (FMRs) and the larger CoC Planning Grant. In a year where more projects had to compete nationally against other communities, this represents a significant increase.

Nationally, HUD awarded nearly $3.16 billion for over 7,000 local homeless housing and service programs including new projects and renewals across the United States.