Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
Arts & Entertainment
Spike Lee Consulted On NYPD Ad Campaign For $200K
By
Christopher Robbins
Published Aug 16, 2018
Modified Aug 16, 2018
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
Scott Lynch / Gothamist
By
Christopher Robbins
Published Aug 16, 2018
Modified Aug 16, 2018
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Spike Lee's production company received $219,113 in consulting fees to help produce advertisements for the de Blasio administration's community policing initiative.
“After careful thought I accepted the consultation assignment,” Lee told the Wall Street Journal, which first reported the story. “The NYPD came to me knowing I have been critical of them. I think it’s important for open dialogue to make what has been a tough relationship better.”
NYPD First Deputy Commissioner Benjamin Tucker, said he considered Lee for the work because, "You want to reach out to folks. Not just the folks who are supporters pretty consistently but also folks who have certainly been critics in the past."
“They just wanted to add value. They weren’t trying to find ways to make public we were involved. And neither were we," Tucker added.
The fee paid to Lee's company came from the New York City Police Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to supporting the NYPD that has come under scrutiny in recent years for acting as an arm of the police department without any real oversight.
In June of 2015, the same year Lee's company accepted the assignment, the Post reported that the foundation had spent more than $2 million on contracts for work related to the NYPD, much of it paid to consultants with ties to then-Commissioner Bill Bratton. One source likened the foundation to "almost a shadow government."
The foundation also picked up the tab for former Commissioner Ray Kelly's membership to the Harvard Club. Corporate donors to the foundation, like Palantir and Motorola, have later received lucrative NYPD contracts.
The community policing ads that Lee's company worked on ran earlier this year.
In 2014, Lee edited footage together of Eric Garner being fatally choked, and his character Radio Raheem, from Do The Right Thing, being fatally choked by the NYPD.
Tagged
community policing
eric garner
new york city police foundation
spike lee
Christopher Robbins
Christopher Robbins is a New York City reporter covering transportation, affordable housing, local politics, and criminal justice. His work has also appeared in New York Magazine, The Village Voice and The New York Times. Chris is a graduate of Patrick Henry High School in Roanoke, Virginia, and enjoys biking to Fort Tilden in the summertime.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE arts-entertainment
How the Village Halloween Parade keeps its soul
A visit to the community-driven pre-parade puppet preparations.
By
Hannah Frishberg
Published Oct 28, 2026
'You Can See Everything' … as long as you go to Staten Island
Nathan Fielder’s Elizabeth Holmes documentary has been selling out across Manhattan and Brooklyn. Tickets to see the film, however, are very much available in other boroughs.
By
Sonia Rao
Arts & Entertainment
'You Can See Everything' … as long as you go to Staten Island
Nathan Fielder’s Elizabeth Holmes documentary has been selling out across Manhattan and Brooklyn. Tickets to see the film, however, are very much available in other boroughs.
By
Sonia Rao
Inside the hidden chamber that controls Lincoln Center's magnificent fountain
By
Sonia Rao
In the algorithm age, NYC college radio DJs are still broadcasting the funky stuff
By
James Ramsay
A Queens prop shop shutters, bunnies find a home uptown, and more openings and closings
By
Hannah Frishberg
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .