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Live Protest Updates: Peaceful Marches Continue In NYC, Including Rockaway Beach

David Cruz

Scott Heins

and

Scott Lynch

Published Jun 13, 2020

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Protesters gather in Manhattan and Brooklyn on June 13, 2020

Scott Heins / Gothamist

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David Cruz

Scott Heins

and

Scott Lynch

Published Jun 13, 2020

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Here's the latest:

5:10 p.m. Several hundred protesters that began at Grand Army Plaza are now marching to the Brooklyn Bridge, which police are apparently shutting down to let them through. The event organized by Black Excellence Walk also saw drivers on the bridge coming out to cheer protesters on.

4:30 p.m. Protesters from at least two contingents were spotted walking on roadways at this hour. A post on Twitter shows several hundred peaceful demonstrators heading up Flatbush and Lafayette avenues near the Barclays Center chanting "black lives matter." In other moments, protesters chanted "defund the police" and "how do you spell racist?", which was followed by "NYPD." The Brooklyn demonstration was part of the Black Excellence March that began at Grand Army Plaza.

In Manhattan, protesters were spotted walking several blocks north on the West Side Highway with a "full marching band" in tow.

4:15 p.m There was a modest turnout of 200 people arriving at a boardwalk in Far Rockaway, Queens, marching from Beach 62nd to Beach 94th, where there were snacks and beverages and voter registration forms. Family friendly chants added to the soundtrack along the shoreline. The event was organized by Queens Defenders and Far Rock National Pan-Hellenic Council.

Protesters at a boardwalk in the Far Rockaway of Queens raise protest signs that read "Black Lives Matter" and "Defund The Police".

Scott Lynch

Meantime, in Manhattan, barriers have been placed around the famous Charging Bull statue spotted in Lower Manhattan. A drape had also been placed as a bull to protect it from damage.

Protesters hold up signs with the statue of Christopher Columbus at 59th Street/Columbus Circle seen in the back.

Scott Heins

2 p.m. More than two-dozen protests and events calling out police brutality have or will be happening across New York City today. At Columbus Circle, roughly 500 protesters gathered at the northern half of the famed statue near the park entrance around 1 p.m., with demonstrators later marching east on 59th Street and Central Park South. The statue of Columbus has a double row of barricades around it and multiple police cars are stationed around the statue, but there was no large foot patrol detail like we have seen at other protests around the country.

There have been calls in recent days to have statues of controversial historical figures such as Columbus removed from public view, given Columbus's particular legacy as a colonizer.

Governor Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio are against the removal of the statue at the circle.

Governor Andrew Cuomo at his Saturday morning presser on June 13th.

Governor Andrew Cuomo's Office

Cuomo Warns NYC Can Lose "Significant" Amount Of State Funds If It Ignores Police Department Revamp Order

1:30 p.m. Governor Andrew Cuomo warned New York City could have its state funding withheld if it doesn't abide by his new executive order mandating localities revamp their police force within the next nine months.

At his news briefing on Saturday, Cuomo signaled that localities can "theoretically" lose their funding, though essential budgets, such as health care, will remain intact.

"It will, in any case, be a significant amount of funding," said Cuomo. "There is some funds that vital for health and human services. That we would fund directly. But, yeah, it'll be a significant amount of funding to that locality."

Cuomo issued the executive order mandating that police departments meet directly with members of the public to solicit feedback on how police departments need to be restructured yesterday.

"If you don't do it, local government, you won't get any state funding. Period," said Cuomo at his daily briefing on Saturday. "We're not going to tell you what to do, but we'll tell you that you have the go through the process. And you have to pass a law with your redesigned police force. And you have to do it by April 1st. Or you don't get state funding. If you don't want state funding then you don't have to do it."

The April 1st deadline coincides with the same day Albany lawmakers must pass a budget for the following year.

The mandate orders police departments to meet with the community stakeholders to weigh in on what changes are required. The order came the same day Cuomo signed a criminal reform package bill that repealed the decades-old 50-A measure, banned chokeholds, and codified the

"The police force is a function of what the community wants. The community pays for the police. The police don't exist despite the community. The police exist because that community wants them, and if that community that is funding them with their tax dollars wants a different police force, they'll have a different police force," said Cuomo.

Protesters in Brooklyn on June 12, 2020

Gretchen Robinette / Gothamist

NYPD Body Cam Footage Under Investigation, But City Says Videos Are Scarce

NYPD body camera footage that captured the protests happening across the city the last two weeks is under investigation, but the city's saying there's simply not enough video, raising questions.

Much of why there's not enough video stems from the NYPD having to comply with the Handschu agreement, a set of guidelines that bar officers from video recording politically charged protests, according to a report by NY1. The NYPD has a separate unit that photographs protests, which appears to circumvent the Handschu agreement.

The city's body camera policy instructs officers to ensure cameras are recording when enforcement is expected to occur.

In an interview with NY1, Donna Lieberman, executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, said, “Body cameras are supposed to be turned on and the provision with regard to protest makes that quite explicit. To justify any kind of mass failure to wear body cameras, to turn them on, is a violation of police rules and civil liberties at the highest level and it calls for an investigation and an answer."

New York City saw some very intense, violent encounters between protesters and police officers during the early days of the protests, including unprovoked instances of police pepper spraying demonstrators, beating them with batons, or driving into crowds.

Among the more aggressive encounters happened in Brooklyn, where video shows Police Officer Vincent D'Andraia shoving a 20-year-old protester to the ground. The protester, Dounya Zayer, was hospitalized. D'Andraia was charged with third-degree assault, fourth-degree criminal mischief, second-degree harassment and third-degree menacing.

Here's a running list of protests planned for Saturday, June 13th:

BROOKLYN

Grand Army Plaza (run) 7:45 a.m.

Grand Army Plaza (bike) 10 a.m.

McCarren Track (run) 10 a.m.

Prospect Park (skate) 12 p.m.

812 DeKalb Avenue (children’s march) 1 p.m.

Herbert von King Park (protest) 1:30 p.m.

Grand Army Plaza (black excellence walk) 2 p.m.

Barclays Center (rally) 3 p.m.

Barclays Center (march) 4:30 p.m.

MANHATTAN

Jackson Square Park (march) 6 a.m.

Times Square (march) 10 a.m.

125th Street and Adam Clayton Powell Boulevard (community bill signing) at 11:30 a.m.

Macy’s Herald Square (children’s march) 12 p.m.

Washington Square Park (march) 12 p.m.

Columbus Circle (march) 1 p.m.

Zuccotti Park (skate) 1 p.m.

Union Square Park (march) 1 p.m.

135th and Saint Nicholas Avenue (march) 2 p.m.

Inwood Diamond 6 (march) 3 p.m.

Washington Square Arch (march) 3 p.m.

Mitchell Square Park (healing) 5 p.m.

QUEENS

St. Francis Prep (protest) 11:45 a.m.

Corona Park at the Globe (skate) 12 p.m.

62nd Street Boardwalk (march) 12:30 p.m.

74th Street and Roosevelt Avenue (protest) 1 p.m.

Astoria Park War Monument (chalk writing) 1:30 p.m.

MacDonald Boulevard, Queens Boulevard (march) 1:45 p.m.

THE BRONX

The Hub (skate) 12 p.m.

Seton Falls Park (rally) 2 p.m.

Tagged

nypd

2020 protests

David Cruz

David is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.

Scott Heins

Twitter Instagram

Scott Heins is a freelance photo and video journalist based in New York City, and a frequent contributor to Gothamist + WNYC. His work often centers around labor rights, housing, and policing. In 2018-2019 he traveled to four states while covering a wave of public school teachers strikes, with work featured in The New York Times, The Intercept, Getty Images, Splinter, and Bloomberg Photos. Scott is a dues-paying member of the National Writers Union's Freelance Solidarity Project.

Scott Lynch

Instagram

Photojournalist, food writer, preschool receptionist. Love NYC.

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