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Police Union Not Happy About Potential Brooklyn DNC
By
Rebecca Fishbein
Published Aug 26, 2014
Modified Aug 26, 2014
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Jake Dobkin/Gothamist
By
Rebecca Fishbein
Published Aug 26, 2014
Modified Aug 26, 2014
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Mayor de Blasio's been working hard to convince the Democrats that Brooklyn is hip and subway accessible enough to host the Democratic National Convention in 2016. But though one would imagine most New Yorkers can't wait for Capitol Hill's finest to flood the Streets That Lena Dunham Built, it appears the NYPD would prefer the political masses invade elsewhere, all because #deblasiosnewyork has us harkening back to the Bad Old Days. Huh.
Sergeants Benevolent Association president Ed Mullins published an ad in the New York Post arguing that poor morale and a purported crime spike make New York a bad place to host the DNC.
“Mayor de Blasio has not earned the right to play host to such an important event," Mullins wrote, adding that de Blasio is the cause of the city's "lurching backward to the bad old days of high crime, danger-infested public spaces and families that walk our streets worried for their safety," and illustrated a dystopian future fraught with sad cops and "squeegee people."
"It isn't fair to burden the NYPD with this because the mayor wants to be on a national stage. We don't feel supported by the mayor and there's a spike in shootings," Mullins told the Daily News. "This is a matter of public safety, and what's good for New Yorkers."
It's true the NYPD's image has suffered this summer since an officer put Staten Island resident Eric Garner in a fatal chokehold—Police Commissioner Bill Bratton's blaming this drop in morale on union contract disputes and "negative stories in the media," though the Post will always <3 you, NYPD!
But even Bratton says the SBA should suck it up. "My feelings toward the mayor is that I think, over time, the officers are going to appreciate that a lot is being done for them,” the commissioner told the Times.
Of course, the last time this city hosted a major political convention—the Republican National Convention in 2004—hundreds of protestors, journalists and bystanders were arrested en masse by the NYPD, sparking a multimillion dollar city lawsuit and plenty of negative press for the NYPD. We couldn't possibly expect cops to suffer through something like that again.
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brooklyn
democratic national convention
dnc
dnc 2016
nypd
Rebecca Fishbein
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