[Bakersfield.com] NEW YORK — Coronavirus does not discriminate. Social distancing enforcement in New York City apparently does.
That’s the takeaway from newly-released numbers from the New York Police Department that show an alarming racial disparity in social distancing enforcement. And, despite Mayor Bill de Blasio’s reassurances, elected leaders and community activists are saying City Hall should be ashamed.
According to the NYPD, there have been 374 social distancing-related summonses issued since COVID-19 restrictions were put in place six weeks ago. Of that number, 304 of the summonses have been issued to black or Latino people.
That follows news that 35 of 40 people arrested in Brooklyn between March 17 and May 4, were black. Across the city, where there were 120 social distancing arrests, 68% of the people were black, 24% Latino and 7% white.
"That’s abysmal," Public Advocate Jumaane Williams said during a Zoom meeting news conference Friday. "This is not the federal government. This is not Donald Trump."
Williams blamed de Blasio and Gov. Andrew Cuomo for stressing enforcement over education, and said that approach has set the tone for heavy-handedness, and business as usual within the NYPD. Williams said the social distancing disparity is in line with decades of marginalization within communities of color. |