Protests in N.Y.C.: Latest Updates |
Weather: Rain and thunderstorms; high around 80. Storms and peeks of sun on Saturday. Sunday should be sunny and cooler. |
Alternate-side parking: Suspended through Sunday. |
 | | Anthony Geathers for The New York Times |
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In the Bronx, police fenced in and then charged on protesters. |
A week has passed since protesters — upset, angry and energized by the death in Minneapolis police custody of George Floyd, a black man — first poured into New York City’s streets. |
On Thursday, despite a citywide curfew that was aggressively enforced by police officers the night before, thousands of people were still on the streets in large gatherings in Brooklyn, Manhattan and the Bronx. |
Once more, the police moved swiftly in some areas to enforce the 8 p.m. curfew. In the Bronx’s Mott Haven neighborhood when the curfew deadline arrived, a row of officers on bikes stopped hundreds of people from advancing, shouting at them to move back. At the same time, another group of officers came up behind the demonstrators, fencing them in on 136th Street near Brook Avenue. |
Minutes later, the police charged and began arresting people in the crowd, who had been demonstrating peacefully. Some with riot shields pushed protesters onto sidewalks with seemingly no provocation. Though many demonstrators tried to leave, with the police on all sides, there was no route for them to clear the area. |
Then, around 8:30 p.m., the police charged again, swinging their batons and striking protesters. Dozens were arrested, forced to sit on the street with their hands cuffed, while one person was removed on a stretcher. |
N.Y.P.D.’s Commissioner Shea: ‘I am sorry. Are you?’ |
Dermot F. Shea, New York City’s police commissioner, apologized on Thursday for any instances of police misconduct over the past several days. |
But, during a brief news conference at Police Headquarters, he also demanded that demonstrators stop insulting and attacking his officers, warning that anti-police rhetoric could lead to continued violence against the people he oversees. |
“For there to be calm, there must also be contrition,” Mr. Shea said. “So I am sorry. Sometimes even the best — and the N.Y.P.D. is the goddamned best police department in the country — but sometimes even the best fall down.” |
He added: “So for our part in the damage to civility, for our part in racial bias, in excessive force, unacceptable behavior, unacceptable language and many other mistakes, we are human. I am sorry. Are you?” |
The mayor and the governor defended the police’s actions. |
Mayor Bill de Blasio on Thursday emphatically defended the Police Department’s actions. |
“When people are instructed by the N.Y.P.D., especially after curfew, they must follow those instructions,” the mayor told reporters at a news briefing. |
Referring to officers’ aggressively dispersing crowds, he added, “It’s not an unfair action to say, in the context of this crisis, in the context of curfew, there is a point where enough is enough.” |
Governor Andrew M. Cuomo also lent his support to the police, saying they were doing “an impossible job.” |
Curtis Sliwa, founder of the Guardian Angels, sustained a fractured jaw fighting off looters in SoHo this week. [New York Post] |
A bakery in Queens is donating thousands of its signature pizza cupcakes to health care workers. [Qns.com] |
What we’re watching: On “The New York Times Close Up With Sam Roberts,” Reid Epstein, a political reporter for The Times, joins Clyde Haberman and Eleanor Randolph, contributing writers, to discuss the political implications of the civil unrest in New York and around the country following the killing of George Floyd in police custody in Minneapolis. The show airs Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 1:30 p.m. and Sunday at 12:30 p.m. [CUNY TV] |
And finally: A virtual social weekend |
The Times’s Melissa Guerrero writes: |
Although most performance spaces, museums and community centers are closed, people are finding creative ways to connect through virtual events and programs. Here are suggestions for maintaining a New York social life this weekend while keeping a safe distance from other people. |
TGNC Heart and Mind Wellness in Covid-19 |
At 6 p.m. on Friday, join Housing Works for an evening of peace. Learn how to build a wellness plan and do calming exercises for stressful moments. In addition to discovering mental health resources, attendees can expect a performance by the drag star Flower Tortilla and poetry by Linda LaBeija. |
R.S.V.P. on the event page to gain access to the livestream. |
Little Lights Reading Series |
Enjoy the Little Lights Reading Series at 7 p.m. on Friday, in partnership with Books Are Magic. The series highlights “folks who have been lighting the way not only before this pandemic” but as people work to understand this new reality, the event listing said. This reading will feature the poets Nabila Lovelace, Carlos Andrés Gómez and Arhm Choi Wild. |
Virtual Birdland: Arturo O’Farrill & the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra |
On Sunday at 8:30 p.m., close the weekend with Arturo O’Farrill & the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra. The performance, which features a live chat and commentary from the musicians, brings together performers based in New York and from across the globe. |
Visit the event page for a link to the live performance. |
Metropolitan Diary: Dr Pepper |
I was in Manhattan for the board meeting of a national women’s organization. There were 18 of us from around the country at a long table in one of the city’s finest restaurants, our reservation made months in advance. |
I was sitting next to a colleague from Texas who, because she often had trouble finding her favorite soda on the East Coast, always packed a case of Dr Pepper. She was immune to our kidding. |
As the tuxedoed server leaned in slightly to take her drink order, she asked for a glass of ice, just ice. |
He brought her a heavy crystal glass without comment. She pulled a can of Dr Pepper from her bag, opened it, filled the glass and then left the half-full can on the table. |
Much to our chagrin, the server stopped whenever he passed to lift the can and top her glass off with a flourish. When the can was empty, he took it away. |
Soon, he returned, carefully placed a new can by her plate, popped the top, filled the glass and set the can atop the starched tablecloth. |
“You have Dr Pepper here?” I asked, astonished. |
“I ran out to the corner bodega,” he said. |
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