4 June 2020. Brooklyn —> Manhattan march for George Floyd and others. I am one of those people who falls into the pro-police camps. I remember NYC when I first began coming here in 1989, how scary certain areas were, squeegee boys, drug dealers all over Washington Square Park. I have called police to deal with issues relating to people parking on our building’s sidewalks and they responded, and they responded immediately when someone tried to take my dog from my son. I have a very long list of speeding tickets from years past which cost me nothing but money. It’s very hard to square that privilege of my innocuous interactions with what is going on today. Minor infractions leading to death, peaceful protests getting charged, shockingly aggressive tactics in cities across the country including here in NYC.
Changes feel imminent, and I hope it comes. NYC can’t stand Trump, but the crowd yesterday also booed Uber-progressive Mayor DeBlasio off the stage and unanimously turned their backs on him. The gathering began at 1 p.m., and the speakers began over an hour late. In that prelude, the crowd broke into organic chants for the entire time, and anyone could lead. You can see in the images that it was a very diverse crowd, a very NYC crowd. Moving around was easy because everyone was keeping ‘socially distant’ and the mood was positive. And then we marched across the bridge. As we did so, the pedestrians above us on the walkway cheered, and from the roadway on the other side, horns blared and motorcycles revved.
It felt safe at all times but one. As the crowd gathered to begin crossing the bridge, the NYPD brought in the heavy guys to force marchers in a certain direction. It could have gone differently, but it was all good in the end. Daylight is the protesters friend, night is not.
After three months of lockdown from my comfortable spot I am spent. Work has been endless, family events and needs never cease, watching the news is sickening, and yet we are so very lucky. Millions are unemployed, those that can leave the city have, and who the hell knows what the next few months will bring. I know the cicadas are out there too. #2020
