As Mayor Eric Adams delivered his third State of the City address this Wednesday at Hostos Community College, dozens of New Yorkers demonstrated against his police, immigration and trade policies.
This included Adams’ veto of the “How Many Stops” bill, which seeks to require police to record every interaction they have with civilians.
Why are they covering up the police? Let the information come out. We know the practice that the police are doing, the racist practice,” said Lisette Nieves, program director, Community Connections for Youth.
This bill was approved by the City Council, but the mayor vetoed it, arguing that these searches would end with police filling out reports instead of patrolling.
City data indicates that 25 percent of arrests under Adams’ administration were unconstitutional. 97% of those detained were African American and Latino New Yorkers, even though they represent less than 50 percent of the population.
They also protested against the new rule that limits the stay of asylum seekers in the city’s shelters, establishing 30 days for single men and 60 days for families.
“This is not going to help immigrants. I think it is a false immigration crisis because right now what New York is suffering is a housing crisis,” said one of the protesters.
Street vendors also made themselves felt. They say that with the arrival of new New Yorkers, the government must grant more permits.
“And we demanded that the best thing he could have done was give them the tools to go out to work, that means finding the mechanisms to be given permits to work in this country,” said Vicente Veintimilla, a street vendor.
Despite these protests, the mayor did not address the issue of the bill he vetoed “How Many Stops,” nor did he introduce new initiatives to help asylum seekers.
Regarding the street vendors, the mayor highlighted that for him the displacement of the vendors from the Brooklyn Bridge is a triumph, since the crowding it created was not safe.
