• Highlighting the Mayor's state of the city address (The Times ... The City ... Streetsblog ... the Post)
• Chairman Gregory Russ is stepping down from his high-salaried job running the beleaguered NYCHA (The City)
• Veselka named a James Beard semifinalist for Outstanding Restuarant (PIX11)
• An early look at Foul Witch, now open on Avenue A (Eater ... first on EVG)
• A feature on Lucie Franc de Ferriere, who just opened From Lucie on 10th Street (Vogue ... previously on EVG)
• NYC bars are stocking up on opioid overdose rescue kits (CBS New York)
• Councilmember Marte and several community groups file motion to intervene in NYU SoHo/NoHo rezoning expansion case (amNY ... Village Preservation)
• A few local picks in this listicle on best NYC thrift stores for vintage and designer finds (Harper's Bazaar)
• Tony Hawk is helping resurrect the legendary skate spot under the Brooklyn Bridge (The Times)
• Catch a screening of "Downtown 81" (Thursday, Feb. 2) at Metrograph on Ludlow Street (Official site)
• An interview with Amy Hill about her show on exhibit now at Fortnite Institute on Third Street (Whitehot Magazine)
• The long history of a forgotten film that Paul Newman directed on the Lower East Side (The Forward)
• Anna "Delvey" Sorokin, the fake heiress who now lives in the East Village, is to host a celebrity dinner club series (Deadline)
• Elsewhere: City whitewashes famed Washington Heights graffiti tunnel (Hyperallergic)
In order to solve a problem you must first accept that you have a problem, and identify what that problem is. The problem is that we have been descending into becoming a police state for many years. Whether we are already there or not is a matter of debate, but there is no doubt we are headed in that direction. The proof of this is the lack of consequences police have traditionally faced after killing too many innocent people.
ReplyDeleteThe second proof is that it keeps happening, and yet we keep throwing massive amounts of money at police forces. When BLM said “Defund the police” that was a tactical mistake. The opposition seized on this mantra in order to scare the population even more than it is now (even in the face or record low crime rates nationwide).
The answer isn’t to defund the police but to reform the police, to use the funds they do receive for better training. We still have thieves, murderers and psychopaths among us, and we still need police to lock up dangerous criminals who ruin lives
An even bigger issue than training is in recruiting, because too many cops obviously enjoy abusing, humiliating and murdering people in broad daylight. This isn’t just a few bad apples: it’s a culture of violence which is endemic to America itself. So perhaps it isn’t just the police forces that need retraining, reform and healing, it is our society itself, reflected in the violence and cruelty of the police, which is the root of issue.