Mayor Bill de Blasio won New York City’s mayoralty as “the liberal progressive” candidate, vowing to divert from the previous administration’s reactive policies on education, housing and, most notably, stop-and-frisk. Yet less than a year into his tenure, his supporters are questioning his promises to reform policing in the city. Eric Garner’s death in July of this year during a confrontation with New York City Police (NYPD) has drawn attention back to de Blasio’s election mandate to end stop-and-frisk. Garner, a 43-year-old African-American man, died during a confrontation with NYPD on Staten Island in what was later ruled a homicide. Garner’s case, which is on its way to trial in New York City, is only one of the many cases of police brutality that have recently shaken the country. While both the Garner and Michael Brown cases have sparked polarizing discussion about racism and police brutality in the United States on a national level, Garner’s death has forced Mayor de Blasio to come to terms with the reality of implementing the progressive changes he pledged during his campaign.
Facing a slew of candidates in the Democratic primary, de Blasio was a slow starter in New York City’s 2013 mayoral election. While he didn’t possess the scandal of disgraced former Congressman Anthony Weiner or the mark of a Bloomberg crony, as did City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, de Blasio didn’t carry much star power.
It wasn’t until August that de Blasio ousted Quinn as the Democratic frontrunner, with pollsters crediting his promise to curtail stop-and-frisk for his upsurge in favorability. In early August, de Blasio’s campaign aired an advertisement — featuring Dante de Blasio, his then-15-year-old son — that restated his plans to tax the wealthy, increase affordable housing projects and “end a stop-and-frisk era that unfairly targets people of color.” The commercial depicted de Blasio not only as a progressive Democrat, but also as a caring father of a multiracial family. A week after the advertisement’s debut, de Blasio led the polls with 30 percent of votes; prior to the ad airing, he had shared a 25 percent tie with former Comptroller Bill Thompson. While his campaign had already made his platform known, the “Dante” ad propelled it forward, holding the attention of voters.
The former public advocate had in fact begun to make headlines a month earlier after being arrested at a protest against the closure of Long Island College’s hospital. His activism as public advocate defined him as a hands-on, outspoken candidate. Through his overt public activism, approachability and reluctance to embrace tradition — as displayed by his hesitance to live in Gracie Mansion if he secured the mayoralty — de Blasio had connected with voters, who found him unassuming and relatable.
Optimism surrounded de Blasio’s inauguration after a landslide victory against Republican candidate Joe Lhota. Prior to his inauguration, more than half of New Yorkers believed that de Blasio would transfer his spirit as public advocate into his mayoralty and work to reduce inequality. According to a Marist Institute poll, 59 percent of registered New York voters agreed that de Blasio could unify the city and make it work together. Furthermore, particularly high optimism surrounded de Blasio’s victory among minority communities. Marist polls reported that “65 percent of voters citywide say de Blasio cares about people like them…86 percent of African American voters think de Blasio is concerned about them [and] 66 percent of Latinos say the same.” De Blasio struck a chord not only with New York City as a whole, but also particularly with those most affected by stop-and-frisk: black and Hispanic minorities.
Not far into de Blasio’s administration, however, the campaign’s progressive, hope-stirring promises have come head-to-head with the reality of implementation. Opponents of stop-and-frisk have been wary of de Blasio’s reform efforts ever since he appointed William Bratton as NYPD commissioner in January. Although Bratton promised to align with de Blasio’s efforts to curtail the use of stop-and-frisk, the policy’s opponents need only look at the commissioner’s career to be skeptical.
Known for implementing CompStat and following the controversial “broken windows” theory, Bratton was first commissioner during former mayor Rudy Giuliani’s tenure. Utilizing Geographic Information Systems (GIS), CompStat maps crime. The broken windows theory refers to the practice of arresting or issuing summonses for minor offenses, such as vandalism, in order to establish order and prevent further minor or major crime.
In an attempt to hold the NYPD accountable and move towards implementing the progressive reforms de Blasio advertised, Bratton announced a pilot program on August 29 that would have NYPD officers wear cameras on duty. Advocates for law enforcement reform have supported the idea, but while cameras would increase oversight, they are only a piece of what cities need to repair relations between their communities and the police force. Meanwhile, the majority of police unions and former NYPD commissioners, including Giuliani’s Howard Safir, have criticized de Blasio for undermining the power of law enforcement, claiming that the city is returning to “the bad old days” of rampant crime and violence.
Yet despite claims that de Blasio is weakening the police force and thus opening the door for crime, the statistics show otherwise. According to the NYPD, homicides and robberies have decreased by 9 and 13 percent, respectively, and only about 2 percent of arrests in 2013 utilized force, the lowest rate in New York City history.
Despite reports that show that crime has decreased, de Blasio must both acknowledge and grapple with the difficulty of fulfilling his goal: to repair relationships with communities that have often felt targeted by the police and unify the city while preventing criticism that he is stripping the NYPD of its duties and authority.
Belying the fine line between keeping his promise to those communities — mainly made up of minorities that held the highest hopes for de Blasio’s administrative reforms — and appearing soft on crime is a larger problem: the reality of enacting the promises of progressive reform in New York City. The problem is one that has plagued the city’s progressive administrations in the past.
De Blasio is New York City’s first Democratic mayor since David Dinkins 21 years ago. His connections to the former mayor are of interest: As a volunteer coordinator under Dinkins, de Blasio met his wife, Chirlane McCray, who was working as a speechwriter.
Beyond the lighthearted trivia are several deeper parallels. Dinkins entered office with a promise of racial healing but faced sharp criticism for his response to divisive events such as the Red Apple boycott and the Crown Heights riots. Perhaps remembering Dinkins’ media struggles, de Blasio and his staff are wary to address or respond to comments from either police unions or community advocates. The mayor stated that he doesn’t “get lost at any moment in the public debate. And I don’t let any one voice pull me away from my vision.” Senior adviser Peter Ragone told The New York Times, “We’re focused on the long game and that means real, lasting change. That’s going to take more than one or two news cycles.”
De Blasio’s reserved response to Garner’s death has not drastically changed his approval ratings. (Quinnipiac University last reported the mayor’s approval rating dropped one percentage point.) Nevertheless, it contrasts starkly to his tenure as public advocate, when it had been his duty to openly advocate. This shift in behavior is unsurprising, but it has left his constituents wondering if his goals in office are in fact similar to those advertised on the campaign trail.
Even if de Blasio has not faced the same backlash from the media as Dinkins, city residents, particularly minorities, seem unconvinced that the police department’s problems have been resolved. In a recent Quinnipiac poll, 47 percent of New Yorkers believed the police use appropriate force, compared to 44 percent who believed the NYPD uses excessive force. Minority respondents remain particularly dissatisfied: 72 percent of black respondents believed the NYPD uses excessive force. More specifically, 68 percent of respondents found the police’s response to Garner’s death inexcusable; 90 percent of black respondents and 71 percent of Hispanic respondents agreed with that sentiment.
Bill de Blasio’s election to the mayoralty was heralded as the dawn of the “Progressive City.” Indeed, many believed his mayoralty would usher in active public policy changes, particularly concerning social issues. But even in a city as liberal as New York, he must face a reality: Mayor de Blasio and Candidate de Blasio have used differing rhetoric, and now he must choose which one he will be.