NYC 'Occupy City Hall' Protest, Encampment Grows

NEW YORK, NEW YORK — Three words motivate a growing throng of protesters occupying ground outside City Hall: defund the police.

A demonstration dubbed "Occupy City Hall" staked a claim in City Hall Park this week and has grown day by day. They've staged sit-ins and protests around the seat of New York City's government, slept wrapped in blankets in the park and projected "Defund NYPD" on the building.

"Attn: We now have thousands occupying City Hall!!" claimed an Instagram page for the protest.

Organizers Vocal NY staged the protest to call for at least a $1 billion cut to NYPD funding in the city budget, which is set to be finalized next week.

Calls to "defund the police" — meaning to shift often-bloated funds from law enforcement to education, housing, health care, social services and other non-police public safety and community programs — have only grown in the weeks after the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

Mayor Bill de Blasio responded to the cries in his own city by announcing he'd push shifting NYPD budget funds toward youth and social services in the upcoming budget. But he didn't commit to the $1 billion cuts protesters demanded, and the City Council's leadership is poised to deliver.

"I cannot tell you what the final dollar figure will be," he said on Wednesday.

Many, if not most, protesters in the movement have no trust in or love lost for De Blasio, who defended NYPD's "tremendous restraint" while cops brutally busted up nonviolent rallies. A crowd booed and turned its back on him during a memorial for George Floyd in Brooklyn.

Vocal NY made clear the "Occupy City Hall" protests are just as much about de Blasio as the police.

"Activists will call out the Mayor’s legacy of investing and defending the police while thousands of Black and Brown New Yorkers remain homeless, and lack access to quality housing and lifesaving services," the group wrote in a release. "After nearly a month of protests galvanized by the murders of Black lives at the hands of police, activists will denounce the Mayor’s lack of action to commit to cutting the NYPD by at least $1 billion dollars, and demand that the City Council reject a budget without these cuts."

De Blasio on Wednesday had little to say when asked about the "Occupy" protest beyond the city has long respected the right for people to peacefully protest. It has to be done safely and sensible rules, he said.

"And so, NYPD will address the situation," he said. "They're very familiar with how to handle something like this the right way, respect people's rights, but also make sure public safety and other public needs are addressed. They'll work this through as the days go ahead."